Local properties sold last month at 94.4% of their ORIGINAL asking price, and at 97.7% of their FINAL asking price (ie. a selling price of $94,400 on a property listed at 100k). That means that many sellers reduced their asking price at least once. The numbers were a pullback from the April-June seasonal peak, when competition is the hottest and prices don’t get reduced as much. The 94.4% was the highest for any October in the past decade, reflecting the tight inventory conditions we’re currently experiencing. Want your money to work for you? EZ- call me. I work harder to make good things happen!
Buying
Fewer Foreclosures Available
MIBOR reports the number of foreclosures listed for sale has continued to shrink. The number available at the end of Q3 was 456; which is down 21% from a year ago. As with the rest of the market, new listings are not keeping up with closed sales, resulting in shrinking inventory.
While the rest of the market has been seeing a rise in prices, the average price of the sold foreclosures was down 10% from a year ago. Foreclosure listings are largely concentrated under 75k, 
with almost none available above 175k.
Can you still find a good deal in the foreclosure market? Yes, but… you may need to do more than carpet and paint, and most definitely you will need to move fast. The good ones don’t last long. If a foreclosure is what you’re looking for, say the word. I can certainly help you get a good one. ‘Nuff said.
Zillow Estimates Aren’t Reliable
That was the headline in the Biz section of Sunday’s Indy Star. The article does a nice job of detailing how Zillow, the country’s largest real estate website, provides a lot of nonsense when it comes to home values. It features what it calls a “Zestimate” which is an estimated market value for every property posted for sale on its’ site. More often than not, these Zestimates are pretty far removed from reality. I’ll give them credit that once in awhile they’re spot on. (Of course even a broken clock is right on time twice a day.)
Zillow has developed a sophisticated formula for generating these numbers. But, sadly, what Zillow cannot do from its’ ivory tower offices in Seattle is look inside a house. Yes, they know how many bedrooms and bathrooms a house has, and how many square feet. Even its’ age. But they do not know whether those rooms are on the main level or in the basement, whether the floor plan is open or all boxed up, whether the carpet is new or stained beyond cleaning, nor whether the appliances are stainless steel or avocado green!
Zestimates are so far off in so many cases that I do not pay them any heed. I don’t even look at them. They’re more of a problem generator than a problem solver. Zillow would do everyone a favor if they’d remove the Zestimates from their website. Short of that, buyers and sellers should turn a blind eye to this feature of an otherwise useful website.
Whether you’re buying or selling, and want to have a better idea of what a home’s value is, there’s an EZ way— give me an address and I’ll do the actual work needed to generate a more reliable market value. To catch other helpful blog posts, simply go to www.indyschoicerealestate.com. And please keep in mind… “I work harder to make good things happen!” -Bob
