Listing price two years ago: $979,000. Listing price now: $599,000
"Mr. Diaz still thinks longingly of his first potential buyer, whose offer of $770,000 he turned down near the end of 2006.
“I should have taken it,” Mr. Diaz said, his voice echoing inside the empty home he visits every few days to clean. “I guess I was a little cocky, or stupid.”
An article in today's New York Times relates the dismal, “if only I had sold when,” situation many home sellers in South Florida now find themselves in. Pangs of Seller’s Remorse in Miami Market
"It flew the highest and the farthest during the boom days, and now it is falling the hardest,” said Michael D. Larson, a real estate analyst with Weiss Research. The Case-Shiller index reported last week that prices of previously owned single-family homes in Miami fell by 28.3 percent over the last year.
While our little downturn here in the Tucson Foothills doesn't amount to a hill of beans compared to the south Florida market - prices here are down just 5.9% from last year - there is one striking similarity. There are many home sellers in the Tucson Foothills who now find themselves in the same " if only I had ...." situation as those in Florida.
There are many homes for sale today in the Foothills - including some that I offered a price opinion on, but didn't list because the seller believed they could get more - that are now, after multiple price reductions, listed below what they should have easily sold for a year or two ago.
I don't know if prices will fall further here in the Foothills or not.
But looking at the market, it seems unlikely they are going to go up anytime soon. So far this year, the number of homes sold is down 16% from last year and 27% from 2006. While the inventory of homes for sale is up, and the number of homes that have been listed for sale for a year or more is growing. And the % of sold price/list price is down, indicating that sellers continue to expect more while buyers (who control the market) are sitting tight until they can get it for less. And we're still stuck, with no end in sight, in this shaky mortgage situation, that makes it tougher to get money if you do want to buy a home. It's not Miami, but it' not a rosy outlook either.
If you're selling your home, I suggest you read this article and take it to heart, and don't let it happen to you.
Pangs of Seller’s Remorse in Miami Market
see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes