[Rep]

I live in a small town in western Wisconsin. As I travel through my community I notice a lot of homes with for sale signs. In fact, many of these homes have had for sale signs in the front yard for over six months now.

Although one home just across the street from me recently did sell. Of course, the house was discounted 10% and I do not know what the final selling price was.

I am curious to know what is going on in your communities? Are people able to sell their homes? Are people able to purchase homes?

[iltos]

Originally Posted by Rep

I live in a small town in western Wisconsin. As I travel through my community I notice a lot of homes with for sale signs. In fact, many of these homes have had for sale signs in the front yard for over six months now.

Although one home just across the street from me recently did sell. Of course, the house was discounted 10% and I do not know what the final selling price was.

I am curious to know what is going on in your communities? Are people able to sell their homes? Are people able to purchase homes?

i live in southern california, in a small town at the fringes of the Los Angeles basin....housing prices here have always been among the highest in LA county, because the town is quaint and small...."far away", yet close to the job market....and it has a public school with high test scores

prices are falling, but still well inflated over those of three years ago...most the few vacant lots in town are either under construction or have been recently sold, and a lot of folks are sinking money into major improvements/remodels/additions.

at the same time, there are a lot of homes for sale....and the "for sale" signs are staying up a lot longer.

[angelize56]

We seem to have a lot of homes going into foreclosure....one of my neighbors lost her $77,000 home...it was bought through HUD for $6,000!! Wish I could find a house like that...I'm tired of renting!

[Mulderator]

I'm in the same market that iltos is in--very desirable area because of the location and great schools (south Orange County). Housing is slower, but still pretty good here--we seem to have been insulated from the drop that have occurred nationally but as iltos said, these homes around here are still significantly inflated in what I call "real value". Although from what I've read the market has bottomed out or is close to the bottom. But like all things there are pros and cons, this is a very good time to buy or to move up so its a good thing for first time buyers or those looking to move up in home size.

[GoneForNow]

The D.C. market is somewhat insular from the rest of the country. What we are seeing now, however is that homes are not selling as fast. Two years ago homes sold before the realtor had a chance to list them. When I sold a house almost three years ago I had 31 offers, several with escalator clauses. One of those had an open ended escalator clause. I sold the house 50 grand over the asking price. (God love great schools and great location!) Now homes are on the market usually a month before being sold and if the seller is asking a premium price they don't sell at all. There is more sanity to the market now.

New home sales on the other hand are hitting the skids. Problem for new home builders is they purchased the land at the height of the market that now results in very high home prices. Consequently, new home builders are offering all kinds of incentives (low rate mortgages, guarantee sale of your existing home, many high end options at a reduced price or no price etc) to move their inventory. We recently had a developer pull out of a high-end condo development of 400 condos (starting prices of million plus) resulting in the developer having to give back about 50 or so deposits. Just couldn't generate enough sales to justify going forward.

[Galium]

I live in NJ. The area I reside in is one of the most sought after in NJ. We live about 2 miles from a major highway that goes directly into NYC. Some people who work in NYC want to live in the country. When that road was finished we had housing boom here. People are buying and selling around here all the time.
Today my husband and I would never be able to afford our 3BR, 1Bath ranch. There are homes being built down the street from us with a price tag of $650,000 and up. Our little house is dwarfed by them.
Luckily there is a lot of farmland preservation happening here. This cuts back on new homes.

[angelize56]

About the Port Huron market....and faith!

Housing glut inspires faith
Sellers using everything from cash to saints to attract buyers

http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/p.../60929002/1002

I'd never heard of burying the St. Joseph's statues head-first like that!

[Wino]

Booming!! New, old. Prices holding up. Residential and commercial.

[Rep]

Originally Posted by iltos

i live in southern california, in a small town at the fringes of the Los Angeles basin....housing prices here have always been among the highest in LA county, because the town is quaint and small...."far away", yet close to the job market....and it has a public school with high test scores

prices are falling, but still well inflated over those of three years ago...most the few vacant lots in town are either under construction or have been recently sold, and a lot of folks are sinking money into major improvements/remodels/additions.

at the same time, there are a lot of homes for sale....and the "for sale" signs are staying up a lot longer.

My son and his wife live in El Segundo. This appears to be a town similar to yours, and possibly Mulders. It is located just south of LAX.

He and his mother moved out there when he was five, so in effect it is his hometown.

Although both he and his wife hold professional jobs they are unable to afford a home in the town where they grew up.

Of course, I always encourage them to move here.

[Mulderator]

Originally Posted by Wino

Booming!! New, old. Prices holding up. Residential and commercial.

A result of the excellent job Bush did in that state, no doubt!

[canndy]

Here in Montreal, our housing market is well just good for the rich man. The prices are rocketing and for a student like me that's not a good sign. Which is why many consider Alberta, but what they don't know is houses there to are rocketing!

[Mulderator]

Originally Posted by canndy

Here in Montreal, our housing market is well just good for the rich man. The prices are rocketing and for a student like me that's not a good sign. Which is why many consider Alberta, but what they don't know is houses there to are rocketing!

LOL! Well you can't have it both ways. Either there are a lot of rich people (which is a good thing) or the house prices can't be "rocketing"--someone has to be buying them and since the vast majority of homes are owned by lower to middle class people, then there is something wrong with your simplistic and politically motivated analysis of the housing sitation. No doubt you are a liberal and your response is precisely what Rep was looking for when he started this thread!

[Wino]

Originally Posted by Mulder

A result of the excellent job Bush did in that state, no doubt!

I blame Clinton.

[katonca]

I'm in the rust belt. It seems like there is one house for sale every other block. Prices are also falling. Due to loss of good paying jobs.

[iltos]

Originally Posted by Rep

My son and his wife live in El Segundo. This appears to be a town similar to yours, and possibly Mulders. It is located just south of LAX.

He and his mother moved out there when he was five, so in effect it is his hometown.

Although both he and his wife hold professional jobs they are unable to afford a home in the town where they grew up.

Of course, I always encourage them to move here.

that's not an uncommon story in southern california, rep .....recognition of it, and the fact that the demographics of this area are changing, is one of the reasons that many have sold out of the market and "californicated" other parts of the country.....you can take the person out of california....it's much more difficult to take the "developer" mentality that governs so much of the real estate market here out of the person.

such is "progress" (what i want to say is something akin to "none dare call it treason"), but that's downright blasphemous