Springfield Lakes Community Update
February 2010
The unemployment situation, the uncertainty of the economy and the sense that the housing recovery will take time and price declines are yet to come do not provide any sense of urgency to purchase a home. In addition, home buyers who realize the benefits of low prices and low interest rates have been trying to close on a home for months or even years, but are unable to do so because they either lose out as one multiple bidders on lender-owned homes or have been waiting for a short sale home that ended in a decline.
Only one home has sold this year in Springfield Lakes. There are currently 9 homes for sale plus 4 more that failed to sell and recently cancelled or are temporarily off the market. Six of the homes that are currently for sale are Mohave floorplan with 2170 sq. ft. and 4 bedrooms. Five homes are traditional sales, two are short sales and two are lender-owned properties. There is more competition among homes for sale resulting in price reductions. Some homes up for traditional sale are pricing aggressively to compete with the short sales and lender-owned properties.
The MLS inventory in the Valley mirrors what our neighborhood is experiencing, with an inventory of about 31,000 in November to about 35,000 this month. There are ten homes in our neighborhood that received a notice of trustee sale. These homes are either being sold as short sales or will eventually become lender-owned properties.
The question everybody is asking is when will the housing market recover? This question is better answered by the lenders. Our real estate market is being dictated by what the lenders do -- from approving loan modifications and short sales to pricing lender-owned properties. If lenders invest money towards creating a technology, training staff and finding resources to expedite the amount and length of time for approval of short sales and loan modifications, we will see a quicker decline in inventory for distressed homes and can expect an earlier taste of price appreciation. When the public is convinced that price appreciation exists in real estate, the sense of urgency to buy will become real and a genuine housing recovery can take over.
