Tuesday, April 7, 2009

A Sample of Today's Interest Rates

Lenders are doing their best to hold on to the great rates. Below is a sample of rates offered by local lenders. As always on the b-town Report rates are for a 30 year fixed rate conventional mortgage and rates are subject to change.

First Quarter Stats for Bloomington's Real Estate Market

With the first quarter under our belts in the Bloomington real estate market, here are sum statistics of interest using the following criteria: Bloomington address, residential properties including single family homes, condos and PUDs and sold within the first quarter of 2009.
  • Average size of home: 1908 square feet
  • Average list price: $193,862
  • Average sales price: $179,823
  • Average price per square foot: $92
  • Average days on the market: 119
  • Percentage of sales price to list price: 93%

Monday, April 6, 2009

How Many Days on the Market is Standard for a Listing Bloomington?

When sellers are trying to plan when to put their house on the market or buyers are wondering how long to wait for a price reduction before submitting an offer, the question is always "What's the average Days On The Market for houses in this price range?". Here's the answer based on sales of single family houses in Bloomington since the first of this year:

  • Homes priced under $100,000: 79 days on the market
  • Homes priced between $100,000 and $150,000: 108 days on the market
  • Homes priced between $150,000 and $200,000: 118 days on the market
  • Homes priced between $200,000 and $250,000: 93 days on the market
  • Homes priced between $250,000 and $300,000: 159 days on the market
  • Homes priced between $300,000 and $400,000: 131 days on the market
  • Homes priced between $400,000 and $500,000: 212 days on the market
  • Homes priced between $500,000 and $600,000: 307 days on the market
  • Homes priced between $600,000 and $1M: 288 days on the market
  • Homes priced over $1M: no data due to no sales over $1M in 2009

Homes priced under $100K are moving very quickly. For the majority of homes that sell in this market you are looking at 3 to 4 months as the average time it takes to sell a house. Of course the desirability of the neighborhood, condition of the home and home staging are all factors that can alter the average.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Market Report for the Week Ending April 3rd

It's been another busy week here in the Bloomington area. In addition to Bloomington South winning the State Championships, the market has been quite strong. Here are the numbers:
  • 85 New listings
  • 22 Sales/closings
  • 41 properties went pending

As for the new listings, here's the break down:

  • 26 Condos/PUDs
  • 7 Land listings
  • 2 Commercial listings
  • 50 Single family homes

The single family homes new to the market range in list price from $55,500 for a 1930's bungalow in Columbus to a $2,950,000 estate on Bloomington's East Side consisting of over 10 acres and 9200 square foot house. The majority of new listings are priced from $100,000 to $200,000 with only 5 listings priced over $400,000.

As for the week's sales, all were single family homes except one land and one commercial listing. Here are the numbers:

  • 4 sold for under $100,000
  • 5 sold from $100,000 to $150,000
  • 6 sold from $150,000 to $200,000
  • 2 sold from $200,000 to $250,000
  • 1 sold for $298,000
  • 1 sold for $415,000
  • 1 sold for $491,076 (interesting price)

As for the newly pending properties, many were in the higher price range from the $300's to the $500's.

Interest rates ended the week still below 5% with many lenders so the spring market is looking strong for Bloomington for both buyers and sellers.

Friday, April 3, 2009

How Many Homes in Monroe County Carry a Mortgage?


We all talk about home ownership and the need for a mortgage. Here is some information on mortgages/home ownership for Monroe County:


Housing units in Monroe County with a mortgage: 14,447


  • 1,526 second mortgage,

  • 1,627 home equity loan,

  • 78 both second mortgage and home equity loan

  • Houses without a mortgage: 5,303

In Monroe County 73.1% of homes have a mortgage. State wide 70.9% of homes have a mortgage.

Source: City-Data.com

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Check Out This Handy Web Site



Thanks to Jean Cannon for this bit of information. If you ever want to speak directly with someone at a business, this site gives you directions on how to reach a human being directly.
I have spent too much time hitting 0 over and over and you'll find out that it's not the way with a lot of businesses. Though this isn't real estate related, it was too good not to pass along!
http://www.dialahuman.com

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

The Top Ten Most Heavily Taxed States in the US


Here are the 10 states with the highest taxes, including property, individual income, sales, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, motor vehicles, hunting and fishing, motor fuels, death and gift taxes, as well as insurance premiums.
The per capita tax was derived by adding up all the taxes and dividing the total by the number of citizens.
1. Vermont, $3,861
2. Hawaii, $3,856
3. Connecticut, $3,596
4. Minnesota, $3,203
5. New Jersey, $3,024
6. New York, $3,019
7. Massachusetts, $2,953
8. Washington, $2,553
9. Wyoming, $2,357
10. Pennsylvania, $2,223
Source: Forbes, Matt Woolsey (03/30/2009)