The South Bend Area MLS records show that in June 2010:
345 residential properties were sold
293 residential properties went under contract
545 residential properties were newly listed or re-listed for sale (that is not a count of all homes for sale, just those listed in June)
The 345 sales add up to $40.18 million in volume. That is about 13% greater than May 2010 (the previous month) and about 30% greater than June 2009 (one year ago)
Here is the long term graph
Sales Prices
The high price sale was 51795 Ashton Court in Granger’s Woodland Hills. It was listed for $1.89 million in January 2010 and sold for $1.35 million on June 30th. It previously sold for $1.75 million, in December 2007. That makes it the highest price sale in the South Bend MLS since June of 2008, when 51284 Shamrock Hills Drive sold for $1.4 million.
Here is every sales price for the month, at a glance
Financing
FHA loans accounted for the greatest number of sales and the second highest volume. Conventional mortgages accounted for nearly as many sales, and the highest sales volume. Cash sales continue to as an important, if lesser, market force and VA / other financing has yet to develop to more than a fraction of the market.
Notre Dame condos
1504 Oakhill Drive, a 2 bedroom + loft, 2 bath second floor condo at Oak Hill (no garage). Listed for $181,900 in April 2008, it sold for $125,000 on June 25th. It previously sold for $107,500 in May 2004.
1564 Wildflower Way at the North Shore Club with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. Listed for $129,000 in April 2010, it sold for $123,500 on June 30th. It previously sold for $112,650 in December 2005
1446 Bridgewater Way at The Forest with 3 bedrooms + a loft and 2.5 baths. Listed for $164,900 in March 2010, it sold for $150,000 on June 11th. It previously sold for $156,000 in June 2004 and $150,000 in February 2003
118 Clancey Street, a furnished townhouse in Dublin Village with 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths . Listed for $295,000 in February 2009, it sold for $220,000 on June 4th. It previously sold for $261,754, making the sale a loss of about 16% before expenses
New Construction
This continues to be a slow segment of the market, as reported through the MLS. I found 9 sales by Weiss homes and one by Place Builders that appear to be new construction. Prices ranged from $109,999 to $233,143. Six were financed with FHA loans, three were cash sales and one buyer obtained a conventional mortgage.
If you are considering the purchase or sale of property in the South Bend – Mishawaka – Granger – Notre Dame Area and want a no-pressure, no-hassles consultation with the real estate brokers behind the South Bend Area Real Estate Blog, please contact us.
There are five developments near the University of Notre Dame that offer recently-built, high-end condos or townhomes. Reflecting the best traits of a competitive market, each boasts a different blend of attractive features and not-so-nice details. One has a large deck but the parking situation is poor. Another has gated parking but the units are shallow so the kitchen is on a different floor than the main living space. With every condo, you trade features… even if it’s no more than the classic trade of price for size.
Since each person has different priorities, there is no single “best” condo for everyone. But Irish Crossings Delaney units are a must see for anyone considering a Notre Dame condo in the $300,000 to $500,000 price range.
The arguments for Irish Crossing’s Delaneys are simple and strong:
These are large spaces. At 2,610 square feet with 4 or 3 bedrooms and 4.5 baths they compare favorably to the competition.
Parking is great: they have attached 2-car garages and two additional parking spaces in the drive.
They overlook a water feature with two fountains. Irish Crossings is not as densely built as many other complexes, leaving space for a scenic water feature.
There are only three units per building, creating more end units and fewer shared walls. This adds to privacy and lessens noise from neighboring units.
They offer two outdoor spaces: a deck off the kitchen and a patio off the lower level. Compare this to another complex where if you want to tailgate, you need to do it in the garage, and then have to find alternate parking outside of the development.
And, in my mind, most compelling of all…You don’t enter to a staircase. Townhomes are designed to have a minmal footprint, that’s why they are built where land is expensive. And, at most Notre Dame townhomes you enter into a stairwell. In one, you even climb a staircase to reach the front door, then enter into another stairwell to reach the living space. The difference is important not only in the total number steps climbed, but in the feeling you get when you open the door. Compare the photos below, each taken within steps of entering. Which do you find more welcoming?
Once you evaluate the options, if you decide you want an Irish Crossings Delaney, you currently have three options:
The builder’s model unit, site 231. Priced at $467,826.
An unfinished unit, site 221. Likely price, $400,000 to $480,000, depending on the options and upgrades you select. This unit is roughly two months from completion.
