Percentage of Distressed Sales in South County
Date: Sunday January 24, 2010Posted in: real estate, short sales, Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy, foreclosure, bank-owned
Diane Kawell, an award-winning Realtor in the Tacoma/Seattle area of Washington, mentioned in a comment on my previous post that 44% of all residential real estate sales in her area were distressed sales, i.e. sold listings that are short sales or bank-owned REOs. This made me curious about what the numbers are in our south Santa Clara County area.
I looked at each community of Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin separately for single family home and condo/townhouse listings sold on the MLS within the past 365 days. Here is what I found:
Morgan Hill: total sales = 444, distressed sales = 231, percentage distressed = 52%
Gilroy: total sales = 659, distressed sales = 491, percentage distressed = 75%
San Martin: total sales = 36, distressed sales = 23, percentage distressed = 64%
I was somewhat surprised at the large percentage numbers. Buyers are buying “the deals” and the price discounts on distressed properties are very attractive. I suppose that I should have been expecting these large percentages. When I look back at the real estate properties that I sold within the past 365 days, 55% of those properties were either short sales or REOs.
condo townhouse distressed properties distressed sales gilroy mls morgan hill percentages price discounts realtor real estate properties real estate sales residential real estate residential real estate sales santa clara county san martin single family south santa clara south santa clara county
26 Million Underwater Homeowners
Date: Tuesday October 6, 2009Posted in: real estate, foreclosures, short sales
Mark L. Strombotne, who practices real estate law in San Jose, spoke at our weekly office meeting this morning. Mr. Strombotne gave us some very insightful, up-to-the-minute information on strategies for financially troubled homeowners. He stated that nearly half of the nation’s 52 million mortgage borrowers will have negative equity by the end of the first quarter of 2011, up from the 14 million at the end of this year’s first quarter, according to estimates in an August 5, 2009 report by Deutsche Bank.
With so many borrowers underwater - or owing more on their home than it’s worth - the risk is high that they’ll default and their homes will go into foreclosure. Moody’s Economy.com estimates that 17.5 million mortgage borrowers will be underwater by early 2010.
default deutsche bank foreclosure homes mortgage borrowers negative equity real estate real estate law short saleSouth County Real Estate Sales Week of February 9 - 15, 2009
Date: Monday February 16, 2009Posted in: real estate, short sales, Santa Clara County, Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy, statistics, listings, pending sales, list price, housing inventory
Another very busy week of sales in south Santa Clara County last week. With the new federal stimulus package approved in congress, buyers may be feeling encouraged. Investors should take heart in that the number of property loans they will be allowed to hold will increase from 4 to 10 beginning March 1, 2009. First-time buyers also received good news. The first time buyer credit was increased from $7500 to $8000 and it is to be a true credit and not an interest free loan to be paid back over 15 years.
The number of residential sales increased again in the south Santa Clara County towns of Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy. There were 47 residences that went from active to pending status as compared to 44 last week. Of all the sales last week, 44 were single family homes and 3 were townhouses/condominiums. 68% of the sales were priced below $500,000.
Of these sales, the list price ranges were:
Below $200,000 = 2 sales (4% of total)
$200,000 - $500,000 = 32 sales (68% of total)
$500,000 - $800,000 = 8 sales (17% of total)
$800,000 - $1,200,000 = 4 sales (9% of total)
$1,200,000 - $2,000,000 = 1 sale (2% of total)
As of February 15, 2009, there are 561 residential (single family homes and condos) listings active on the market in Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy. There are currently 281 pending residential listings. Therefore, 33% of the total listings are pending under contract as of this date. Many of the pendings are short sales and therefore take a long time to close. This could keep our pending percentage up artificially high.
Tune in next week for an update on the number of sales in South Santa Clara County!
Morgan Hill Homes Priced Under $400,000
Date: Wednesday January 7, 2009Posted in: real estate, short sales, Morgan Hill, listings
There are currently seventeen single family homes in the Morgan Hill zip code area of 95037 priced under $400,000. There are twelve townhouse/condominiums priced under $400,000. Many of the residences are short sales or bank-owned properties, but for buyers with patience, they will be rewarded with a nice Morgan Hill home at a very attractive price.
Let’s take a look at a couple of homes.
17165 Birch Way, priced at $399,000, is a 1295 sq.ft. home with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms on a 7405 sq.ft. lot. Birch Way is in the Nordstrom Elementary School boundary.
This home is a short sale. It was purchased for $664,800 in March of 2006.
199 Bender Circle, priced at $384,000, is a 1827 sq.ft. home with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It sits on a 6300 sq.ft. lot.
199 Bender Circle is also a short sale. It was purchased thirteen years ago in 1995 for $203,000.
To view these, or any other properties, please call me at 408-892-9015 or email GMerrick@InteroRealEstate.com
Featured in the Local Papers
Date: Saturday December 6, 2008Posted in: real estate, short sales, foreclosure, Morgan Hill Real Estate, Gilroy real estate
I was “quoted” in the local papers, Gilroy Dispatch, Morgan Hill Times and the Hollister Free Lance. I say “quoted” because I don’t remember saying the exact words they used, but hey, it was fun to be interviewed by the media and then to get a mention in the papers! (And not in the Crime Watch section….!)
The article discussed the impact of foreclosures on our South Santa Clara County area and included a few personal stories. My quotes are somewhere in the middle of the article. One of the article’s authors, Nicole Baldocchi, had contacted me to ask me about the number of foreclosures hitting Morgan Hill and Gilroy and I helped direct her to some statistics regarding the impact on our local real estate market. Nicole was able to find several families facing foreclosure. These families had been misled by their real estate agents and lenders (too often one and the same person), and their stories are heartbreaking.
There was a time when Patience ceased to be a virtue. It was long ago.
Date: Wednesday May 7, 2008Posted in: REO, real estate, short sale, foreclosures, short sales, Realtor, banks, foreclosure, commission
(Title quote from Charlotte Perkins Gilman)
I currently have three offers out on short sale properties. Banks are taking forever to respond to these offers. One offer was submitted on March 1, 2008, one on March 30, 2008, and one was just submitted on May 5, 2008. I don’t have a response on any of them. Thank goodness my clients are aware that they will have to be extremely patient while waiting for a response from the seller’s bank (or banks if there is more than one loan on the property.) But, in the meantime, new properties are coming on the market, and the sellers and the banks may lose what offers they currently have on the table as buyers are always looking….
Anecdotally, the banks don’t seem to realize the value of the Realtors who list the short sales or those who represent buyers who make offers on the short sales. Banks want to severely cut our commissions. From what I understand regarding short sales versus foreclosures/REOs, banks would be much better off financially if they would work with the Realtors in a timely manner, pay our full commissions and get these short sales closed. The banks’ losses will be much greater if these short sales work through the foreclosure process and end up as REOs. And with the way the system is working currently, it is very probable that the majority of short sales will become REOs. Ironically, once the REOs are listed on the MLS, the seller, i.e. the bank, usually offers 3% commission to the buyer’s agent.
