Bidding wars for a $2 million house?

Not here, not quite yet, but;
In some markets, sales of high-end homes return to levels not seen since the boom.

From WSJ.com
Luxury Sales Bounce Back

After a near-disastrous 2009, the luxury market appears to be making a comeback, driven by growing buyer confidence, improved financing conditions and more-realistic seller pricing. Despite the housing downturn, attractively priced homes in some of the nation's most coveted neighborhoods are selling, sometimes fast and sometimes with multiple offers. Nationwide, sales of homes selling for $2 million to $5 million in the first quarter totaled 2,461, up 32% from a year before, says CoreLogic.

That sales are up from last year shouldn't come as a big surprise. The shock of the financial panic in the fall of 2008 left many potential buyers too nervous to bid, and those who were willing to wade in found it hard to get financing. But a study for The Wall Street Journal by MDA DataQuick, a real-estate data provider, found that in some areas of the country, sales of homes over $2 million in the first quarter were actually on par with the levels of 2005, the peak year for existing-home sales volume nationwide.

In San Francisco, 49 homes sold for $2 million or more in this year's first quarter, according to the study, compared to 47 in 2005. In Manhattan, there were 402 sales of $2 million or more in the latest quarter, compared with 311 in the first quarter of 2005, according to the appraisal firm Miller Samuel Inc. Other areas with strong rebounds included New York's Hamptons, Menlo Park, Calif., and Beverly Hills.

Read all about it> Luxury Sales Bounce Back
(if the linked page requires a subscription to read the entire article, just google the title - Luxury Sales Bounce Back - and follow that link)

If luxury home sales continue to improve in these other larger cities, in 4 to 6 months, we’ll begin seeing stronger luxury sales here in the Tucson Foothills. I betcha.

see thefoothillsToday.com
to find your Tucson Foothills home

Comments

[Craig]

On second thought, I retract that remark. No need for me to go stoking a subjective debate about the relative desirability of subdivisions.

[Craig]

Stuart:

I think John did a great job of addressing your question by explaining his broader point, but in answer to one of your (rhetorical) sub-questions -- I think the listing and sales prices reflect a general consensus that Alta Vista is more desirable than Catalina Foothills Estate #7 because it is higher up in the foothills.

[john schneider]

Stuart, I'm not talking about Tucson. I'm talking about the Catalina Foothills. And that is a single area. Which, until the bust, and well before the boom, was one of hot demand. Albeit that demand became white-hot during the boom. But that's true of all those areas, SF, LA, including Bev Hills and the Gold Coast. And they too fell flat on their faces during the bust. But when luxury homes start selling in those and other areas - including NJ, Seattle, Minn - those sellers will then have the wherewithal to buy here. Many of them already have the desire.

In any case, at this point, I only look forward to "seeing stronger luxury sales here in the Tucson Foothills". Not hot bidding,

[Stuart Pikert]

In a few areas where there is some scarcity of luxury homes on the market in areas that are extremely attractive there will be some heated buying activity. But, as for Tucson and Phoenix that is not the case. There is not one single area that stands out uniquely for example in Tucson....who is to say that Finistera is better than Ventana or Alta Vista is better than Catalina #7...or Pima Canyon Estates is the best place to look for a home. All of these areas are attractive...but you are talking about over 100 luxury homes (one million dollars and up )on the market today. This is not the Gold Coast in Chicago...a single area of hot demand...or Beverly Hills in California. So don't expect hot bidding to occur in our area for the next year or two...and that is assuming that we somehow come out of our major recession in one piece.

Stuart