Where Sales, Prices are Hot
Despite the Housing Cool Down
by Lauren Baier Kim
May 16, 2007
Here's a look at what's new in real-estate markets across the U.S. from around the Web. (Some links may require registration or subscriptions.)
Canadian waterfront woos buyers
Second-home sales are doing anything but taking a vacation in Canada, according to an Ottawa Business Journal article. Demand for waterfront across the country is pushing prices up, with lake or riverfront properties selling at up to a 40% premium, the article says. Vacation-home teardowns, custom-builds and renovations are common among the country's shores, and in locales like British Columbia and southern Ontario, multiple bids and bidding wars are common, even with $1 million homes, the Journal says. In some parts of Ontario, home prices have risen 20% this year, while in the Westport lake region, prices have been increasing at a rate of 10% a year, the article says.
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Good times in Bismarck
Home prices are sliding across the U.S., but they are forecast to increase 8.8% this year in Bismarck, N.D., according to an article by the Bismarck Tribune. While the number of existing homes sold has remained basically stable from May 2006 to May 2007, the average sales price has increased from $142,472 for the first four months last year, to $161,716 for the same time period this year, the newspaper says. "For all buyers in our market, real estate continues to prove to be an excellent investment," the Tribune quotes Nancy Deichert, president of the Bismarck Mandan Board of Realtors, as saying.
Market woes in Milwaukee
High inventory, stagnant prices and lower demand are posing a triple threat for Milwaukee homeowners, says a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article. Home prices in the area are stuck at 2006 levels, the newspaper says. "If your house was worth $300,000 last year, that's probably what it's worth today," the Journal quotes a local real-estate agent as saying. At the end of April, the number of available homes on the market in the metro area was up 7.9% from what it was 12 months prior, while demand was 8.6% lower, the newspaper says. With the market so heavily in their favor, buyers have been submitting offers on homes that are "way under asking," the newspaper says, and walking away from deals, the newspaper says. But they aren’t the only ones canceling deals -- some homeowners, who are hoping for a market turnaround, are doing so, too, the paper says.
Prices soar in Seattle
Selling prices are on the way up in Seattle, where the median price rose for the fourth month in a row in April to $465,000, according to the Seattle Times. Most of the homes sold for more than their asking price, with two-bedroom, "starter homes" going for 0.43% above the asking price and three-bedroom homes, which make up the greatest percentage of sales, selling for 0.25% above asking price. Larger and more expensive five-bedroom residences went for just less than asking price. Meanwhile, 64% of all Seattle residential properties sold within 30 days, the newspaper reports. However, the number of homes available is on the rise in King County -- in April, the number of single-family homes on the market increased by 38%, while the number of condos up for sale rose by 74% -- thanks to new construction and building conversions, the Times says.
Pricing turnaround in Phoenix
The difference between the prices Phoenix homeowners are asking for their properties and what buyers are paying is narrowing, says an article by the Arizona Republic. While the newspaper doesn't mention the size that this spread tends to be on average, it does note that the gap, which hit a record high in mid-2005, is the smallest it's been since mid-2004. This narrowing could signal a potential recovery for the local market, the Republic says, as buyers and sellers start to agree on prices. The article adds that in the metro area, the market tends to vary neighborhood by neighborhood -- some houses are selling at their asking prices in metro Phoenix, while in some fringe areas of the city, it's more of a buyer's market.
Real-estate mania in Manhattan
The housing slowdown hasn't hit Manhattan. For the first three months of 2007, average apartment sale prices increased 23% to $745,000, up from $605,000, according to NewYorkBusiness.com. The median apartment sales price rose 20% to $450,000. Manhattan posted the highest average apartment sale price, $1.1 million, followed by Brooklyn with an average apartment sale price of $441,000 and then Queens at $257,000. In all five New York boroughs, the average sale price for one-to-three-family homes climbed 7% to $595,000. "Prices aren't coming down," the Web site quotes Real Estate Board of New York President Steven Spinola as saying.