The last week of January 2012 national news reported that home sales have hit a all time low! So are Boise home sales down again too? 2011 was supposedly the worst home sales in 60 years and Boise home sales down as much or more than the rest of the country.
But there are some strange things happening. Some of my agents had record home sales in Boise and the treasure valley in 2011. Today I am waiting for an answer back on an offer that one of my clients made on a bank owned property in Boise. It had been on the market for four days when we made the offer. We were the 10th! We offered almost $15,000 over asking price. This morning I got an email from the listing agent. He ended up turning 15 offers in to the bank! It sounds like we were not the highest offer!
This has happened to several of my agent's buyers lately. The buyers are really surprised, confused and some getting frustrated. They say "I thought this was a buyer's market"! So what is going on? I thought Boise Home Sales are down!
Well they are according to the statistics that I have found. But there are also less for sale. We keep hearing of the "shadow inventory". The bank owned homes not yet listed.
If you are a buyer there are a few things you need to know and be prepared for. There are lots of buyers apparently for low end homes for sale. There are lots of investors out there with cash making offers. The banks have gotten smart. Most of them are under pricing these homes knowing that when they do they will likely get multiple offers. Most of them say right on the listing (usually in agent remarks so the public doesn't see) that they will not look at offers for 3 to 5 days. Freddie and Fannie won't look at investor offers until after day 15 on the MLS. HUD won't consider investors for 30 days!
So, they are forcing what is almost an auction. They get several offers and then send the buyer's agent a notice of multiple offers and ask for highest and best. Even a few weeks ago often highest and best was the asking price. Now people are panicking and even first offers are over asking price. I just closed on a home that sold for $225K. The asking price was $195K Wow. This is almost like 2005!
Several months ago I wrote about the coming Boise housing shortage. We know there is a shadow industry. We know Boise home sales are down. But the banks are forcing an apparent Boise housing shortage right now.
If you have been thinking about buying a new home or investment homes you should start keeping an eye on things. On www.BoiseMeridianRealEstate.com you can set up your own search alerts. I only know of two real estate websites in town where the public can do this. Realtors and others who may read this please leave a comment on any similar experiences that you have had.
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