PALM BEACH Houses for $1.5 M. or LESS

More Palm Beach houses on sale for $1.5 million and less

By ROBERT JANJIGIAN, Palm Beach Daily News

Monday, June 22, 2009

An island home has never come cheap, but the minimum asking price of modest single-family residences in the 33480 ZIP code has become significantly more reasonable this year.

"With a supply of homes in the mid-ones and under, the island's entry-level bar has been lowered from the $2 million mark, something that hasn't been seen in many, many years," said Engel & Volkers associate Liza Pulitzer, who's been selling Palm Beach real estate for 28 years.

In 2008, the median sale price of a single-family house in Palm Beach was $3,875,000, said attorney Leslie Evans, who tracks the island's real estate market through The Evans Report, which has been published annually since 2000.

"The preliminary figure for the first quarter of 2009 is approximately $3.5 million," he said, and no sales for less than $1.5 million had been recorded since January.

In 2007 and 2008, the fastest-growing price sector for single-family Palm Beach properties was in the $2.5 million and lower range, Evans said.

"The momentum seems to be in that area of the market for the first six months of this year," he said. The trend is in line with 2004, when the median price for a Palm Beach home was $2.2 million, he said.

Last year, Evans reported a dozen transactions of less than $1.5 million.

"There are always smaller, older houses available for under $1.5 million," said Evans. But in most cases, the price per square foot for these properties is staggering, sometimes above $1,000 a square foot, he said.

Pulitzer said she recently searched for North End properties with asking prices of about $1.5 million for a client.

"Two years ago, I would have only been able to find a building lot for $2 million," she said. "Now we're seeing a pretty good number of houses at $2 million or less.

"People are being more reasonable and realistic when it comes to pricing," she said. "You still have to pay a fairly high price for an entry-level house, but you're looking at a half-a-million in savings over what you might have paid just a few years ago."

For less than $1.5 million, "you get a nice starter home, usually a fixer-upper or a handyman special," said Century 21 agent Douglas Rill, who has offices on the island and in West Palm Beach, and has been in real-estate 36 years. "And entree into Palm Beach."

Rill currently has two listings with asking prices below $1.5 million: an $895,000 three-bedroom, two-bath cottage on Root Trail built in 1925, and a $1.27 million three-bedroom, 3.5-bath bungalow on Park Avenue.

The $895,000 property, which has the lowest asking price of single-family homes available on the island, has 960 square feet of living space. "It's a cute little cottage that probably needs about $100,000 worth of renovation work," Rill said. "It needs a kitchen and bath upgrade at least. But the house next door was sold for $1 million about a year-and-a-half ago.

"It's priced to entice," said Rill, who has shown the house to several potential buyers the past few weeks.

Rill describes the Park Avenue house, with more than 2,100 square feet, as "more substantial" and less in need of upgrading.

"I think it's in move-in condition," he said. "But even homes priced at $10 million or more need updating, unless they are brand new."

Rill said he does not see the spate of $1.5 million and less listing prices lasting long.

"Prices will be heading north again, I believe," he said, but added that property owners realize that setting a realistic, competitive asking price is essential. "My guess is that this price category, under $1.5 million, will probably evaporate by next year.

"Maybe a house that's $2.5 million should be at $1.8 (million) or lower" he said. "There shouldn't be air for negotiation in setting a price. The only air should be in the tires."

Palm Beach Latest Sale

Palm Beach Latest Sale

233 Tangier Avenue - at 640 per square foot - Sold for $2,850,000 !!!!

"TSUNAMI" of FORECLOSURES

"TSUNAMI" of FORECLOSURES

Foreclosures soar in South Florida in April

Job losses fuel continuing surge in South Florida foreclosures

By Paul Owers | South Florida Sun Sentinel
May 13, 2009


Broward County had 10,305 homeowners in some stage of foreclosure in April, more than twice the 4,599 in March and nearly double from a year ago, according to figures being released today by RealtyTrac of Irvine, Calif., a foreclosure tracking firm.

