Riley’s Take On The Grove Market In April….
May 5th, 2009 | categories: Coconut Grove Real Estate
Yesterday we wrote a post about all of the activity that we have seen in Coconut Grove in the last 30 days. In today’s post I want to get into a little more about what those numbers are telling us.
Obviously, it is exciting to see so many contracts being written. Inventory is starting to shrink and buyers are starting to step off the fence. It appears that the lenders are loosening their guidelines and buyers are finally willing to take advantage of those great rates. It is also good for our market that so many short sales and foreclosures are being gobbled up. The rate at which short sales and foreclosures are coming on the market in Coconut Grove has decreased. If all stays the same, it leads me to believe that from this point forward more buyers will be forced to buy “real” houses if they want to live in Coconut Grove. It also appears to me that sellers are getting the message that when they have an offer on their house they need to take it seriously and do everything in their effort to make it work.
One disturbing trend is that of the 31 to go under contract, only 1 was listed for more than $1,000,000. This is of concern for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I have several great listings priced $1,000,000+ that I would love to sell :) Also, since the average single family home in Coconut Grove is still priced at over $1,200,000, there is a large segment of our inventory that is sitting dormant. Although I said earlier that lenders are loosening their criteria, I believe that applies mostly in the lower price ranges. It appears to me that the JUMBO loans are still difficult to get and offer less than favorable terms.
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