“Real estate sales are up!”,  ”The Spring Market has arrived!”,  ”The Economy is on track for a recovery!” Every year about this time I see these breathless headlines, roll my eyes, and run through the news story or article cataloging what significant details the author missed – the change to tax policy or qualified mortgages, that foreclosures aren’t down because fewer homeowners are delinquent but are on hold while banks sort out the paperwork –  and the lack of or misrepresentation of the source data. But this year, in this market, sales spiked considerably in March, and it seems to be a genuine bounce.

In March 2012, in the Greater South Bend – Mishawaka MLS (search it here), there are records for 273 sales that add up to about $29.2 million. For comparison, March 2011 records show 201 sales for about $20.4 million. Those are increases of about 36% by number and 43% by dollars. They are more in line with what April/May sales were last year. So the question becomes “Is this the start of a more lively market than the past few years or could it be that the regular Spring bounce has started earlier this year since the weather broker sooner?” It’s going to take a few months to know.  Remember that it is not smart to base major financial decisions on one month’s data.

Here is the long term graph showing sales volume month by month back to 2001:

 

It was a good month for high end homes within the city of South Bend. The most expensive sales in St. Joseph County generally tend to be in Granger, with a few high dollar sales in Mishawaka, South Bend, or other areas rounding out the mix. But in March the the 3 highest dollar sales, and 4 of the 5 priciest homes sold were in South Bend, in Deer Run, on Notre Dame Avenue, and in Ridgedale/Twyckenham Hills:

• 3341 Deer Lake at $735k
• 914 Notre Dame Avenue at $729k
• 1211 Eckman at $625k
• 2810 Marine at $500k

Here are all the March 2012 sales prices at a glance:

March saw 5  sales close at $500k+ bringing the number of sales over the half million dollar point to 9 for the first quarter of 2012. In the first quarter of 2011 there was just one sale at this price point and in 2010 there were 3.

More sales and more high price sales is a good sign for sellers. But it’s too early to draw conclusions from this as there are still many problems impacting housing markets. I’ll stop at the statistics here. If you want my predictions or advice, you’ll have to call me to talk.

 

{ 0 comments }

Here are the recent sales recorded in the Greater South Bend Mishawaka MLS (search it here)

• January: 148 sales, totaling just over $14 million.
• February: 161 sales, totaling about $15.8 million.

Distressed sales, which I’ll define as disclosed foreclosures or short sales, are a significant but not overwhelming piece of the market. In these two months they accounted for about 1 in 3 sales and about 20% of the dollars sold.

Here is a scatter graph showing all the sales at a glance.

 

And here is the long term sales graph, which lets you easily compare sales volume to past years

 

2012 is starting off at a slightly faster pace than the last few years, but until we see numbers for March and April it’s not very useful to make predictions for the year. From what I’ve seen so far this year, it appears sellers who can wait are doing just that. There are fewer new Spring listings than in past years. And while buyers with vision will find many options, there is a shortage of polished, updated homes that don’t need any work at all. It’s not as extreme as Redfin’s Geln Kelman describes in larger markets, but if you have a turnkey home in a popular South Bend or Granger neighborhood, you might be in a stronger position as a seller than you’d think just listening to the news about foreclosures and fraud.

Have a question about South Bend real estate? Put it in the comments or send me a note.

 

{ 2 comments }

In 2011, there were just under 2,700 real estate sales recorded in the Greater South Bend – Mishawaka MLS, which total just over $295 million altogether. Here is the long term sales graph which plots that by month, and a scatter graph that shows all the sales at a glance, broken down by type of financing.

     

High Priced Real Estate Sales in South Bend and Granger

Almost none of the sales were over $600,000 – in fact just eight exceeded that amount. If you take the 135 costliest purchases in 2011, that creates a list of the top 5% of sales. It effectively starts at $300,000, which is a fair definition of the high end market in the South Bend Area. That 5% of sales by number accounted for about 19% of sales by volume. And within it, there are just a handful of neighborhoods that had more than just a sale or two.

