So far, only 1 townhouse sold in 2009….
February 26th, 2009 | categories: Coconut Grove Townhouses
This townhouse on Orange Street is the only closed townhouse so far in 2009, it sold for $470,000. Shockingly, the sellers were asking over $800,000 back in 2005. The townhouse was new construction with 2,600 square feet of living space, 5 bedrooms, 3 baths and a garage. The neighbor next door paid $730,000 for the exact same townhouse in 2007.
The sale wasn’t technically a foreclosure or short sale, but there are rumors that the builder was under financial pressure to sell. Although an amazing deal, I do not believe that it is a true barometer of the townhouse market in Center Grove.
I do feel that Center Grove’s townhouse market is comparable to Miami’s condo crisis on a much smaller scale. There are so many on the market right now that the only way to make one stand out from another is price point. Because prices have dropped, I believe we will start to see a dramatic increase in the number of townhouses selling in the near future. Many of the 2 bedrooms, and perhaps some of the 3 bedrooms will soon be under the $417,000 Jumbo Loan Limit. The benefit for staying under a loan price of $417,000 is that you have a much better interest rate, options with many more banks, and you are not required to put a 30% down payment (a new change in the loan criteria for Jumbo Loans).