Green Real Estate Appraiser

Is The Sellers Market Starting to Cool?

Posted on June 24, 2013 | Leave a comment

From Karen Starr, The Grubb Co.

Q: Is the red-hot seller’s market about to cool?

A: I don’t know about you, but I have begun to sense a change in the temperature of our local real estate market in the past few weeks. Maybe it’s because schools are almost out for the summer and parents’ focus has shifted to the challenges inherent in keeping our kids entertained for the next few months. Maybe it’s due to the “battle fatigue” that both buyers and their agents are experiencing as they have repeatedly put forth efforts of heroic proportion in their attempts to secure the home they desire.

Up until early May, new listings that were well-located, well-presented and well-priced were selling literally in days, with an avalanche of offers and at sales prices often exceeding asking prices by 20 to 40 percent.

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As we moved full swing into the spring market, inventory increased significantly, at least in the East Bay where I work and we now often seen fewer offers presented on new listings, with some homes even “languishing” for several weeks on the market prior to receiving an offer. Imagine that! I remember when 3 to 6 months was the “normal” marketing period for a new listing.

We are in a market transition of some sort here. Whether it is due to impending summer, buyer fatigue or increased inventory remains to be seen. Maybe it’s all of the above?

In the coming months we will most likely see asking prices more accurately reflect the actual current market value of the house rather than be priced in anticipation of the overbidding that was prevalent earlier.

Prices/values are not dropping; yesterday’s sales are the comparables used to establish current market value. Buyer demand remains high. The number of offers per listing may be fewer but houses will sell at closer to their asking price making it easier for buyers to gage where they must go, price-wise, in order to prevail.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Cheap leases offered to spur electric car sales

Posted on June 23, 2013 | Leave a comment

DETROIT—Auto companies are hoping lower lease prices can put a charge into sluggish sales of electric cars.Honda announced Thursday that it’s slashing the monthly lease cost of its tiny Fit EV by one third, following similar moves by other automakers. Honda also is throwing in other goodies, such as a free home charging station and unlimited mileage.

Electric vehicles once were billed as the answer to high gas prices and dependence on foreign oil. But U.S. oil production is rising, gas supplies are abundant and pump prices have remained relatively stable the past three years, making consumers reluctant to switch from internal combustion engines. There’s also the worry that an electric car could run out of juice on longer trips.

As a result, electric car sales, while growing, are only a tiny fraction of overall U.S. auto sales. Automakers sold just over 12,000 pure-electric vehicles in the U.S. through April, according to Ward’s AutoInfoBank and Tesla Motors. That’s less than 1 percent of the 4.97 million cars and trucks sold during the same period.

Still, automakers have rolled out new electric models, increasing the competitive pressure.

Automakers generally lose money on electric cars because the technology is so new and the batteries are costly. But they have been subsidizing sales by lowering prices. Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said earlier this year that his company will lose $10,000 on every Fiat 500 electric vehicle it sells. Others have reported similar losses.

With the Fit EV, Honda is offering a $259 per month lease, down $130 from the initial $389 per month offer when the car went on sale in July of last year. The reduced lease price starts June 1 and will apply to existing EV leases, Honda said.

The three-year lease requires no money down and comes with unlimited mileage, free routine maintenance, collision insurance coverage and a free 240-volt home charging station, the company said Thursday. The charging station normally costs $995. The car buyer must take care of installation.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Life-size Barbie Dreamhouse Opens in Florida

Posted on June 22, 2013 | Leave a comment

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.—Days of Malibu living are long gone for Barbie. The iconic doll has moved to Florida and is inviting people to step into her life-size dream house, the first one now open worldwide.

Barbie The Dreamhouse Experience, a 10,000-square-foot building with an “endless closet,” elevators, a kitchen, bedroom, and everything pink, opened last week at Sawgrass Mills mall in Sunrise, Fla.

The life-size house is already drawing squeals of joy from little girls who’ve toured Barbie’s happy world, and enthusiasm from lifelong fans like Lynn Mulvaney-Japes, 51.

“It’s a big deal,” said Mulvaney-Japes, a member of a Barbie collector club. “In fact, we all want to go work there.”

The Lauderhill, Fla., resident said she has more than 3,000 Barbie dolls in a room in her house devoted exclusively to the fashionista and multi-career role model. Mulvaney-Japes planned to visit Barbie’s own house this week, along with other members of the Fashion Queen Doll Club.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Is The Sellers Market Starting to Cool?

Cheap leases offered to spur electric car sales

Life-size Barbie Dreamhouse Opens in Florida

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