Q: What sort of homes sold here last month?
A: Less expensive ones.
Sales of homes priced below $250,000 increased by 9 percent last month vs. a year earlier in the Baltimore metro area, according to my analysis of Metropolitan Regional Information Systems data. Homes sales in the $250,000 to $499,000 range fell by 9 percent, while the $500,000-plus sales dropped 19 percent.
A lot more homeowners are trying to tap into that sweeter spot of the market: The number of properties listed for under $250,000 rose nearly 20 percent from a year earlier. Listings in the pricier categories dropped.
But there's still less competition for sellers in that lowest range, relatively speaking. Nine homeowners were trying to sell a home priced under $250,000 for every one that sold last month, vs. 10 in the middle price range and 20 in the high range.
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Comments
Yet the McMansions in the suburbs are still WAY overpriced...perhaps the sellers are just to underwater to afford the loss of selling at the "true" market value...
Words of wisdom for those who want to sell and still have some equity: DROP YOUR PRICE AND GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN BREAK EVEN!
Posted by: Darwin Rules | October 16, 2008 11:46 AM
I couldn't agree more. We were looking to buy and even looked at Coldwell Banker's "sale". Enough. Sellers can keep their houses and watch their equity disappear. I'll scoop up one of them at bargain basement prices, after the sellers get desparate or the bank takes it back.
Posted by: Anon | October 16, 2008 12:49 PM
The conversation regarding selling homes has been all about mortgages and prices for the past 18 months. The reality is that most people move for very different reasons such as 'moving up'. Move-up buyers are typically discretionary buyers and typically purchase the more expensive homes. They do this on an emotional basis and buying and selling houses hasn't been joyful to many lately, so they wait. Therefore, fewer houses on the market at the high end. The buyers that are out there for these homes have also had to deal with non-conforming and conforming plus mortgages which have added $ to the monthly payments, which is what buyers really buy, not the price of the house.
Posted by: Ross | October 16, 2008 3:57 PM
And I've been warning people publicly for over a year now, sell before its to late and the house of cards falls. Now you have almost no hope of selling without 2003 prices. If you wait another few months without a 2003 price, you might as well cut the price to 2000 prices because once the recession worsens, the market will all but dry up. Maryland is NOT immune from the housing bubble, recession and job losses. Everybody, myself included, is concerned about our jobs.
Posted by: Kevin | October 16, 2008 4:13 PM
While I'm not entirely a fan of the "McMansion" - I myself prefer older homes with character rather than houses that perfectly match the others around them - I'd have to say that "getting out while you can" isn't exactly the approach to take now. I'm sure there are some folks that are trying to sell their "high end" homes because they can no longer afford their mortgages, but as Ross points out, most are merely trying to "move up." As such, they'll likely just laugh or shrug if someone tries to "steal" their house with a lowball offer (I've seen this happen *this week*) or EVEN if someone doesn't meet their basement price. It's my feeling, though based on anecdotal evidence, that people selling homes that fit into that higher price range category don't actually NEED to, so the real advice is just to sit tight. If you don't think the houses will be worth more in 3-4 years, well, then you truly have a dim view of where this market is going.
Posted by: Blevins Wist | October 30, 2008 6:38 PM