I was quite shocked this morning when I compiled listing statistics for HUD homes in Columbus.

The number of HUD houses available for sale has dropped by more than 50% since the end of February. We are now down to only 182 HUD listings in Central Ohio, as compared to 394 at the end of February 2011.

Here are the detailed listing data per county, followed by an explanation, why this has happened.

HUD Listings per County (Apr 14, 2011)

Franklin County: 146
Delaware County: 8
Licking County: 9
Fairfield County: 7
Pickaway County: 8
Madison County: 0
Union County: 4

TOTAL Number of Central Ohio HUD Listings: 182 (394 at end of February 2011)

Improving Real Estate Market

The Columbus Board as well as the National Association of Realtors just published sales data for the month of March. Their stats show an improvement in the US real estate market.

National

Existing home sales are up by 3.7% in March relative to February, however, they are still 6.3% below March 2010, when the first time home buyer tax credit inflated sales in the first half of the year.

The number of first time home buyers was 33% in March 2011, as compared to 44% in March 2010.

Central Ohio

In Columbus existing home sales in March outpaced the previous month by almost 32%, but they are still 7.9% below March 2010 sales.

The good news is that the number of pending contracts has increased by 11.5% as compared to a year ago. This will result in more sales in the coming months.

Three Signs of the Time

• 35% of sales were all cash purchases
• 40% were distress sales
• 20% of homes were purchased by investors

What does this mean for you?

It means that the real estate market is heating up. As the majority of sales are foreclosures, short sales, REOs and HUD homes sales, the number of distress listings has decreased. With other words “distress sales” fly off the shelves, while retail listing sit on the market for a long time.

The consequence is that there will be more competition on HUD contracts, less selection, and possibly less discounts.

So, don’t wait! If you want to buy a HUD home or REO this year, now is the time!

Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog

I compiled this chart to shows how the number of Columbus HUD homes has changed since the beginning of the year for 3 different price brackets. It’s rather interesting.

As you can see, the number of “high end” HUD listings, mostly homes in the suburbs, has declined since its peak in March. The number of less expensive Columbus houses, mostly fixer uppers, has steadily increased.

Why these 3 price brackets?

They indicate the 3 levels of earnest money deposit required by HUD. For houses listed for $50K or less (green) the deposit is $500, for $50K to $100K it’s $1,000 (blue) and for homes listed above $100K (red) the required earnest money deposit is $1,500.

Listing Statistics

Total homes available: 186 (last week: 173)

Owner occupants: 101
All bidders: 85
New listings: 28
Sunday deadline: 45
Relisted/Price reduced: 28

Median Price: $70,000 (last week: $71,200)
Average Price: $71,394 (last week: $70,145)
Highest: $196,000
Lowest: $9,000

Homes less than $50,001: 68 (last week: 66)
Between $50,001 & $100,000: 77 (last week: 74)
More than $100,000: 41 (last week: 33)

Call me today at 975-9650 for weekend showings! 

Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS, GRI
Columbus Realtors specializing in
HUD Homes, Shortsales, Investment Real Estate
(614) 975-9650

Memorial Day Weekend is here! Time to review the past 5 months of HUD homes listings.

This first chart shows the number of HUD listings available each Friday starting on January 1, 2010 till today.

Like on the HUD homes map, the color coding indicates the listing status of the specific property. Red means new listing, Yellow is a relist, Blue indicates Sunday deadline (homes that were listed a week ago on Friday) and Green is available to all bidders and investors.

Absolute Number of HUD Listings by Type

HUD listings chart showing percentages of each category

On this week’s HUD homes map you will find a number of remarkable price reductions. I indicated in my recent posts that some of the $200K homes may be too expensive for investors.

HUD has reduced the price of 2 of these homes. The Bexley HUD house at Ardmore is now available for $196,200 and Bucktrout Place in Worthington for $193,500.

If a HUD home has been on the market for 4 weeks, then HUD lowers the price by 10% before it relists the property. These homes are exclusively available for owner occupants for only 5 days.

Listing Statistics

Total homes available: 170 (last week: 171)

Owner occupants: 104
All bidders: 66
New listings: 33
Sunday deadline: 35
Relisted/Price reduced: 36

Median Price: $72,850 (last week: $73,600)
Average Price: $75,268 (last week: $76,196)
Highest: $210,000
Lowest: $11,200

Homes less than $50,001: 58 (last week: 55)
Between $50,001 & $100,000: 71 (last week: 74)
More than $100,000: 41 (last week: 42)

Call me today at 975-9650 for showings!

It is a long weekend, so you get an extra day to look at houses and drive around neighborhoods. The bidding deadline for owner occupants is Monday May 31, 2010.

Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS, GRI
Columbus Realtors specializing in
HUD Homes, Shortsales, Investment Real Estate
(614) 975-9650

This is an exciting weekend for HUD homes hunters. There are 39 new HUD listings in Columbus! Can you imagine that?
 
When you look at the HUD homes map you’ll see many red markers – that’s all the new listings. They are even in areas that are usually blank, like Northwest Columbus and Dublin. There’s a heavy concentration of HUD listings in the Westerville and New Albany section of town, as well.

Here’s a short preview of 3 opportunities available for HUD Homes buyers in Columbus this week:

Dublin Schools: 5720 Dorsey Road, 4BR 2.5BA, listed for $150,000

Powell: 8718 Cloe Ct, 2BR condo listed for $65,000

New Albany Schools: 5400 Bullfinch Dr, 4BR 2.5BA, listed for $150,000

You should jump at this opportunity! December and January are the slow months for real estate. This is when you get the best and lowest offers accepted.
 
Let’s get out and look at some HUD listings this weekend. The weather will be nice and sunny, just a bit on the cold side. 
 

Listing Statistics

Total homes available: 102 (last week: 92)

Owner occupants: 79
All bidders: 23
New listings: 39
Sunday deadline: 22
Relisted/Price reduced: 18
 
Median Price: $80,500 (last week: $85,000)
Average Price: $78,691 (last week: $79,507)
Highest: $192,000
Lowest: $10,000
 
Homes less than $50,001: 25 (last week: 27)
Between $50,001 & $100,000: 52 (last week: 38)
More than $100,000: 25 (last week: 27)
 
Call me TODAY at 975-9650 to see the newest HUD Homes this weekend! 
 

Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS, GRI 
Columbus Realtors specializing in
HUD Homes, Shortsales, Investment Real Estate
(614) 975-9650

HUD added 22 new listings this week. Together with last week’s 38 HUD listings, a total of 60 new HUD homes hit the market since last Friday!
 
What does this mean for you? As an owner occupant buyer you have a great variety of Columbus houses to choose from. At the same time the median list price of Columbus HUD homes went up to $80,000. This indicates that your selection of newer, suburban HUD homes is better than ever.
 
It’s good news for investors, too. A large number of new listings will result in an equally large number or relistings in the coming weeks. And that’s when you have the best chance to get a lower bid accepted.
 
Just recently we saw HUD accept offers as low as 75% of list price on really nice Columbus houses.
 
Where are the best deals for this weekend?
 
We will focus our attention on the southwest of Columbus. There are at least 4 new homes in Grove City. Watch for previews in the next couple of days.
 
     

For the bargain hunters I suggest Blacklick and New Albany. Our featured listings on 787 Twin Acorn Ct and 1293 Hickory Valley Dr are back on the market in Blacklick, and so is the New Albany HUD home on 5248 Mardela Drive.

Listing Statistics

Total homes available: 92 (last week: 83)

Owner occupants: 75
All bidders: 17
New listings: 22
Sunday deadline: 38
Relisted/Price reduced: 15
 
Median Price: $80,000 (last week: $70,000)
Average Price: $82,874 (last week: $78,225)
Highest: $185,000
Lowest: $10,000
 
Homes less than $50,001: 27 (last week: 30)
Between $50,001 & $100,000: 34 (last week: 28)
More than $100,000: 31 (last week: 25)
 
Call me TODAY at 975-9650 to see the newest HUD Homes this weekend!

Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS, GRI 
Columbus Realtors specializing in
HUD Homes, Shortsales, Investment Real Estate
(614) 975-9650

I like to watch the offers our featured Columbus HUD homes fetch every Monday. There are 2 reasons why I am interested in the weekly bidding results. As a HUD homes buyer you should be very interested in these statistics, too.

1. When I create the property website for one of our featured homes, I have a feeling what this home should sell for. So when the bid results are announced, I can verify my guess and see, if I was right or not. Using the information on our blog and in our email newsletter you can learn to estimate HUD home prices. The more Columbus houses you study, the better your guess will be. .
2. I am always looking for good deals for my customers. When a house receives a bid that’s far above its value there’s a good chance it will fall out of contract and come back on the market. Relisted properties offer the best opportunities to buy HUD homes at a discount. If you work with me, you will know where the best HUD homes deals are.

