Here’s a snapshot of the foreclosure market in St. Joseph County (primarily South Bend / Mishawaka / Granger) for the first quarter of 2012.

There were 131 such foreclosures sold, but just 12 at $100k+. Here are all the recorded sales prices:

Click on the images below for interactive maps with details. You’ll need to zoom in to South Bend as a few addresses mapped incorrectly. You can ignore the markers out of the state. Once you are in the area, you can click the icons for addresses, prices and links to details of homes for sale.

Everything

There were 131 sales of foreclosed homes recorded in the area’s MLS between January 1 and March 31.
There were 106 foreclosed homes listed for sale in the area’s MLS when I pulled the data on April 19.

Foreclosures in St. Joseph County that sold Jan 1 – March 31 and all foreclosures listed for sale

Only those over $50k

36 foreclosures sold over $50k in St. Joseph County January 1 – March 31 and 43 foreclosures are listed for sale at $50k+

If you’re looking to buy a South Bend area house at a price over $100k, you won’t find many foreclosed options, just 24 are listed for sale at the time I write this. If you’re willing to deal with the uncertainty and slow responses that are part of buying a short sale you’ll find more choices by including those in your search – there are 107 short sales for sale now and 28 of them are priced at $100k+.

And there are well-priced homes included in homes that are neither foreclosures nor short sales. There are 946 houses for sale over $100k in the county right now. Limiting your search to the five or six percent of these homes that are short sales or foreclosures may not be the best way to get a good buy. It may take filtering out some overpriced homes, and even writing some low offers, but considering all types of housing is a smart choice before you buy.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

I have a friend who sells used cars. I love talking to him about his work because I don’t know anything about cars and the industry seems to be as distrusted, cobbled together and disjointed as real estate but he does what he can to work honestly and educate his clients. Gap insurance, warranties, blue book? I don’t know much about any of these, but when I need a car, I’ll call him because I trust him. This is educational for me because thinking about buying a car puts me in the same vulnerable and unschooled position from which many of my clients come to me.

And real estate is anything but transparent. Since 2006 when I began working to help people buy and sell homes in South Bend I have been consistently surprised by how convoluted and opaque the home buying / selling process can be.

So I’m working to explode the myths, shine light in the dark corners and generally talk straight about the quirks, embedded bad habits and lack of precise language that confuse the general public and can make buying or selling a home an intimidating process.

My first topic: The “Sold” sign.

Few lines are cleaner than the one that separates “sold” from “for sale.” Was there an exchange? Was there payment and delivery? With complicated transactions like real estate sales, there is a half-step where the parties agree on terms, but the sale has not yet occurred…a pending sale.

But pending is not sold. Buyers and sellers agree to contracts that are never completed for any number of reasons: inspections reveal latent defects, buyers fail to qualify for financing, properties fail to appraise for the contract price, and people simply change their mind. Transactions can and do fall apart – that’s why contingencies and earnest money exist.

However it is common for Realtors and developers to say a property is sold before it has. In fact, if you see a “sold” sign, you can safely roll your eyes and consider it misleading, imprecise language. When a house is listed for sale it commonly gets a “for sale” sign planted in the yard. Just before it actually sells, the Realtor who worked for the seller takes it down or the new owner throws it away. But often, after the seller accepts an offer and the sale is pending, the seller’s Realtor will put a “sold” sign in front of the house. The property hasn’t sold, there has been no exchange of cash for keys, and the deal could fail to close for any number of reasons.

There are several reasons someone might put up a Sold sign before it is justified. Realtors look at it as free advertising – a sold sign in front of a house in a neighborhood a Realtor wants more business in is good free advertising. A developer who wants a project to look further along than it is might want to boost the number of  ”sold” properties.

But don’t be misled. If you see a sold sign in front of a house, it isn’t. And it’s a relic of a mindset that isn’t scrupulous about ensuring that the image presented to the public is complete and accurate. If you’re buying or selling a home, you can make the choice to work with people who respect your ability to make informed decisions and will answer your questions candidly and with the best data available. Or you can go with the status quo. Shop around… you’ll suffer or succeed based on your decisions.

Newly built homes near Notre Dame are effectively a shadow market because many sell outside of the MLS, the database Realtors have easy access to and generally the source of their statistics and sales histories. (The Greater South Bend – Mishawaka MLS is the source of data I use for my monthly sales reports).

