No, not here.
But in a number of metro areas across the U.S. bidding wars are making a comeback.
Bidding Wars Return to Home Market
This time, the battles are prompted by too few homes offered for sale,
not easy-to-get mortgages
From WSJ.com
By Kris Hudson
the following are excerpts from the article; JS
Bidding wars, a hallmark of last decade’s housing boom, are making a comeback in a number of metro areas across the U.S. But while the earlier wars reflected enthusiasm fueled by easy-money mortgages, the current froth stems from a market short of homes for sale.
The reasons for the scant supply are myriad, including a much-slower-than-expected recovery in home construction. Yet an equally significant problem is that millions of people aren’t listing their homes for sale because they suspect they can’t qualify for a new mortgage, can’t afford the costs associated with a sale or fear that they won’t prevail in the scrum for the few houses available.
At the end of May, there were 2.3 million existing U.S. homes for sale, enough supply to last 5.1 months at the current sales pace. That is below the six to seven months of supply that the National Association of Realtors says is needed for a balanced market.
(we also have a 5 month supply of homes in the Catalina Foothills)
But in more than one-third of the 300 largest metropolitan areas tracked by Realtor.com, homes listed for sale in June had been on the market for a median of less than two months. A low median figure indicates rapid turnover in inventory as demand for homes exceeds supply.
(the 426 homes listed for sale in the Catalina Foothills have been on the market for a median of 110 days)
Read all about it; Bidding Wars Return to Home Market
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And except for the occasional foreclosure bidding wars are extremely rare in our Catalina Foothills market. But we already know that, it’s not news.
What really popped out at me is the median list price of homes in the 25 frothiest markets. Take Santa Rosa, Calif. at $580,000;
So the median list price in Santa Rosa - a suburb of SF that is awash in tech companies and therefore in high paying jobs - is just a smidge (4%) higher than the median list price ($559,000) of homes in the Catalina Foothills. And, yes, I’m sure that $559,000 buys a helluva lot more house here than there, but that’s not the point. The point is our prices are in the big leagues but we don’t have the jobs to feed the till. And look at Seattle, Denver, Portland, San Diego, etc.
Believe me, I understand that many people come here for reasons other than jobs – for 2nd homes, for retirement, to get away from it all. And this is a great place to do it, but looking at that list of prices sure makes our numbers look steep and perhaps helps explain why home prices in the foothills are rising so stubbornly. Because so many of our purchases are discretionary purchases, 2nd homes, retirement homes - luxuries that, unlike homes near good paying jobs, buyers can do without.
see TheFoothillsToday.com
to find your very own Catalina Foothills Home