Now let’s see how last week’s featured Columbus HUD homes fared in this round of bidding. All of them are in contract, 2 above and 2 below asking price. Here’s a summary:
 
5248 Mardela Dr, Westerville, OH: listed: $125,000
OFFER ACCEPTED on 10/26/09 for $108,506 – 13% below list price

3470 Steiner St, Columbus, OH: listed: $85,000
OFFER ACCEPTED on 10/26/09 for $89,000 – 5% above list price
 
904 Sandrock Ave, Reynoldsburg, OH: listed: $155,000
OFFER ACCEPTED on 10/27/09 for $140,100 – 10% below list price

3277 Ventura Blvd, Grove City, OH: listed: $47,000
OFFER ACCEPTED on 10/26/09 for $54,000 – 15% above list price
 
We have 10 boomerang homes today. If you get our bargain hunters list, you can find them at the top of the spreadsheet – list date 10/23/09. Most of them are in a lower price range or outside of Columbus.

If you don’t subscribe to our newsletter you should opt-in immediately. Otherwise, you will miss crucial market intelligence to write a winning offer for you new HUD house.
 
Due to the large number of new listings from last Friday, there is an excellent selection of homes available right now – at least for owner occupants.

38 new HUD listings from last Friday are still waiting for buyers!
Call me at (614) 975-9650 to schedule a showing!

Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS, GRI 
Columbus Realtors specializing in
HUD Homes, Shortsales, Investment Real Estate
(614) 975-9650

In a push to sell more homes before the end of the year HUD has added 38 new listings to the market. We never saw that many new HUD listings since we began publishing this blog.
 
If you received our Columbus HUD homes map, you saw mostly red markers all over Central Ohio (new listings reserved for owner occupants). Many of the new HUD listings are on the east and south side of Columbus, including many suburban homes.
 
Among the higher priced properties ($100,000 and above) are 3 new HUD homes in Pickerington,  3 in Galloway, and many more in Reynoldsburg, Delaware, Canal Winchester, and Groveport. There’s also a wonderful HUD home in New Albany at 5981 Twin Pine Drive. You certainly don’t want to miss to see this house, if you are looking for an upscale suburban residence!

In addition, there are 18 relisted Columbus houses and price reductions (yellow markers). In the past HUD has accepted lower offers on relists, especially, if they become available to all bidders next Wednesday!

Listing Statistics

Total homes available: 83 (last week: 54)

Owner occupants: 69
All bidders: 14
New listings: 38
Sunday deadline: 13
Relisted/Price reduced: 18
 
Median Price: $70,000 (last week: $61,500)
Average Price: $78,225 (last week: $75,457)
Highest: $185,000
Lowest: $6,000
 
Homes less than $50,001: 30 (last week: 24)
Between $50,001 & $100,000: 28 (last week: 15)
More than $100,000: 25 (last week: 15)
 
Call me TODAY at 975-9650 to see the newest HUD Homes this weekend!
 
P.S. You probably missed the deadline for closing before the Tax Credit expires, if you need bank financing! However, you could pursue these Last Minute Strategies to Claim Your Tax Credit …

Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS, GRI 
Columbus Realtors specializing in
HUD Homes, Shortsales, Investment Real Estate
(614) 975-9650

Time is running out for those of of you that wanted to claim the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit. Due to the time it takes to get a contract accepted and the financing for your loan approved, this will probably be the last weekend to submit an offer on Columbus HUD homes. There is a slim chance that you can still close before the end of November, if you get an offer accepted on Monday. But there are no guarantees!
 
Although the number of HUD listings went down to 54 this week, there are some remarkable properties on this week’s Columbus HUD homes map.
 
First off, I found a 5 bedroom, 2,156 sqft home in Plain City for only $55,000.  It’s probably the first HUD home listed in Plain City for 3 months.

Then I detected a 3 bedroom ranch in Grove City for only $47,000. Sounds like a pretty good deal considering that most Columbus houses in Grove City sell for around $100K.

Finally, if you want to go really cheap there’s a 3 bedroom home on Terrace Ave on the Hilltop for only $6,000. It is uninsured, so you can’t buy it with a regular FHA loan. I would assume that you can buy this type of property with cash anyway.

Listing Statistics

Total homes available: 54 (last week: 61)

Owner occupants: 37
All bidders: 17
New listings: 13
Sunday deadline: 16
Relisted/Price reduced: 8
 
Median Price: $61,500 (last week: $70,000)
Average Price: $75,457 (last week: $79,544)
Highest: $180,000
Lowest: $6,000
 
Homes less than $50,001: 24 (last week: 24)
Between $50,001 & $100,000: 15 (last week: 20)
More than $100,000: 15 (last week: 17)
 
Call me TODAY at 975-9650 to see the newest HUD Homes this weekend!  

Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS, GRI 
Columbus Realtors specializing in
HUD Homes, Shortsales, Investment Real Estate
(614) 975-9650

This rainy Friday starts a very important weekend. Not only is it a holiday weekend – Monday is Columbus Day, which means that banks and government agencies are closed. It is also the last weekend to go house hunting if you want to submit an offer on a HUD home and close before the November 30, 2009 deadline to claim your $8,000 tax credit. 

Due to the time it takes to get the necessary paperwork from HUD and the purchase loan approved by your lender (not to talk about the uncertainties of the loan approval process), I strongly recommend that you submit your HUD offer this weekend. Call me today to schedule a few showings, and let’s get a bid in by Monday midnight!

This week we see a jump in the median list price of Columbus HUD homes from $59,500 to to $70,000. It is mostly due to a lower number of cheap properties below $50K. You will find a few of our featured Columbus houses relisted on today’s map (yellow markers).  They include the home at 3280 Andrew James Drive in Hilliard (listed for $179K) and 1180 Nathan Drive (listed for $102K, also on the west side).
 
I have bidding stats for these HUD homes, so we can see what they sold for previously. If you work with me you will know how much HUD accepted in the previous go around.

Listing Statistics

Total homes available: 61 (last week: 70)

Owner occupants: 49
All bidders: 12
New listings: 16
Sunday deadline: 21
Relisted/Price reduced: 12
 
Median Price: $70,000 (last week: $59,500)
Average Price: $79,544 (last week: $77,777)
Highest: $180,000
Lowest: $14,000
 
Homes less than $50,001: 24 (last week: 31)
Between $50,001 & $100,000: 20 (last week: 19)
More than $100,000: 17 (last week: 20)
 
Call me TODAY at 975-9650 to see the newest HUD Homes this weekend! 

Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS, GRI 
Columbus Realtors specializing in
HUD Homes, Shortsales, Investment Real Estate
(614) 975-9650

Owner occupant buyers must feel like in paradise. The selection of suburban Columbus HUD homes is excellent and extremely affordable. That’s why owner occupants beat investors 8 out of 10 times on HUD home offers. Out of the 70 Columbus houses listed for sale by HUD, only 9 are available for all bidders (investors), while the rest is reserved for owner occupants. 

Here are 2 charts to illustrate HUD listing statistics since the beginning of the year. We show the 4 different types of listings in the colors you are used to from our HUD Maps:

• RED [New]: new HUD home listings (10 exclusive for owner occupants)
• YELLOW [Relist]: relisted HUD homes and price reductions (5 days exclusive for owner occupants)
• BLUE [Sunday]: previous Friday’s new listings with a bidding deadline of Sunday midnight (still exclusive for owner occupants)
• GREEN [Investors]: HUD homes available for all bidders (investors) with a daily bidding deadline

The first one shows the total number of Columbus HUD homes available each Friday. Essentially, that’s the information you can see in our email newsletter every Friday. Look at the last column to the right. It shows today’s listings. You can see that the total number of listings (height of column) is 70, while the number of new listings (red) is 21.

The second chart shows the same information as a percentage of all HUD listings. Here you can see the percentage of homes available for investors (green) relative to the total number of HUD homes. For instance, in the last column (today’s listings) homes for all bidders (green) are only 15% of the all listings.

You can clearly see 3 major trends:

1. The total number of HUD homes has gone down to 50% since the beginning of the year.
2. The number of HUD homes available to investors (green portion of chart) has dwindled to 15% of the total number of homes vs. almost 50% at the beginning of the year.
3. Since the end of August, when we hit an all-time low, we saw a consistent increase in listed HUD homes.

These charts clearly show that owner occupants are dominating the HUD homes market and the share of investors has become very small. This is due to the fact that it has become very hard for investors to secure financing for investment properties, while HUD offers very generous incentives for owner occupants to buy their homes. There is no doubt in my mind that this is in the best interest of HUD, as they can sell their homes to owner occupants for or above list price, while investors will demand a substantial discount.

Listing Statistics of this Week

Total homes available: 70 (last week: 63)

Owner occupants: 61
All bidders: 9
New listings: 21
Sunday deadline: 25
Relisted/Price reduced: 15
 
Median Price: $59,500 (last week: $63,000)
Average Price: $77,777 (last week: $76,159)
Highest: $188,000
Lowest: $5,400
 
Homes less than $50,001: 31 (last week: 21)
Between $50,001 & $100,000: 19 (last week: 17)
More than $100,000: 20 (last week: 11)
 
Call me TODAY at 975-9650 to see the newest HUD Homes this weekend!

Thanks for reading our Columbus HUD Homes Blog
Posted by: Susanne Novak, ABR, FIS, GRI 
Columbus Realtors specializing in
HUD Homes, Shortsales, Investment Real Estate
(614) 975-9650