Savannah GA real estate market: are you finding the same thing?

I will be cutting back on my contributions here because of time constraints, but I wanted to offer what I have found in the Savannah, GA real estate market and see if others are experiencing the same thing.

Looking at the first six months of 2006, 2007 and 2008, I used new home sales for each year from west Chatham and Effingham counties—where most of the new construction is taking place.

This year there have been 186 homes sold with an average sales price per square foot of $110.75 with an average sales price of $222,363, 145 days on the market and a 98% sales price to listing price.

In 2007 there were 350 homes sold with an average sales price per square foot of $119.05 with an average sales price of $220,410, 130 days on the market and a 100% sales price to listing price.

In 2006 there were 421 homes sold with an average sales price per square foot of $114.63 with an average sales price of $212,633, 131 days on the market and a 100% sales price to list price.

The biggest changes have been the number of homes sold and sales price per sq ft. Buyers are getting much more for their money, but fewer buyers are buying.

I then looked at resales in midtown Savannah to see how resales compare with read more

Posted by Mike Farmer on Jul 01, 2008 under Market Trends, Regional

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Use Hyper-Local Real Estate Statistics to Inform Your Clients

One of the most difficult aspects in today’s market is getting consumers to understand the difference between national, local and hyper-local real estate trends which could vary dramatically depending on your location.

More importantly, a client’s perspective in the market will in large part determine their expectations for a transaction. Many home buyers today feel that the water has run completely red with blood and many buyers believe that they can steal a home with this new found leverage. Many are excited about the possibilities and have heard the news reports about buying homes for 60 cents on the dollar.

If you don’t convey to your clients up front that this is not likely to be the case, you will have problems getting buyers and sellers to agree on a price at which the home could be purchased.

Understanding your hyper-local market, even within your city and being able to convey how that translates into accurate expectations for a client has never been more important than it is today.

Being an expert in your market is paramount to building trust and in turn clients and it’s your responsibility to understand and be able to convey the difference to help educate them.

Knowing what is happening on a hyper-local level, will help you be the local expert, build their confidence in you and help you close sales. read more

Posted by Ryan Ward on Jun 26, 2008 under Market Trends

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Why the Internet Buyer is the Best Client

Since internet buyers (IB) do most of their home searching and researching BEFORE calling an agent, they are more efficient buyers who won’t take up a lot of your time and resources.

Realtor studies show they are also more satisfied with their agents and overwhelmingly say they would use the same agent in the future.

The Efficient Buyer Saves Resources

Here are some interesting comparisons:

• IB spend 2.2 weeks, on average, with their agent before buying, while the non-internet buyer (so called traditional buyer) spent 7.1 weeks with their agents.
• IB previewed 6.7 homes while the traditional buyer previewed a whopping 15.4
• 81% of IB stay with the first agent they choose to contact

In addition: read more

Posted by Joseph G. Ferrara, Esq. on Apr 24, 2008 under Market Trends, Guest Bloggers

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Foreclosures, Short Sales, and REO's, OH MY!

ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA FORECLOSURE UPDATE:

The Orange County real estate market now consists of mostly bank owned properties for sale.

The banks are scrambling to rid themselves of this massive inventory. Listing agents are presently allowed to list at whatever price they want and a lot of them are listing way below market value.

This doesn’t mean the banks will take this low offer. In fact, I can almost guarantee they won’t. Unscrupulous agents are doing this just to get offers in and scoop up buyers (new clients).

I am seeing multiple offers on REO’s to be the norm right now, any where from 90 to 180 days or more for the banks to get back to the offerers.

What does that mean?

Buyers aren’t buying. They’re waiting for a deal that is usually too good to be true.

This sends a wave of unfounded panic to normal home sellers. Home sellers look at these comps and think they too have to list their homes at these undervalued prices thus losing precious equity unnecessarily.

I see that investors are buying these scenarios up like crazy! Preying on unsuspecting homeowners is read more

Posted by Peggy Aldinger on Mar 14, 2008 under Market Trends, Regional

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