Believe it or not, I've been busy the last couple of weeks. This weekend I've been fully booked with appointments, the first time that's happened in a couple of months. My colleagues at Catskills Buyer Agency have a full dance card this weekend, too. Chalk it up to a combination of factors — nice weather and an early popping spring, the stock market pickup over the last 2 weeks, pent up demand from the winter, and the perception that there are good values for savvy shoppers.
The buyers I've been talking with have been pretty wide ranging in what they're looking for, with a few notable gaps. Quite a few folks are asking about lakefront houses, which is common this time of year as thoughts turn to lakes with the good weather. But almost every lakefront shopper I'm talking with is looking at moderate priced lakefront, capping out about $400,000. It's starting to look like $400,000, not $500,000, is the "new black" for lakefront buyers looking for 3 BR lakefront houses. I've also gotten a few inquiries for lakefront cottage-sized houses in the low to mid $200,000 range. I haven't gotten one inquiry for "better" lakefront, e.g. Chapin or Black Lake, in the $1M+ range this month.
The other active category is non-lakefront second homes — farmhouses, vacation chalets and cabins — with most shoppers looking in the $150,000 to $225,000 range, sharply lower than the $200,000 to $300,000 range last fall. There have also been quite a few inquiries about houses people have found on the MLS search on my website under $75,000, which are often seasonals (only able to be used during the warmer months), handyman houses needed significant structural work, or "locationally compromised."
What's been notably absent are folks looking for non-lakefront second homes in the mid to upper mid range, between $250,000 and $450,000. That mid range has been a bread and butter core category here, and is eerly quiet right now. There are some very attractive houses on the market right now in that range, with some good deals to be cut, but just very little interest.
Not surprising that the upper end is slow.
Some price discovery in the Hamptons... 16 homes were auctioned. Two properties sold for 39% and 45% off list. The other fourteen properties did not receive bids above their reserve prices!
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03242009/news/regionalnews/a_great_grab_by_161097.htm
Posted by: henry | March 24, 2009 at 01:12 PM