The weather in Greensboro has made a change from warm and sunny to decidedly autumn-like. The skies have been overcast, we’ve gotten some much needed if somewhat mood depressing rain and people have broken out their nubby sweaters.

Along with the gray skies are the latest foreclosure listing numbers for Greensboro. The last few weeks haven’t been great. The week ending 10/11/09 had 21 new foreclosure listings*. That’s the highest weekly number in 2009.

Gray, indeed.

The most recent listings are spread over nearly all the nine residential Greensboro zip codes with only 27409 and 27455 having none. And, again, 27405 and 27406 are the most impacted zip codes, with 8 and 4 new listings, respectively.

Why the uptick in foreclosure listings lately? There are surely several reasons, many of which are beyond me. But in discussing this with a colleague, Leslie Wales-Hecht, a couple of days ago, she pointed out that over the last several months there have been a good many sellers, along with their lenders, trying to stave off foreclosure by going the ’short sale’ route.

Short sales, she pointed out, are the last stop before foreclosure. And since the short sale process is a long and complicated one, the number of foreclosure listings may be have simply been delayed while the short sale attempts were made. Leslie should know as she is actually a certified Short Sale Specialist and has been up to he pretty eyes in short sales for some time.

For those properties where short sale terms were not able to be worked out the inevitable was merely put off.

Makes sense to me.

Whatever the reason, it will be a delight to report on this site when the numbers start shriveling up and blowing away. Stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, some details:

The prices for the the week’s foreclosures range from $15,900 to $329,900. 18 of the 21 are under $100,000 and 14 are under $75,000. Three of the listings are already under contract. Look below for a few listings representative of what is available in the foreclosure market in Greensboro as of today.

1207 Arlington Street, Greensboro, NC $19,900 (MLS#556629)

2627 Stratford Dr, Greensboro, NC $99,900 (MLS#55067)

4200 Peppervine Trail, Greensboro, NC $229,900 (MLS#530680)

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

_________________________________________________________

If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and is only as good as the information entered, which is done by humans, who make errors. The information is only for those residential zip codes for Greensboro and does not include the surrounding communities

Tags: 1207 Arlington St, 2627 Stratford Dr, 4200 Peppervine Trail, Greensboro, Greensboro foreclosures, Greensboro housing statistics, Greensboro zip codes, Leslie Wales-Hecht, MLS, MLS#530680, MLS#55067, MLS#556629, Multiple List, Multiple Listing Service, Triad MLS

A quick snapshot of houses on the market in Greensboro show that there’s plenty to choose from, to say the very least.

Looking over the last 6 months, the total number of listings (including ‘active’ and ‘pending’ listings) is 2996*. That’s almost exactly smack-dab in the middle of the highest number of 3091 on May 26th and the lowest of 2892 on March 31st.

And the average list price – $222,900 – is lowest it’s been in that same time period.

This is not particularly welcome news for sellers, but awesome for buyers.

There has been a slight increase in the percentage of foreclosures in these numbers. Four of the nine Greensboro zip codes had a small increase in foreclosure listings: 27405 (+3), 27406(+5), 27410 (+2) and 27455 (+2). 27403 had a reduction (-1)The rest remained the same.

The percentage of overall listings that are foreclosures increased from 189 (6%) to 200 (7%). Nearly all of that gain is in the single-family category.

An example of a listing with an asking price representative of the average is this lovely thing at 1809 Colonial Avenues:

1809 Colonial Ave, Greensboro, NC 27408 $225,000 (MLS#526828)

The average listing price of $222,900 can buy a really nice house in a very nice neighborhood. The example to the left is such a house. With 3 bedrooms and 2 baths this house is representative of the size one would might expect as an “average”.

All in all, the numbers continue to show that Greensboro is following the very general trends of most of the country but without the big ‘ouchies’ some areas are enduring. Good deals are available, nice homes are on the market and a few houses are owned by banks.

Keep watching this space to see what happens next.

And now, the rest of the graphs, please…..

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

_________________________________________________________

If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and is only as good as the information entered, which is done by humans, who make errors. The information is only for those residential zip codes for Greensboro and does not include the surrounding communities.

Tags: 1809 Colonial Ave, 27410, Greensboro, Greensboro housing prices, Greensboro housing statistics, Greensboro zip codes, housing inventory, listingbook.com, MLS, MLS 526828, Multiple List, Multiple Listing Service, PTI, Triad MLS

Finally, finally, finally. For the first time since May, the new weekly foreclosure listings in Greensboro have been in the single digits two weeks in a row. For the week ending 9/13/09 there were 7* new listings. The week before, 9.

Too soon to say there’s a trend, but we’ll take it.

Those 7 foreclosures are located in 4 zip codes of Greensboro:

• 27401 – 2 listings
• 27405 – 2 listings
• 27406 – 2 listings
• 27410 – 1 listing

All but one are single-family houses, 1 being a townhouse.

Some data of note: the list price range for the houses is substantially narrower – and lower – than for any week since May.

