Reno Fine Homes Blog

Posted by Maureen Loeb, REALTOR® with RE/MAX Realty Affiliates

Many Buyers are sitting on the fence, waiting to buy at the bottom of the market.  Although this sounds like a sound strategy, it may not be the optimal approach.  The first problem is determining the timing of the bottom of the market.  In realty the bottom can only be identified after it has occurred making it difficult to strike at that exact moment.  Next, once the bottom has been proclaimed there will be lots more competition for the most desirable homes. So, instead of waiting and hoping to catch the market’s bottom I suggest the following strategy:

·         Make your best guess as to the earliest and latest dates the market will hit its bottom (i.e. 2 months to 6 months – this is your bottom time range.)

·         Find your dream home in your target neighborhood

·         Ask your agent to do a pricing trend analysis for that specific neighborhood and price ban for the bottom time range to determine the projected price decrease ban.

·         Make an offer using the projected price decrease ban to adjust your asking price.

By factoring in the future price decreases you can buy your dream home now with little competition and plenty of choices.  Have you ever seen a sensational dress in a store, but decide that you didn’t want to pay retail price, and would check back during a sale?  Most likely when you returned to the store the dress was gone.  Too bad you couldn’t use this strategy with Macys!  Don’t let that happen with you dram home!  Is it really a good deal if it isn’t exactly what you want?  Also, please keep in mind that in addition to being an investment, your home also is the place to raise your family, share holidays, and create memories.  Get ahead of the pack and get the house you’ve always wanted.

 

Technorati Tags: ArrowCreek real estate, Cauglin Ranch real estate, Montreux real estate, most expensive real estate, reno real estate, reno realty blog, Sadlehorn real estate

Posted by Maureen Loeb, REALTOR® with RE/MAX Central Realty

Of the 116 Million Dollar Plus homes sold in Washoe County thus far this year, 24, or 20.6% were sold at Montreux.  ArrowCreek and Old south Suburban tie for second place with 13 million dollar plus homes sold in both neighborhoods.  The following chart shows the number sold by neighborhood year to date for 2007.

Incline Villages leads the pack wit the highest price per square foot for million dollar plus homes sold at an average of $654.56/SF.  Montreux I sin second place with an average of $414.55/SF.  Lakeridge Shores was third with an average of $380.36/SF. The following chart shows the average price per square foot by neighborhood.

Check back for neighborhood spotlights coming soon!

Technorati Tags: ArrowCreek real estate, Caughlin Ranch, Cauglin Ranch real estate, Montreux real estate, most expensive real estate, reno real estate, reno realty blog, Sadlehorn real estate

Posted by Maureen Loeb, REALTOR® with RE/MAX Realty Affiliates

Much attention has been given to the slowing real estate market in Northern Nevada. However, upon closer examination, it’s apparent that the luxury home market has remained stable.  The following graph show the number of homes priced at  $1 million plus sold by quarter for 2006 and 2007.  A total of 143 million dollar plus homes were sold in 2006 averaging 11.9 per month.  107 millions dollar plus homes have been sold in 2007 for the 1^st three quarters in 2007 averaging 11.9 per month. The price per square foot has increased 5.5 % from an average of $329.56 in 2006 to $347.86 YTD in 2007.

There are several factors contributing to the luxury home market stability:

·         Most million dollar plus homes sold are custom homes thus reducing the impact of the Principle of Substitution.  Because of identical floor plans and similar upgrades, semi-custom/production homes are viewed more as commodities and can be more easily substituted for one another.

·         Many of the million dollar+ homes sold have wonderful views which still attract buyers.

·         Million dollar plus buyers are not impacted by the credit crunch as much as lower priced home buyers.  Many are paying cash for their homes.

Even with the number of homes sold remaining stable, and the price per square foot increasing, all is not well with this market segment.  Because of price appreciation over the past several years, more homes offered for sale are now falling within this price ban.  Currently there are 355 homes in Washoe County priced ? $1 million.  At an absorption rate of 12 homes being sold per month, this equates to almost 30 months of inventory (2 ½ years!). 

Technorati Tags: ArrowCreek, blog, estate, incline, luxury, Montreux, real, realty, Reno, Saddlehorn, village

Posted by Maureen Loeb, REALTOR® with RE/MAX Realty Affilates, 775-232-9020

The real estate market continues to struggle in Northern Nevada.  The medium price of homes sold fell from $352,000 in Sept., 2005 to $298,500 in Sept., 2007. This represents a decrease of 15.2%.

The number of homes sold also fell from 531 homes sold in Sept., 2005 to 225 sold in Sept., 2007. This represents a decrease of 57.6%.  At the end of September the residual inventory of single family homes for sale (on MLS) was 3,268 homes. This mounting inventory will most likely continue to drive prices down.

Data is courtesy of my Broker at RE/MAX Realty Affiliates and NNRMLS. It includes residential (site/stick built) single family homes in Washoe County.)

Technorati Tags: blog, estate, luxury, real, realty, Reno