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The March Real Estate Market

15/4/2011

THE HOUSE MARKET OVERALL

“In like a lion and out like a lamb”: one of the common sayings about March weather.

If your observations confirmed it this March, chalk one up for the proverb. But if March did something else, don’t totally reject the proverb – it might turn out to be true next year.

And just like the weather, so is the housing market: variable, full of surprises, and it might even be changing. – Who would have guessed?

“In like Lion” is true so far - February sales data were baffling because they were so strong, and March continued that trend.

Looking at the three counties, Palm Beach had a slight increase (+3%) in list prices and a 44% increase in sold homes, albeit with an 8% decrease in selling prices. But: the disconnect between seller’s wishful thinking and buyer’s acceptance rose by 19 points to 189, the highest number since this number was recorded (2006).

Broward County was a bit more civil, with list prices up a fraction, a decreased disconnect, sales increasing by 23% and selling prices increasing by 3%. Buyers perhaps rewarded less greed?

Finally, Miami-Dade county fared even better with an 8% increase in selling prices combined with a 22% increase in sales.

The numbers:

    * Houses for sale: 24,345
    * Inventory: 7 months (-28.6%)
    * Median list price: $288,950 (+2.7%)
    * Median list price per sf: $141
    * Houses sold last month: 3276 (+32.9%)
    * Median selling price: $172,667 (no change)
    * Median selling price per sf: $95 (no change)

(Percent changes are month-over-month)

House inventory - list prices - selling prices, Southeast Florida, Mar 2010 - Mar 2011

(SFH data Feb 2010 to Feb 2011. Red: median list price, green: median selling price, blue: inventory in months. Data source: SEF-MLS)

THE MODERN HOME MARKET

It is time for the regular disclaimer/explanation how the modern-stats on this page are collected:

Data for all sold houses are reliable and for an MLS-participant (means for a Realtor®) easily accessible from the SEF-MLS.

In contrast, sales data for modern houses are much more difficult to come by, because the MLS does not allow filtering for modern architecture.

Therefore, all statistics for modern architecture rely on observed data, and those observations, coming from no less than seven MLS-searches, are very time-intensive and occasionally more art than science.

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As always, Tobias invites your comments and questions. And thank you for reading this page.

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Three Modern Home Demolition Alerts in NC

4/4/2011

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Headed for destruction unless quickly purchased, you can buy one of these livable works of art and keep it from doom.

Alert 1: Are you the ultimate tinkerer? Good with tools? Want a house for $14,000? The Collins Street Lustron in Nashville NC, less than an hour from Raleigh, is owned by the church next door which needs a new parking lot.

This classic 1950’s prefab house will be carted off to the dump within two weeks unless you act now. The demolition contractor hired recently by the church, Lane Johnson, has become a big Lustron fan and has offered a short “stay of execution.” Lane will painstakingly disassemble the modular Lustron (like an erector set) and put it on a truck for $14,000. That’s an entire house, delivered to you, for the cost of a car. He’ll even get you the assembly manual. Bring this bad boy to your backyard! For more information, contact Tobias please.

Above: home by Lustron, $14,000. Below: home by Voorhees, $269,000

Modern home in Raleigh, NC, by Tobias Kaiser, modern architecture specialist

Alert 2: It takes a special kind of person to design and build their own home from scratch, and [Raleigh] city planner John Voorhees did just that in 1961.

2727 North Mayview is wildly central inside Raleigh, just off Brooks Avenue. You could not get a better location.

The owners have put the property on the market as a lot, which means certain death for this unique Modernist home. I spoke with the listing agent, and no doubt about it, the house needs some work but can be saved by the right person. $269,900. For more information, contact Tobias please.

Alert 3: As reported earlier, News 14 Carolina picked up our national preservation alert for A.G. Odell’s Lassiter House in Charlotte, NC.

Steel beams support the roof and eliminate the need for load-bearing interior walls, thereby enabling large open spaces to predominate throughout the interior.

A particularly ingenious scheme was an arrangement whereby the dining table could be set in the kitchen, complete with food and adornments, and slid through the wall into the dining room. Appeared in Better Homes and Gardens September 1956. Charles McMurray did an addition in the 1970's. Included a saltwater pool at one point. In need of major renovations.

Unless sold, this unique modernist house will be demolished in June. 3 BR, 2.5 baths, $785,000.

Watch the video, and contact Tobias for more information please.
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Via T riangle Modernist Houses

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THE MODERNIST ANGLE

The March Real Estate Market

Three Modern Home Demolition Alerts in NC

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