Last night WCPO News ran an interesting story highlighting a frustrated homeowner who purchased a home in Hyde Park in 2001 and now finds the Multiple Listing Service of Greater Cincinnati (MLS) considers the house location as Oakley!

Talk about surprise- who moved the house?  Well actually the property didn’t sneak to another location while the owners were sleeping- MLS was simply adhering to their rules by following  CAGIS (Cincinnati Area Geographical Information System).  CAGIS is an organization comprised of business, city and county entities (details here) working together on a shared data base. 

Realtors rely on the MLS to help provide accurate address location data.

I am sure you have heard somebody describe their property in some location- Wyoming, Glendale, Finneytown -when in reality it was situated on a street near or very near the actual boundary lines.  Over the years, the lines become blurred and as confusing (and probably frustrating for owners caught in the middle of the change) the location of any property needs to be decided by  “neutral well informed source” and not the general public or their Realtors. (me included)

If you live in Cincinnati and want to know your exact location in CAGIS- follow the link below.  Once you are on the site find Locating Tools on the left side bar, click on address and you are ready to go. Click here to get started. 

photo credit: matthijs

Our December home price reduction report shows that 22% of homes currently on the market in the U.S. as of December 1, 2009 have experienced at least one price cut, the lowest level since Trulia started tracking price reductions in April, 2009. The total amount slashed from home prices also dropped from $28.1 Billion in November to $24.7 Billion in December, representing a 12% decrease. The average discount for price-reduced homes slightly increased to 11% off of the original listing price compared to 10% in the previous four months. The number of listings on Trulia also decreased by 9% from the previous month.

December Price Reduction Highlights

• 22% of U.S. homes as of December 1, 2009 have experienced at least 1 price cut
• $28.1 Billion in price reductions
• Average national price reduction slightly increased to 11%
• Minneapolis, MN leads the nation in price reductions with 40%
• Luxury homes listed at $2M plus see an average of 14% cut vs. the 10% cut for homes listed under $2M
• Luxury homes over $2M on Trulia is less than 2% of current listings but is responsible for 26% of the $24.7 Billion in home price reductions

South Reports Least Amount of Homes Reduced

The South has the lowest levels of price reductions, with 19% of current listings experiencing at least one price cut, a 21% decrease from the previous month. Kentucky, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi are all seeing less than 15% of listings with price reductions. (Regions according to the U.S. Census Bureau).

• South- 19% of listings with price reductions
• West- 20% of listings with price reductions
• Midwest- 22% of listings with price reductions
• Northeast- 25% of listings with price reductions

“We saw some of the highest levels of reductions last month, as home owners raced to sell their homes in advance of the November 30 expiration of the tax credit,” said Pete Flint. “We are now seeing fewer reductions at the low end of the market as those sellers are increasingly in sync with market prices. With the expansion of the tax credit to repeat home buyers and extension to April 30, we expect to see an increase in price reductions at the higher end of the market in the first quarter of 2010.”

For the first time since Trulia started tracking price reductions in April 2009, one major U.S. city has reached 40 percent of listings with price reductions – Minneapolis. This is the second straight month that Minneapolis has held the top spot for highest percentage of price reductions.

Cities experiencing significant increases in percentage of listings with price reductions from June 2009 to December 2009 include:

• Kansas City, MO – 40% increase in price reductions
• Omaha, NE – 39% increase in price reductions
• Houston, TX – 32% increase in price reductions
• Minneapolis, MN – 29% increase in price reductions
• Arlington, VA – 28% increase in price reductions

Cities showing signs the highest percentage of declines for listings with price reductions from June 2009 to December 2009 include:

• Las Vegas, NV– 30% decrease in price reductions
• San Jose, CA – 30% decrease in price reductions
• Long Beach, CA – 25% decrease in price reductions
• Honolulu, HI – 23% decrease in price reductions
• Albuquerque, NM – 22% decrease in price reductions

Luxury Market Still Hardest Hit

Luxury homes (those listed at two million dollars and above) continue to bear the brunt of discounts being offered with an average of 14 percent being slashed from the original asking price compared to 10 percent for homes listed under $2 million. Additionally, luxury homes represent less than two percent of all current listings on Trulia, but are responsible for 26 percent of the $24.7 billion in home price reductions.

December Price Reductions – Top 50 U.S. Cities

For more info on Trulia’s national home price reduction report, please visit our press release in the Trulia News Room

We know that when home buyers and sellers search for real estate online, they want to see as many listing photos and maps as they can to get a realistic view of each property and the surrounding neighborhood.  With that in mind, we’re thrilled to be one of three companies providing users with a new aerial perspective by integrating Google’s new API with high-resolution overhead imagery.  Bottom line: not only is it a super high quality image but it’s also a useful tool that gives a better glimpse into what the area around a home looks like.  We’ve placed this new view below the existing Google StreetView to give a more contextual view of each listing.  Check out how it looks in this San Jose listing:

This is a brand-spanking new Google Maps product.  So new, in fact, that it’s currently only available in two cities: San Jose and San Diego.  You can learn more about Google’s new aerial perspective here. Happy house hunting!

Holiday decorating and shopping- it’s a good time to be a buyer in this real estate market. 

So you ask- what’s happening in real estate throughout greater Cincinnati area. For a quick look at Market Action Reports by zip-code see below:

45011

45014

45040

45069

45208

45233

It’s a mixed bag with some areas showing an increase (slight) in list prices, while other locations are decreasing (slightly).  A good indicator of what is going on is DOM or Days on Market.  All the areas in the report have very high number of days on the market. 

