Michigan Tries Tax Break Help For Homebuyers [Housing Tracker]

House Sales and Price Data

The Manhattan Inventory Argument. “Appraiser Jonathan Miller’s best guess on how many residential apartment units there are here in Manhattan… is about 300,000 total units; that is all co-ops + condos. Remember, condops are co-ops with condo rules/bylaws… UrbanDigs Charts [show] total active inventory for Manhattan at about 7,763 right now. This would mean that only 2.5% of the total apartments in Manhattan are currently listed for re-sale (assuming 300K total residential units + 850K total rental units… Hardly a market that has a glut of inventory! Fierce seller competition… is hardly what I am seeing right now in Manhattan.” (Urban Digs, June 4th)

Positive Real Estate Changes in the Air. Michigan: “In response to the sub-prime fiasco, local and state officials, as well as MAR and other real estate professionals, have already taken measures to improve matters, including the April 8 passage of the Principal Residence Exemption, Public Act 96, which will give homeowners who had to move and can’t sell their old house a tax break in that they can claim two principal residences as long as they meet certain requirements: The home must be on the market; it can’t be leased or used for commercial purposes; it must be for sale; and the homeowner must reside in Michigan.” (CANDG News.com, June 4th)

HWMI Key Indicator Alert--Week of 6/02/08. “The housing market may be stabilizing… We may be getting close [to the bottom.] Positive permits and housing starts data was followed by a rare up-tick for new home sales in April. While April was the first time in over a year that single-family building permits posted a monthly gain, it was also the first time since October 2007 that new home sales posted an increase. However, the gain could be attributed to aggressive price cuts by builders in an attempt to undercut the resale market. We continue to see positive fundamental changes in the new homes market like declining inventory levels and improved affordability levels.” (Big Builder Online, June 3rd)

Homes: Buy One, Get One Free! “A San Diego developer recently offered a "buy one, get one free" promotion on homes in Southern California. From a recent article at 10news.com: Michael Crews Development is offering new, 2000-square foot cityscape row-homes worth $400,000 in Escondido for free -- if you buy one Royal View Estate home in San Pasqual Valley starting at $1.6 million.” (Bespoke Investment Group in Seeking Alpha, June 3rd)

Vegas Condo Developer Takes On the Media. “The CEO of Las Vegas-Based Gemstone Development, Alex Edelstein has created a new blog called Frothing Developer to right the media's wrongs. "If you read and believe all of the negative stories in the traditional media and vulture blogs, it's easy to get a skewed perspective on what's really happening in the economy and the housing markets today--particularly in the local Las Vegas market," said Edelstein… Edelstein claims to be thriving on the perceived economic pullback, savoring the leverage it gives him to get his costs down and his developments completed quickly.” (Big Builder Online, June 3rd)

R.I. Home Sales, Prices See Double-Digit Declines In April. The Warren Group: “Sales of single-family homes in Rhode Island fell 18% and the median selling price fell 11% as the slide in the real estate market continued in April. The median price of a single-family home dropped from $270,000 in April 2007 to $239,500 in April 2008. The number of condo sales plunged 38%, but prices of condos ticked up from $223,500 in April 2007 to $227,000 a year later. Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, says that with prices as they are, it's possible first-time home buyers will see an opportunity to buy. But he adds there's no evidence that's happened yet.” (Boston.com, June 3rd)

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Comments

[fatcat:]

judy,love your articles,really gives a broad reach to this problem.I'm in the raleigh nc area and we're not seeing as many problems..Yet..

2008 Jun 05 04:46 PM

[SA Editor J...:]

Dear Fatcat,

Thanks for the good word!

I'm glad to hear you aren't facing much trouble in Raleigh. I recently read an article quoting Robert Toll, CEO of Toll Brothers, who rated the Charlotte, N.C. homebuilding market an F-minus. And then there was an article I read yesterday about how the homebuilder NVR might start to see more pain because it's markets are now slumping like the rest of the U.S. investerms.com/top_new...

Up until now Charlotte has been pretty strong, so I wondered if the general tide was turning in North Carolina. I'm glad to hear that it isn't-- and hope that it won't.

So tell me, as a native, why do you think N.C. has held up so well until now?

Just curious...

Thanks,

Judy

2008 Jun 05 04:59 PM

[billddrummer:]

Judy,

I'm a transplant from NC (Greensboro), and I think part of the reason Raleigh has held up well is because it didn't experience the rapid runup in values that plagued Charlotte. Housing in Raleigh is quite affordable and the town was recently ranked the top destination for young professionals buy bizjournal.com

www.bizjournals.com/sp...

One of the most interesting statistics to me is the median rent. Median rent for Raleigh is $619/month, far below the median rent for Charlotte. Now, I don't know whether the median rent translates directly into home values, but the idea makes some sense--lower rents for apartments depresses pressure on home prices, whether renting or buying.

Just a thought....

2008 Jun 06 12:35 PM

[sjdiii:]

Here in the Tampa Bay area we are still hurting pretty bad. Foreclosures are increasing and current inventory is still very high. I have had a town home on the market for two plus years despite a 25% drop in price. Have had a lot of interest from potential buyers who are all trying to sell homes. In my opinion it will be several more years before it starts to turn around in our area.

2008 Jun 06 02:03 PM