• highest list price - $89,900
• lowest list price – $24,900
• average list price – $54,314
• median list price – $44,900

AND, for the first time in a goodly while, the number of foreclosure listings over a 12-week rolling period declined. We’ve been on an upward tick for this measure since June. So, again, good news.

The zip codes most impacted by foreclosures continue to be 27405 and 27406, which account for fully 50% (64) of the total number of foreclosures listed (128) in the last 12 weeks

Below are the requisite charts and graphs, but first here are a couple of properties that represent some of the foreclosures available in Greensboro right now:

2400 Peppervine Trail, Greensboro, NC 27455 $239,900 (MLS#530680)

2000 S. Benbow, Greensboro, NC 27406 $33,500 (MLS#525347)

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

_________________________________________________________

If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and is only as good as the information entered, which is done by humans, who make errors. The information is only for those residential zip codes for Greensboro and does not include the surrounding communities

Tags: 27410, Foreclosures in Greensboro, Greensboro, Greensboro foreclosures, Greensboro zip codes, listingbook.com, MLS, Multiple List, Multiple Listing Service, PTI, Triad MLS

One of the most popular topics on this site is that of foreclosures. With all the carpet-bombing news stories about the distressed economic system, distressed banks, distressed real estate markets and distressed home sellers one could understandably be, well, distressed.

For sure, there is pain out there. True, real, flesh and blood people in tough positions.

But when we drill down to Greensboro foreclosure numbers*, we had another good week.

During the week ending 4/12/09, only 5 foreclosures were listed. That’s the fewest weekly total since tracking of the numbers started on this site. And of the 9 residential Greensboro zip codes, three have had no foreclosures listed in the last weeks. (27403, 27408 and 27455)

More importantly, there is a decided trend in the rolling 12-week periods of foreclosure listings. There were 12 fewer in the 12 week period ending 4/12 than the previous period. That’s a huge drop.

There has been a moratorium on foreclosures by some financial institutions, and those moratoriums are coming to a close. So perhaps the numbers will go the other direction in weeks to come. If they do, you’ll read it here.

But for now the trend is clear. There are fewer foreclosures in Greensboro than there were. And that means fewer stressed home sellers, which may lead to less stress on the real estate market, banks and the economy in general.

Let’s hope so because until they start putting Xanax in gumball machines, we all need less stress.

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

_________________________________________________________

If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and is only as good as the information entered, which is done by humans, who make errors. The information is only for those residential zip codes for Greensboro and does not include the surrounding communities

Tags: Foreclosures in Greensboro, Greensboro, Greensboro zip codes, MLS, Multiple List, Multiple Listing Service, Real estate market

I’m not trendy, but I know a trend when I see one. And there is a definite trend in the foreclosure listing activity in Greensboro.

It’s a downward trend, and that’s good. In order for the real estate market to rebound, there must be a reduction in inventory overall, and in the number of foreclosures specifically. That’s because foreclosures are the real estate equivalent of single celled organisms – not really productive in the grand scheme of things, taking energy the environment and are often slimy.

And I mean that literally. Some of these places look like they’ve been rode hard and hung up wet.

So, the first step towards economic evolution and advancement is to get these distressed properties off the market. And that’s what appears to be happening.

Looking at 12-week rolling periods, the week ending 3/1/09 has the lowest total since I started tracking, which was the beginning of September 2008.

That’s the first bit of good news.

The second is that, of the 146 properties listed in the last 12 weeks, the fewest yet are still on the market (comparing to other 12 week periods) and more are closed or pending than other periods.

Not only that, but of ALL the foreclosures listed since 9/8/08,  nearly 2/3 are closed or under contract..

This is a trend – unlike botox injections – behind which I can get.

[NOTE: It has been requested that I include numbers for  Summerfield, a 'bedroom' community north of Greensboro in Guilford County. I appreciate the suggestion and will start compiling the data and will post as soon as I have done so.]

For those who like to see the numbers for your zip code, here you go:

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

_________________________________________________________

If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Weekly fluctuations of the numbers can happen as the data is impacted by the promptness of input by members, properties that are temporarily withdrawn from the market, etc.,

Tags: Foreclosures in Greensboro, Greensboro, Guilford County, MLS, Multiple List, Multiple Listing Service, Real estate market, Summerfield

This week is the third in a row when I’ve enjoyed providing Greensboro housing statistics less than other weeks. Actually, less than clothes shopping, which I REALLY don’t like. (Who decided overhead florescent lighting and full length mirrors are a good combination?)

But, alas, facts are facts. And that’s a fact. Inventory is up, and prices are just about the same. We would prefer lower inventory and higher prices.

Of course, we would prefer to have our 22-year old bodies back while retaining our hard earned middle-aged wisdom, wouldn’t we? I’m am, of course, using the royal “we” in this case.

We are not amused by this data, But here it is:

• Total Listings  -  2931 (up 1.5% from last week)*
• Avg List Price -  $239,742 (up 0.2% from last week)

As always, whether the news is good or bad, you’ll see it here.

_________________________________________________________

If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS). “Single-family” does not include Duplexes or manufactured homes.