New construction near Notre Dame isn’t simple to track: street names change from planning to construction, the County is slow assigning parcel numbers, builders finish buildings before recording plat maps, developers are coy with sales prices and it generally takes time and patience to get complete and accurate information. Because of this, many people don’t realized the number of sales or register the dollar volume involved in this niche market – even those who pay close attention to real estate in South Bend. But, fortunately for my clients, I’m a bit of a data geek so I love delving into the prices, floorplans, quirks and qualities of the various communities.  I also went to journalism school, which seems to have drilled me into wanting to share everything I learn with the world at large.

That said, here are the sales prices of the newer homes near Notre Dame in maintenance-free communities – the communities that have been popular as second homes, vacation homes, student homes and investments. They are mostly condos and townhomes (the 3-story rowhouse has been especially popular and heavily built in this market), but I’ve included Pendle Woods, a community of detached ranch-style villas because it has a neighborhood association that cuts the grass, takes care of the snow, and generally makes it suitable for a lock and leave lifestyle.

I went back to 2005, when Dublin Village and Pendle Woods were first launching the Notre Dame second home boom. These are verified, closed sales, based on St. Joseph County records and local MLS data. It’s not every sale, but I believe I have most of the sales and accurate prices. It’s a good overview of the Notre Dame second home market at a glance.

Sale Price of Notre Dame Condos by Community

Map of Notre Dame Condo/Townhouse Communities Built After 2005

Want to talk with someone who knows the homes near Notre Dame? Contact me – I don’t bite, spam or try to lock you into a contract.

There are records in the Greater South Bend – Mishawaka MLS for 286 sales totaling $33,621,366 closing in June 2011. That is up from the roughly $28m sold in May, but down from June 2010′s ~$40.2m. Note that June 2010 was the last month to have sales inflated by the homebuyer’s tax credit and June 2011 saw the highest sales volume since that month.

Here is the long term graph of monthly sales volume.

Here are all the June sales on a single graph. They are broken out by type of financing (conventional loan, FHA loan, cash purchase, etc.)

The high price sales were:

• 14234 Shoreline Drive in Granger’s Covington Shores, a 3809 square foot, 4 bedroom, 4+1 bath home that was listed for sale and sold at $600k.
   

• 2323 Topswood Lane in South Bend’s Topsfield, a 4,500 square foot, 5 bedroom, 4+2 bath home that was listed for sale in March 2010 at $623,900 and sold for $545,000 with $1,500 in seller concessions. It last sold in December 2001 at $430k.
   

• 1247 Notre Dame Ave in South Bend’s University Heights, a 3,776 square foot 6 bedroom, 5 bath home that was listed for sale in February 2011 at $900k and sold for $505,000.
   

• 18155 Baldwin Drive in South Bend’s Bradford Shores, a 2,311 square foot, 1 bedroom, 2+1 bath home (plus 2 bedrooms and 1 bath in a finished lower level), that was listed for sale in January 2011 at $539,900 and sold for $492,500
   

• 51580 Wexford Drive in Granger’s Waterford Green, a 2,990 square foot 4 bedroom, 3+1 bath home listed for sale in January 2011 at $445,000 that sold for $406k. It last sold in August 2008 for $423k
  

Despite the slowdown in the building of new homes, construction at the various Notre Dame condos continues. There is new activity at the Legends Row site, where condos will wrap the parking garage at Eddy Street Commons. Irish Crossings  is approaching its build-out. Ivy Quad is working on the second of three phases of development. Champions Way is making progress on building 6. Legacy Square is progressing after many delays.

I’ll post about the sales and availability at each of the communities in the coming weeks. Until then, here are some candid photos of the construction taken on June 20, 2011. Click on any photo for a much larger image.

Legends Row

Champions Way

Ivy Quad

Irish Crossings

Legacy Square

Google Maps and Earth recently updated their imagery of the South Bend Area, resulting in maps that show crisp and recent views of the new construction near Notre Dame. Most images appear to be from April 28, 2011. If you combine these new photos with Google Earth’s historical imagery, you can quickly get a sense of the growth of the area since 1998.

You can also create a striking series of images showing the construction of Eddy Street Commons or the condos near campus. For example, here are four screenshots of the area containing Ivy Quad, Irish Crossings, Wexford Place and the Irish Row Apartments.

April 1998

March 2005

October 2008

April 2011

These give a great 2,000 foot view of the area. If you want a more granular look at the housing options near Notre Dame, send me a note.