Foreclosures and Short Sales Continue to Impact Hamilton Mill Real Estate

The third quarter of 2011 has now come to an end and I was curious to see how Hamilton Mill real estate sales were holding up.

As I started to look at the homes that have sold this year, I became curious as to how many of the sold properties were foreclosures and short sales. That lead me to wonder how many homes currently on the market were also foreclosures and short sales and what impact the distressed properties have had on traditional sales.

As of Oct. 11, there are 49 homes for sale in Hamilton Mill. That is the lowest number of available homes in Hamilton Mill that I can ever remember.  If we break that down by price range,  21 homes are listed under $300,000 and 27 homes are listed between $300,000 and $500,000. And this is hard to believe, but there is only one home listed in Hamilton Mill above $500,000. Of the 49 homes listed, two are listed in FMLS as foreclosures at $245,000 and $208,000. Eleven of the active listings are short sales with an average sales price of $295,000. There are currently 28 homes pending. That means a contract has been accepted and the contract is binding. Of those 28, pending contracts, 10 are short sales and one is a foreclosure. The other 17 are traditional sales.

As for the first nine months, Hamilton Mill has had 83 homes sold, with an average sales price of $281,779. Those 83 homes had an average “days on market” of 65 days. In terms of a price breakout, 53 homes sold under $300,000, 27 homes had a sales price between $300,000 and $500,000 and three homes sold for over $500,000. Keep in mind, there are also 28 homes currently pending as mentioned above.

It is no secret that the real estate market is driven by foreclosures and short sales. Hamilton Mill was no different in the first three quarters. Of the 83 homes closed, 16 were listed as foreclosures and nine were listed as short sales. My gut tells me that these numbers are actually lower than they actually were. In order for them to show up in my search, the listing agent would have had to tag them in the MLS systems as a foreclosure or short sale, and I am certain that was not done in every case. In any case, the distressed properties were 30 percent of total sales and would have been more with the proper input of data.

I think we will continue to be in a foreclosure and short sale market for a few more years. For those holding on waiting for the market to “come back,” please understand that when growth begins, it will be a slow return. Many feel we will not see 2006 prices ever again. One thing is certain, with prices low and interest rates at an all time high, it is a great time to buy.