Broward has the state's third-highest foreclosure rate, with one in every 78 households. Only Osceola and Lee counties are worse.

Palm Beach County had 2,846 residents in some stage of foreclosure last month, nearly double the 1,509 in March and 44 percent higher than a year ago.

One in every 135 Florida households received a foreclosure filing last month, roughly three times the national average. Nationwide, it was one in every 374 households, the highest monthly rate since RealtyTrac began its report in January 2005.

"I don't think the foreclosure situation will improve until the employment picture improves" said L. Keith White, president of Reinhold P. Wolff Economic Research in Oakland Park.

South Florida's foreclosure outlook likely won't get better until late 2010, after the batch of bad loans gradually is replaced with new mortgages given to qualified buyers, said Mike Larson, a housing analyst with Weiss Research in Jupiter.

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Prices at 2002 Levels - Still to Fall

First-quarter national home prices fall back to 2002 levels

By J.W. ELPHINSTONE, AP

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

NEW YORK — National home prices are at levels not seen since the 2002 Winter Olympics, but a closer look at a housing index released Tuesday shows real estate is indeed local with some prices in certain cities falling to pre-2000 values.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller National Home Price index reported home prices tumbled by 19.1 percent in the first quarter, the most in its 21-year history. Home prices have fallen 32.2 percent since peaking in the second quarter of 2006.

"By our estimation, the composite 20-city index is perhaps two-thirds of the way through its ultimate total decline in this cycle," according to Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist for MFR Inc.

It's hard to believe it could get much worse for homeowners in Detroit. Homes there are worth what they sold for in 1995. And while that's good news for homebuyers, the implosion of the auto industry and economic fallout means fewer buyers have the money to qualify for a mortgage.

"I feel like houses here are free," said Detroit area real estate agent Rose Marie Jouan with Re/Max Showcase Homes. Her house that she sold in 2004 for $200,000 is on the sales block, bank-owned, for $86,000.

In Phoenix and Las Vegas, where prices have plunged by half since their peaks, home values have receded to levels not seen since the beginning of the real estate boom. Phoenix prices are at early 2001 levels and Las Vegas values hover at mid-2002 prices.

Also, the rates of annual decline for the 10- and 20-city indexes slowed in March, the second straight month they didn't set record price drops. The 20-city index fell by 18.7 percent from the year before and the 10-city index lost 18.6 percent.

Still, there are no signs home prices nationally have hit bottom.

"We see no evidence that a recovery in home prices has begun" said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee.

All 20 cities showed monthly and annual price declines, with nine setting annual records. Fifteen cities posted double-digit drops and Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Francisco recorded declines of more than 30 %.

Minneapolis posted a 6.1 percent decline from February to March, the biggest monthly drop on record for any metros in the indexes. Ron Peltier, chairman and chief executive of HomeServices of America, attributed the drop to a jump in distressed sales in March 2009.

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Palm Beach STORE CLOSINGS

Palm Beach island businesses that closed during the season:

RESTAURANTS:

Closed:

* Beach House Bistro (possibly temporary)

* Capri Blu restaurant

* Epicurean gourmet grocery

* Market Salamander gourmet grocery

Shops

Closed:

* Christian Dior

* Coach

* Emanuel Ungaro

* First Light Gallery

* Mister

* Rose Penn antiques

Palm Beach Latest Sale

1431 N Ocean Way - Sold at $900,100 for a $1,6 Mill. Market Value - at $223 per square foot !!!

Palm Beach Latest Sale

Palm Beach Latest Sale

1436 N Ocean Way - Sold at $281 per square foot - SALE PRICE in April 2009 was $1,300,000 for a Total Market Value of $2 Mill. !!!

Palm Beach Latest Sale

Palm Beach Latest Sale

229 Ridgeview Drive - Sold at $452 per square foot - SALE PRICE: $880,000 for a $1,5 Mill. Total Market Value !