Heights Home Sales-January 2014

Heights Home Sales

I haven’t shown a sales chart in a while, because it’s like a stuck record (I’ll bet people under 30 won’t even know what that means.)…Strong, strong, strong.
The chart below shows monthly home sales in the Heights, but what it doesn’t show is demand. If there was more inventory out there, sales would be stronger yet.

I have a couple of clients who have made offers on more than one house, only to lose out to full-price (or greater) cash offers. I have a couple of others who are tired of the bidding war and are sitting it out for a while. So, to call it a Seller’s Market still doesn’t adequately describe it.
There were 50 homes sold in January, compared to 35 last year.This data doesn’t mean much by itself. Some critical points:

A Bargain Not To Be Seen Again – ANC Homes

Of the 50 homes sold, 10 were new construction. The cheapest new home sold was for $279K. This was built by ANC Homes on W19th. I was shocked that a new house could still be found at that price, and it turns out it can’t! This home and several others were put under contract 10 months ago. Linda Marshall is the Realtor for these and said the construction was bogged down by the permitting process and construction labor shortage.  Even though under contract for $279.9K,  they appraised for >$330K. The new ones planned, because of land prices will be much more.
Another interesting sale: A little tear-down house in Brooke Smith (832 SF on a 5000 SF lot) listed for $139K, but sold for $170K. This shows how much land prices have escalated in this part of the Heights too.

See my recent post on Brooke Smith.
These are definitely interesting times. See my Chart of Heights Home Sales below:

This Heights Sales Chart Does Not Give Full Picture.