54662 Irish Crossings Lane, site 183. Priced at $460,000 with nearly every upgrade the builder offers.
editors update: As of 07/19/2010 sites 231 and 221 are under contract and off the market.
And of the three, 54662 Irish Crossings Lane is the best buy. The current owners bought it in February 2008 for $472,144. That was the second most expensive sale in Irish Crossings. The price was high because the townhouse is posh with $100,000 worth of upgrades: it’s an end unit with a sunroom, fireplace, lower level wet-bar, entertainment systems on the main floor and lower level, granite counters throughout, wrought iron balusters on the stairs, upgraded cabinetry in the kitchen, custom wood floors, and much more.
Past that, the sellers put over $10,000 in furniture into 54662 Irish Crossings Lane and can sell it furnished.
54662 Irish Crossings Lane is on the completed side of the Irish Crossings complex, so you won’t live next to construction. It’s finished and furnished so moving in, or preparing it for periodic use will be painless. And there is no risk that it won’ be completed by the first home football game.
If you’re in the market for a luxury condo near Notre Dame’s campus, you should see 54662 Irish Crossings Lane. Start with the slideshow below, then call to see it in person.
The South Bend Area MLS records show that in May 2010:
285 residential properties were sold
208 residential properties went under contract
471 properties were newly listed or re-listed for sale (that is not a count of all homes for sale, just those listed in May)
The 285 sales add up to $35.58 million in volume. That is about 29% greater than the sales volume for April 2010 and 33% greater than the sales total from a year ago in May 2009.
Sales Prices
The high price sale was 11192 Pierce Road in Wakarusa, a farmhouse on 78 acres which sold for $680,000. For homes without such substantial land value, sales peaked at $607,000 for 51285 Shannon Brook Court in the Shamrock Hills neighborhood of Granger. The home was listed for sale for $761,250 in August 2009 and previously sold for $725,000 in August of 2006 and $565,000 in February of 2003. Shamrock Hills also had last month’s high priced sale.
Other high price sales included 18230 Gilmore Drive in South Bend’s Bradford Shores, at $580,401 and three sales in Granger’s Woodland Hills:
16771 Orchard Ridge at $500,000 with $5,000 in seller concessions
51410 Hidden Pines Court at $465,000
16795 Woodland Hills Drive at $465,000
That is substantial activity for the neighborhood of about 100 homes and more sales than Woodland Hills saw in all of 2009. Woodland Hills currently has nine homes listed for sale, priced from $385,000 to $1.89 million.
There were nine sales under $10,000 and 51 sales under $50,000.
Financing
FHA loans again accounted for the greatest number of sales though conventional financing accounted for more than half of the sales volume for May. Cash sales were a significant market force, and VA loans and other financing continue to play small roles in sales through the MLS.
Notre Dame Area condos
The Notre Dame condo market remains soft on sales, though interest seems to have increased compared to past months. There were four notable sales:
1407 Oak Hill Drive sold for $135,000. It was listed for sale in April of 2009 at $184,900 and previously sold for $143,500 in February of 2005 after trying asking prices as high as $235,000. It is a first floor plus finished lower level unit with 950 square feet on each floor and four total bedrooms (including the lower level) and 3 baths. It was updated with granite counters and bamboo floors, and had a deck and garage.
18418 Killeen Court at Ivy Quad sold for $385,000. It is the mid-sized unit at the complex, “the Ardeen.” It is a newly built 2,800 square foot 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath townhouse.
926 Keenan Court sold for $155,000. It was first listed for sale January 2008 for $175,029. It is a 1,760 square foot condo with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths. It was built in 2007 but hasn’t been occupied.
5625 Irish Way #7 at the North Douglas Condos sold for $137,900. It is a 1,189 square foot 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo and the first sale in the project since a new investor took control of the development. It is in building 1, which was completed 2007/8.
New Construction
I count eight May sales in the MLS that appear to be new construction (not counting the Notre Dame condos detailed above). Notably,
The most expensive is 18230 Gilmore Drive in South bend’s Bradford Shores. Built by Century Builders, the 2,782 square foot + finished lower level 3 bedroom, 3+2 bath home sold for $580,401.
Weiss homes sold four houses, at $166,945, $160,000, $149,000 and $128,432.
If you are considering the purchase or sale of property in the South Bend – Mishawaka – Granger – Notre Dame Area and want a no-pressure, no-hassles consultation with the real estate brokers behind the South Bend Area Real Estate Blog, please contact us.
With a few exceptions (notably for members of the military stationed overseas), you had to be in a binding contract by April 30th as one of the criteria to qualify for the heavily promoted income tax credit that is available to some home buyers.