In Granger, they were:

• Woodland Hills, with 7 sales at an average of $681,129
• Covington Shores, with 16 sales at an average of $427,813
• Fox Chase, with 10 sales at an average of $405,900
• Copperfield, with 3 sales at an average of $371,667
• Wild Wing, with 3 sales at an average of $361,667
• Quail Ridge/South, with 6 sales at an average of $348,217
• Saddlebrook, with 4 sales at an average of $344,750
• Waterford Green, with 7 sales at an average of $328,429
• Quail Valley, with 4 sales at an average of $322,100

And in South Bend:

• Erskine Manor, with 3 sales at an average of $434,667
• Ridgedale, with 3 sales at an average of $359,167
• Irish Crossings (resales): with 3 sales at an average of $357,500 – this doesn’t include new construction sales that closed outside the MLS.

Distressed Real Estate Sales in South Bend – Foreclosures and Short Sales

The distressed market of foreclosures and short sales was also quite significant in 2011. Together they accounted for about 26% of sales by number of sales and about 13% of sales by volume.

Foreclosures

There were 611 foreclosures sold and entered into the MLS in 2011. They closed at prices from $1,000 to $420,000 and include everything from rural homes on 20 acres to a townhouse near Notre Dame to 2007/8 built homes in new developments.

Of the sales, 215 sold at or above list price.
312 sold at 95% or greater of list price
just 85 sold for less than 80% of list price
473 were cash sales

Here are all the foreclosures at a glance by price and by location

     

There are 121 foreclosures listed for sale as I write this, photos and details here. (It will be live for about 90 days. If you find this after it expires, contact me for an update).

Short Sales

There were 97 short sales sold and entered into the MLS in 2011. They closed at prices from $8,000 to $325,000.

Of the sales, 21 sold at or above list price
just 14 sold for less than 80% of list price
40 were cash sales

Here are all the short sales at a glance by price

There are 149 short sales listed for sale as I write this, photos and details here. (It will be live for about 90 days. If you find this after it expires, contact me for an update).

 Have questions or need specific info?

That’s a brief summary of real estate sales in and around South Bend, Mishawaka and Granger Indiana in 2011 and a few important niche markets. If you are interested in South Bend real estate and want customized analysis or just a quick answer to a question – e.g. “what is for sale near Notre Dame under $200,000 and how does it compare to what has sold in the past?” or “What neighborhoods have older homes that are in good shape and a location that makes for an easy commute to downtown South Bend?” or “What’s Granger?”- e-mail me at nick@realst8.com. I’d be happy to talk with you and if I’m not the person to help you I can probably put you in touch with someone who can.

 

 

{ 0 comments }

There are records in the Greater South Bend – Mishawaka MLS for 252 sales totaling about $31,918,657 in July 2011. That is down from about $33.6 million that sold in June 2011 but up from July 2010′s ~$24.5m

 

Here are all the July sales on a single graph, broken out by type of financing.

and here they are by location

 

The high price sales were all on water:

• 51499 Autumn Ridge Drive in Granger’s Woodland Hills at $550k. It was listed at $584,900 in April.

• 817 Estates Place in Mishawaka’s Barrington Estates sold for $685k. It was listed at $1.1m in Feb 2009.

• 14255 Avery Point in Granger’s Covington Shores at $760k. It was listed at $997,500 in May.

• 51665 Ashton Court in Granger’s Woodland Hills at $765k. It was listed at $839k in May.

 

There were also a several noteworthy condo sales in July:

• The first resale at Irish Crossings, 54658 Burdette at $307,500. It originally sold for $342,599 in November, 2007.
• The first resale at Wexford Place, 1744 Willis at $295,000. It originally sold for $305,591 in July 2007.
• The sale of 1525 Oak Hill Drive at $97,000. I featured this condo when it came on the market in January and its sale marks the first Oak Hill condo to change hands for less than $100k since May 2005.
• The sale of 1556 Oak Hill Drive at $160,000. This property consists of two condos that were built as one when the development was constructed in 1988 and it is the largest condo at Oak Hill. It last sold for $220,000 in March of 2007.
• The sale of 524 Kamm Island Place in the Townes at Kamm Island, for $372,418. This appears to be the 11th sale in the riverfront Mishawaka community that I first highlighted when it was new in 2008.

{ 2 comments }