New Construction is under way but….

It would seem that the market for new construction is getting a good start this year, as evidenced by this article. http://blog.oregonlive.com/happy_valley_news/print.html?entry=/2011/04/three_developers_look_to_bring_more_than_200_new_homes_to_happy_valley_in_the_coming_year.html

It would appear that the really hot selling homes are in the $300,000 range, up to conforming. New homes are selling more, in that price point. There are very few spec homes being built as financing has still not come back. A few builders are able to obtain construction loans, but many resort to hard money financing, which is very expensive and risky.

Bank owned homes continue to trickle out, and many distressed properties are in short sale. Many banks have streamlined their processes so the approval is not nearly as strenuous as it once was.

Presales continue to come out, in all price ranges. Visit www.northernheightshappyvalley.com to see some great luxury homes.

Is new construction making a comeback?

Halfway through January of 2011, and we’re seeing something we haven’t seen in a few years: New Construction. Several subdivisions are building spec homes to sell. People can actually see a new finished home in Happy Valley that is not distressed, and will have a warranty!

National builder DR Horton has just broke ground on 3 new spec homes, to be completed by spring, in Sunnyside Highlands starting at $361K. Another local builder has some specs, and some smaller local builders are building a couple of homes here and there. Hopefully this will spur other builders to follow suit, and banks to start lending on spec homes again.

Many homes have been listed as a custom build-to-suit, however, sales are slower with those as people want something to see and walk through.

Its the New Year… and maybe New Market?

As we start the new year off, it would seem the last 2 weeks of 2010 gave us a bit of a start of hopefully to be a great 2011. Market activity seemed to pick up quite a bit, with buyers looking more aggressively, and sellers being motivated to make a deal. Foreclosures and distressed properties continue to come out, but not at the rate many feared would be.

New construction starts have picked up, with a few builders putting up some spec homes for sale, and many more looking for a presale. With some positive news in the market about the slow climb out of the recession, we hope that everyone can begin the recovery.

First post of the new blog.

The past 11 months have been a changing market. We’ve seen the first time homebuyer’s tax credit come and go. We’ve seen interest rates fall to all time lows, and we’ve seen the stock market rise back up to past highs. Overall, the foreclosures have dropped to a trickle, and we’ve seen more new construction sales and spec homes coming out of the ground.