Personally and based upon my own conversations with people whose workflow is determined by the number of real estate transactions they touch (other real estate agents, title company closers, property inspectors and mortgage brokers), the tax credit increased the number of sales. But since I can’t talk to everyone involved with every sale, I checked the statistics too…the graph below charts the number of properties listed for sale in the South Bend Area MLS that went under contract each day in 2009 and through May 17th , 2010.
Notably, the pending counts for the first five months of 2010 are significantly higher than the same figures for 2009. And it would be hard to argue that the spike from mid April through the end of the that month is due to anything other than buyers who wanted to qualify for the tax credit.
Government involvement in the real estate market is hardly over now that sales don’t qualify for a tax credit:
payments on mortgage interest remain tax deductible for most homes,
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac still buy large numbers of mortgages freeing banks to make more loans,
and the FHA’s low downpayment loans have become a major player in market, accounting for about one in three of the pending or closed sales this year in the local MLS.
But the tax credit is over as one government driver of new sales. In our area, it commonly takes four to six weeks to go from binding contract to closed sale. And a provision of the tax credit requires sales to close by June 30th. Watch for the “tax credit sales” to close in June, creating high sales numbers for the month. After June, it’s more difficult to forecast. Sales will likely dip like car sales did after “Cash for Clunkers” ended. But changes in the broader economy, or in FHA policy or in how a large bank handles foreclosures could tip the scales of supply and demand in unexpected directions. Comments are open if you’d like to share your prediction.
Here’s the slightly delayed, but still earliest and best, market report for April. I’ve been thrown off my schedule while looking after a major development in my life, but am now getting back to my regular writing timeline.
The South Bend Area MLS records show that in April 2010:
262 residential properties sold
458 residential properties went under contract
653 properties were newly listed or re-listed for sale (that is not a count of all homes for sale, just those listed inApril)
The 262 sales add up to $27.65 million in volume. That is about 14% higher than March 2010 and about 32% higher than April 2009
Sales Prices
The high price sale was 51443 Megan Ct in the Shamrock Hills neighborhood of Granger. It sold for $885,000 on 4/1/10. It was listed for sale in August 2008 for 1.3 million.
The next three highest price sales were in Granger’s Covington Shores neighborhood:
14254 Shoreline sold for $545,000 on 4/16. It was listed for sale in April 2007 at $695,000.
51285 Amesbury Way sold for $500,000 on 4/23. It was listed for sale in March 2010 at $520,000
51380 Coveside Drive sold for $480,000 on 4/7. It was listed for sale in April 2009 for $560,000
Lower priced sales:
17 homes sold for $10,000 or less.
80 homes sold for $50,000 or less.
Financing
Cash sales were the most significant by number of transactions, with 92 sales.They were followed by FHA loans accounting for 85 sales, and conventional loans, accounting for 70 sales. “Other financing” like seller financed sales and lease options accounted for 8 sales and VA loans led to 7 sales.
Conventional loans accounted for the greatest sales volume, at 12.82 million. FHA loans followed with 9.26 million and cash sales accounted for 4.03 million. VA loans financed 0.81 million in sales and other financing led to 0.72 million in sales.
Notre Dame Area condos
139 Clancey Street in Dublin Village sold on 4/16 for $225,000. It was listed 8/28/2009 for $299,900 and last sold 3/11/07 for $267,365. That’s down about 16% in just over 3 years. There are now six townhomes for sale in Dublin Village, priced from $184,900 to $237,900.
There were three sales in the Woodbridge condos:
18133 Stoneridge F at $65,000 with $2,500 in seller concessions
18133 Stoneridge E at $55,000
18155 Stoneridge C at $36,750 – a Fannie Mae sold foreclosure
New Construction Sales
The most expensive new construction sale reported in the mls is 19241 Copper Brook Drive, which sold for $232,000
Weiss Homes reported the 4 other new construction sales, at:
The South Bend Area MLS records show that in March 2010:
238 residential properties sold
299 residential properties went under contract
638 properties were listed for sale (includes properties re-listed after expiring unsold)
The 238 sales add up to$24.27 million in volume. That is about 84% higher than February 2010 and about 42% higher than one year ago in March 2009.
Sales Prices
The high price sale in March was 18256 Forest Glade Drive in South Bend’s Bradford Shores. It’s a 3,739 square foot + finished walkout lower level home built in 2008 by Blake Builders. They listed it for sale in July 2008 at $779,900 and closed March 31st for $625,000. The list price was $735,000 at the time of sale.
