admin — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:46:59 +0000

I posted the following on a real estate website in answer to the question: Is buying a home in Williamsburg in the 23185 zipcode a good idea?

Written 6/24/2009: Williamsburg VA:

I feel that lending practices were far to easy before the economic problems. Overcorrection and making it difficult to get a mortgage isn’t the answer. Sales fall apart and sellers and buyers both are unhappy. People can’t move to the new job or they do and let the house go into foreclosure. It has a very far reaching effect on people & the economy. In Williamsburg, we have been somewhat insulated from the worst of the economic crisis. Having a strong military and government job sector certainly hasn’t hurt us. The shipyard is still going strong and the College of William & Mary continues to be a large local employer.

Curious if the stats would bear this out, I went to the Williamsburg MLS and pulled some figures.

Here’s the stats for the past three months in the 23185 zipcode from the Williamsburg MLS. Homes are selling for an average of 94% of list price. I don’t think 20-30% is going to be a realistic starting point.

3-24-2009 to 6-24-2009
103 homes, townhomes and condos sold over the last three months in 23185.
Average list to sale price is 94%
Average list to sold (days on market) 144 days
Average price (sold): $334,901
Average cost per sqft (sold): $145.46

Same period in 2007
Average list to sale price is 97%
Average days on market: 82
Average cost per sqft: $159.33

Same period in 2005
Average list to sale price is 99%
Average days on market is 61
Average cost per sqft is $149.04

Some distressed properties, usually foreclosures, can be had for less but they will generally require fixing up and the bank will rarely agree to do any repairs. Foreclosures are all in the Multiple Listing Service as well. The biggest variance on list to sale price is found in the high end market. Right now we are the market in homes under 300K is doing really well.

In the last month or so we’ve had multiple offers on a few homes under 225K, which I haven’t seen that in awhile. The $8000 down payment from the government may be helping. First time home buyers are not generally buying the 500K homes. The under 300K segment increase would make sense.

I heard today that some in Congress are trying to get the mortgage guidelines relaxed a bit. I believe the banks have the money to loan but the Fed credit requirements right now are pretty restrictive. Whether thats right or wrong I’ll leave it to others to decide. The housing market is the engine of the American economy and it needs to get moving again for all of our sakes.

The ‘Days on Market’ at 144 is of concern but from what I’ve seen this year alone, I would say the tightening of the mortgage guidelines has a lot to do with it. Every week we see people who are otherwise well qualified be denied at the last minute by an underwriter who has once again been given new stricter federal guidelines.

Post from: REO / BPO Real Estate Services - SE Virginia

Foreclosure and REO outlook in SE Virginia

admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:52:32 +0000

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At this time, we seem to be approaching another wave of foreclosures with the lifting of the foreclosure moratorium. Williamsburg hasn’t seen a large number of foreclosures yet. We are seeing a fair number of REO listings in Hampton, Norfolk and Newport News.

Investors do appear to be coming back into the market. This should clean up appropriately priced properties and homes quicker than we’ve seen in the past year. If a REO home is not priced right, it will sit.

Be sure to give us a call if you have assets you need to sell. We will give you a fair market valuation oriented to your sales timeframe.

Primary Service Area: Hampton VA, Newport News VA, Yorktown VA, York County VA, Williamsburg VA, Gloucester VA, Gloucester County VA, New Kent County VA, Charles City County VA, Hopewell VA, Lanexa VA, Toano VA, Norge VA, Poquoson VA.

Secondary Service Area: Norfolk VA, Virginia Beach VA, Portsmouth VA., Suffolk VA, Surry VA, Mathews VA, Chesapeake VA.

REO and BPO SERVICE AREAS

Service Area by City:

Barhamsville Virginia, Charles City Virginia, Charles City County Virginia, Gloucester Virginia, Gloucester County Virginia, Hampton Virginia, Lanexa Virginia . Mathews Virginia, New Kent County Virginia, Newport News Virginia, Norfolk Virginia , Poquoson Virginia, Providence Forge Virginia, Surry Virginia, West Point Virginia, Williamsburg Virginia, York County Virginia, Yorktown Virginia

Post from: REO / BPO Real Estate Services - SE Virginia

Foreclosure and REO outlook in SE Virginia

REO / BPO Real Estate Services - SE Virginia » homes

Foreclosure and REO outlook in SE Virginia