Tags: Greensboro housing statistics, MLS, Multiple List, Multiple Listing Service

Here’s the weekly update on new foreclosures that have come on the market in Greensboro. As in previous posts, the information is drilled down to zip code, property type and weekly historical data

The numbers stayed relatively flat comparing the week’s new foreclosure listings (11) to the previous (10). But keep reading for some GOOD NEWS.

Here’s how it breaks down…

For Greensboro’s foreclosure listings during 12/15/08 – 12/21/08*:

Total new foreclosures listed: 11

• single-family: 9
• townhouses:    0
• condos:           2

by Greensboro zip code:

And if we look at those zip codes comparing the most recent 3 weeks:

The aforementioned good news comes when we compare “rolling 12 week periods”. The numbers for those 12 week periods show a downward trend.

Could this be a result of the holidays? Maybe, but unlikely. Misery doesn’t take holidays.

Could this be a result of a foreclosure moratorium?  (Citibank, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac advised they would halt foreclosure proceedings on homeowners in specific circumstances into January 2009)

Again, maybe. It’s hard to know how many of those owners fall under requirements set out by those lenders.

Frankly, it doesn’t matter why. If it is a result of the moratorium, great. It’s helping the inventory situation, which helps all sellers, as well as helping those borrowers who have a reprieve from foreclosure.

If the reduction in the number is just the natural result of what is inevitable – that is, that the housing market will reach ‘bottom’ and start turning upwards from there – even better. That may be wishful thinking, but I’m a positive type of gal.

Time will tell. Keep checking back with this blog and we’ll see whether I’m a cock-eyed optimist, or just cock-eyed.

Good or bad, you’ll see it here.

If you have questions, comments or a good joke to share shoot me an email.  I’m a full time Realtor®, I love what I do and would be thrilled to hear from you.

* All data from Triad Multiple Listing Service (MLS)

Tags: Citibank, Fannie Mae, Foreclosure Moratorium, Foreclosures in Greensboro, Freddie Mac, Greensboro, MLS, Multiple Listing Service

Back in the day, Realtors® were the holders of the real estate gold. That is, the data about houses that were listed for sale: price, number of bedrooms, etc., If you wanted to get the dish on that house you just drove past on your way to work you needed to call the listing company or another Realtor® and ask.

That agent would look into the magical database, otherwise known as the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) where would be found in a glance the listing price, tax value, dimensions of the kitchen, which elementary school district the property is in and on and on.

Ah, those were the days.

These days, if a property catches your eye or if you want to find out what houses meet your criteria, the public has access to much of the same data as agents. There’s the grandmother of all real estate search sites, Realtor.com, as well as FrontDoor.com, listingbook.com, Zillow, not to mention the innumerable individual agent and company websites that have “search for listings” links in them (including this one).

In a future post I’ll examine the differing search results for these sites. They are most definitely not all on the same page. No pun intended.

So, who needs an agent? All they are good for is data and anyone can get that now. Right?

Honestly, that is all some agents are good for. Let’s face it, some real estate agents have not needed to be anything more than present over the past 5 years or so to make a living selling real estate.

But real estate doesn’t have the market cornered on members who don’t bring much to the table. There are doctors who can’t seem to relate to sick people (an odd career choice on their part), lawyers who offer no advise but merely carry out your suggestions and politicians who… Well, let’s not go there.

Getting past the ‘place holder’ agents who will undoubtedly need to find another line of work as the real estate market continues its interesting adjustments, there are good agent who offer qualities which have nothing to do with providing info on when a house was built, how many square feet there are and whether there’s gas heat or not.

They bring perspective, guidance, suggestions. They point out when your money will buy more house in the next neighborhood or when you’re about to get ripped off by your lender or whether the attorney your cousin suggested may be great for getting you out of a speeding ticket but may not be a good choice to handle a title search and decipher instructions from the mortgage lenders package.

Frankly, finding a house is not a great challenge. Particularly not these days. They’re’ EVERYWHERE!

But there is angst and fear associated with buying a house. There should be. It’s a big deal. A very big deal.

You don’t want to be in it alone.

Let’s say you find a house that interests you via one of the aforementioned resources. For the most part, if the property shows up on the online site, it has gotten there through a feed from a Multiple Listing Service.

That means, a real estate agent has listed it.

That means the seller has an real estate agent representing them.

Shouldn’t you?

So, bypassing an agent in searching for a house (BTW, working with a buyer’s agent doesn’t cost anything*) will not mean you bypass all agents. You just end up talking to someone who represents a seller.

Are Realtors® obsolete? Some are. Some started out that way.

But there are many, many honest, dedicated and enthusiastic agents who will help you through the process. And in buying a house, it’s the process that’s important.

* This holds true for most standards of practice. There may be some markets where buyers agents attempt to charge fees. That has not been the practice in the Greensboro area.

Tags: buyer's agent, finding a house, FrontDoor.com, listingbook.com, MLS, Multiple Listing Service, Realtor.com, Realtors role, sellers agents, Zillow.com