The low price sale was 5202 Roger St in South Bend. It sold the day it was listed for $2,900.
Here are all 238 sales prices represented visually on a scatter graph
Financing
FHA loans were the largest market segment, by number of sales and sales volume. Cash sales take second place by the numbers but fall a distant third by volume. Conventional financing accounted for nearly the same sales volume as FHA loans, but on fewer purchases. VA loans and other financing remains rare in the South Bend Area.
Notre Dame Condos
There were no closed sales for any condos near Notre Dame in the MLS for March. Notably, an Oak Hill condo went under contract. 1407 Oak Hill Drive H4 is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath + finished lower level with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath condo. It has a small deck and one garage stall, and was listed at$145,000. It went under contract March 30th and was listed at $145,000 at that time. The sales price won’t be available until the transaction is complete.
This is the first activity other than new listings in that complex since the sale of 1557 Oak Hill Drive A7 in October, 2009.
New Construction
It was generally a tough month for builders. I found nine sales that look like new construction in the MLS. More than a few of them sold at steep discounts, as short sales or foreclosures.
18256 Forest Glade Drive, detailed above as the high price sale for March, sold at $625,000. It had been priced as high as $799,000 during its 600 days on the market. It was constructed by Blake Builders
Maxey Custom Homes sold two properties which appear to be short sales:
26694 Boulder Bay Drive sold for $375,000. It was originally listed for$625,000 in August 2007 with a price eventually rising to $685,000 before various reductions led to a final asking price of $535,000 at the time of sale.
18174 Baldwin Drive in Bradford Shores sold for $364,736. It was originally listed at $629,000 in September of 2008, and was priced at $559,900 at the time of sale.
23077 Keifer Way sold for $146,000 with $5,000 in seller concessions. It was a foreclosure that appears to have been built by Place Builders.
1332 Penn Ave in Mishawaka sold for $110,000 with $3,000 in seller concessions. It was a foreclosure previously owned by Cleland Builders. It was originally listed for $139,900 in August of 2008.
Weiss Homes sold four houses all of which appear to be normal sales:
6819 Lutz Dr in Lafayette Falls at $210,440
1526 Gauley River Dr in Ridgemont Crossing at $199,229
1327 Slater Drive in Lafayett Falls at $186,587
51578 Audubon Woods Dr in Audubon Woods at $153,200
Have Questions? Need Help?
That’s the most detailed and most current market data you’ll find for the South Bend Area (South Bend, Mishawaka, Granger and the areas near Notre Dame). But honestly it’s still not good enough to base an informed decision about buying or selling property upon. Even if you are just curious about a certain neighborhood or market segment and especially if you need to make a financial decision related to real estate – call us. We’ll talk to you openly and honestly and never lock you in to working with us.
On this web-site, I often write about homes that are expensive for the area. But one of the draws of South Bend is that it doesn’t have the housing prices of Boston or San Francisco… there are homes available at almost every price point from $5,000 to $2,000,0000.
As you would expect, most homes at the lowest price points have flaws. But there are exceptions. Notably, non-profit agencies can offer surprising deals. And the Near Northwest Neighborhood Association is one that does.
The Near Northwest Neighborhood Association works only in a defined location, but offers what might be the best homes for the price available in or near South Bend. There is a catch – to buy the homes you have to meet income guidelines which are currently $14,500 to $38,650 for a family of two. The homes also carry deed restrictions so when you sell one, your buyer must meet the income guidelines in place at the time of the sale. Finally, you must live in the house – you can’t buy it and rent it out.
The Near Northwest Neighborhood Association rehabs several homes each year, and sells them below cost in an effort to draw long term residents to the neighborhoods. They do nice work and go far beyond carpet and paint; the homes have new mechanicals, new windows, tile and wood floors and updated electrical service. Graduate students often qualify for the homes, and more than a few of the rehabbed homes have sold to families furthering their education at local institutions.
Currently, the Near Northwest Neighborhood Association has five homes for sale in their boundaries:
My pick of their current batch for sale is 508 Lindsey. It has four bedrooms plus an office and is across the street from a firehouse that has been converted to stage for the South Bend Civic Theater. It also has the shortest period with deed restrictions, which last five years at this house. The other homes have 15 year deed restrictions.
The homes are in an urban setting and won’t work for everyone. Some don’t have garages and others are next to less attractive homes. But they are generally large homes in excellent condition. They are also priced low enough to raise eyebrows. Students who don’t want to remain sequestered near campus might do well to consider them.
