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Featured Listing

8396 Ironhorse Court (Ironhorse Country Club): $ 775,000
Bedrooms: 4, Bathrooms: 5

Market Report - May 09

WHAT'S SELLING, WHAT'S NOT, WHERE ARE THE BARGAINS? 

It is very encouraging to see more homes under contract in recent months than we have seen during this period in the past few years. Foreclosures, short sales, job relocations, and desperate sellers continue to drive down home prices in most communities throughout the area.  And these provide outstanding opportunities for savvy buyers.  Last year home prices declined 34 percent so that the median home today is selling for about what it sold for in March 2003.  The significant appreciation that occurred from 2004 through early 2006 is largely gone.   

But what’s selling, what’s not and where are the bargains?  Sales are best in communities where there are large numbers of short sales and foreclosures providing unique opportunities for buyers.   Over the past 16 months, 54 percent of the homes on the market in Osprey Isles sold.  During the same time period, 33 percent of the homes on the market sold in Mirasol, 33 percent sold in PGA National, and 36 percent sold in Mirabella.   In other communities sales were weaker.  In Ironhorse just 17 percent of the homes on the market sold, Frenchman’s Reserve saw 18 percent sold and in Steeplechase only 20 percent of the 41 homes for sale in the past 16 months sold.  In fact, this year in Steeplechase just one home has sold: a mold infested foreclosure which brought $435,000!

A closer look at one upscale estate community can provide some insights.  From January 2008 through early May 2009 just 6 of 24 homes on the market sold in San Michele, an upscale Palm Beach Gardens residential community with most homes priced over $1 million.   The sale price of these 6 homes averaged 27 percent less than the original list price with most selling for 30 percent or less of the original asking price. Of the 12 homes for sale today in San Michele, nine have been on the market for more than 6 months, some for more than a year.

Pricing is key in today’s market. Buyers want bargains and they will settle for nothing less than the best value when they purchase a home.  There is still too much on the market for today’s buyers to pay more than they believe the home is worth.  Bargains can be found throughout the area. There are short sales and foreclosures in almost every community, but short sales may take months before the bank renders a decision and it is not always a decision favorable to the buyer.

In Frenchman’s Reserve there is a 4100 square foot home on the market for a third less than the owners paid the builder.  In Mirasol there is 3200 square foot home for sale for 55 percent of what was paid to the builder. There are values to be had in Abacoa, Mirabella, Ironhorse, Ibis, Mirasol, BallenIsles and throughout the area. 

The Weiss-Clawson Team researches housing prices and trends throughout the Palm Beach Gardens and West Palm Beach areas to provide the best market information to our clients and our neighbors.  Our information comes from the Regional Multiple Listing Service and from property tax reports.   If you are interested in buying or selling a home in the area, or know someone who is, we would like to talk with you.