This is the short version of the detailed information available for the zipcodes- call or email if you would like the details.

Related Articles: Last Week’s Numbers

We’ve just released an updated version of the Trulia iPhone App and a brand new mobile web site accessible on every mobile phone!  Now it’s even easier to find homes for sale and other real estate info on the go.  We’ve seen mobile usage continue to increase as more people transition from traditional mobile phones to smartphones and we’re looking forward to more great mobile announcements in the future.

Updated Trulia iPhone App:

Using our updated iPhone App, users can now scroll through big, color photos for all properties for sale and search for homes by zooming the iPhone map.  You can also find properties that have a reduction in price and see the most popular homes for sale in your local area.  And of course, you can still find Open Houses, email properties to a friend, get driving directions, save your favorite properties to your iPhone and more.

Nearly 300,000 users have downloaded the Trulia App so far and we’ve connected thousands of buyers looking for real estate information with local real estate agents.

Find out more about Trulia’s Real Estate iPhone App or download it directly from the Apple iTunes store.

Trulia Mobile Web Site:

The new Trulia Mobile Web Site provides access to users on the go, regardless of their mobile phone!  Find homes for sale, see big, color photos of every home, get advice from the Trulia Voices Community, and login to access your My Trulia Saved Searches and Favorite properties.  All you need is a mobile phone with a web browser and you’re in business.

Find out more about Trulia’s Real Estate Mobile Web Site or visit the mobile web site by typing m.trulia.com in your browser.

Trulia Mobile Web Site

How do know your property is considered “almost sold” in today’s real estate market?

Let’s see- you’ve had lots of showings, lots of internet page views, decent feedback from buyer’s agents, homes in your area are selling (even selling slowly counts)……but you haven’t any purchase offers.  Sound familiar?  Well the number one question sellers ask is “what’s wrong” and honestly a lot of the time it is usually pricing.  However if pricing seems to be correct consider some of the following marketing ideas:

1. Are they exterior and interior pictures up-to-date?  It’s pretty amazing to house hunt on the internet and see “just listed” in the remarks combined with exterior photos showing green green grass and leafy trees.  Also take a peek at interior pictures as well.  Lots of photos show outside views -make sure everything is in-sync with the season.
2. Showing appointments should be super simple.  Today sellers who insist on numerous numbers and people be contacted prior to agreeing to any appointment are losing buyers.
3. If you have been on the market for an extended period-break down and pay for a professional home-stager.  Sometimes a few simple rearrangements (or major fixes) help to catch the buyer’s eye.
4. And finally- cancel the contract and relist with your agent (or if you are a FSBO -do the same).  There are many opinions whether a new MLS # really helps to sell the listing.  I have always felt that if the seller (or agent) made steps to revitalize the listing- a new # cannot hurt the property.  The best way to catch the new buyers in the market is combine “sprucing up” with at the very least- a minimal price reduction. 

Sometimes the sad truth of wanting more than the market will pay at this time is the hardest challenge for sellers to face.  If you are simply “testing the waters” save yourself a lot of work and delay listing your house or condo when you’re really want to sell…..the whole process becomes much easier when everybody is motivated.

According to the Multiple Listing Service of Greater Cincinnati the following HUD properties have sold/closed.

If you are tracking and/or bidding on HUD properties the report provide. Or stay ahead of the real estate market by subscribing to thecincyblog now!

A quick check of the Multiple Listing Service of Greater Cincinnati 12,454 Active Listings (single family homes and condos).  The last time we experience the number of active listings below 13,000 was in January, 2006 when we had 12,900 homes/condos on the market.

Buyers who have been house hunting for the past several months can tell you- there aren’t a lot of new listings and newly listed properties- that are priced right- are selling quickly.

The continuation of the Home Buyer Tax Credit (for first time home buyers and repeat buyers) combined with low mortgage rates provides the perfect real estate storm”.  Sellers waiting for spring market-might want to reconsider and seize the opportunity to sell now.

If you need more information to make a decision-make an appointment now.

Housing sales are up!

Housing sales are down!

It’s hard today to keep track of all the differing reports on the housing market.  Confused- you’re not the only one.  Just remember-real estate is local.  Media reports about real estate sales, while indicative of the national trends, do not accurately represent our local market.

In simple terms- let’s compare single family closings for the same periods 2008 vs. 2009 (01/01-11/15  2008 vs. 2009).  According to the Multiple Listing Service of Greater Cincinnati for our 4 county area:

The # of closings is down except in Hamilton County.  Average sale price is down for all 4 counties- not by a lot- but prices remain below 2008.  The one bright spot may be in the highest sale prices- both Clermont and Hamilton counties high end exceeded 2008.

The data is pretty straight forward- we are not in the slump of slumps experienced by many areas of the country- however sales prices are still below previous years.  What it means is a continuation of a “buyer’s market” one where supply is still more than demand.

You want to know what is happening in real estate throughout greater Cincinnati area. For a quick look at Market Action Reports by zipcode see below:

45011

45014

45040

45069

45208

45223

The bottom line- Market Action Indexanswers the question about how’s the market.  Numbers below 30 indicate a strong buyer’s market.  So, as you can see, the entire greater Cincinnati real estate market is tilted toward buyers.This is the short version of the detailed information available for the zipcodes- call or email if you would like the details.

Related Articles: Last Week’s Numbers