Market Snapshot: Sellers slash prices as residential real estate hits a rough spot

The housing market gives mixed signals; housing starts in Greene County were down 46 percent in 2007 compared to 2006, but median home prices for the five-county Springfield metropolitan statistical area in the fourth quarter of 2007 were up 0.9 percent to $120,700 from the same period in 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors. While the median price increased 3 percent from 2005 to 2006, the latest uptick is welcome news given that between 2006 and 2007, median sales prices for the year as a whole dropped 1.8 percent.

So what really is the state of the Springfield housing market?

“It’s bad,” said Brian Anderson, an agent with Benchmark Realty. “It’s really slow.”

Anderson pointed to a combination of uncertainty over what the Federal Reserve is planning for interest rates and banks tightening their lending standards. “Nobody wants to buy a house because they don’t know what the interest rates are going to do, and people who do want to buy can’t get financing,” he said.

Fellow Benchmark agent Scott Hurst, a 14-year real estate veteran, said the local housing market is as slow as he’s ever seen it.

“Most of the agents I’ve talked to in the last six months agree that their income is the lowest it’s been in quite a while,” Hurst said. “It’s been over a year that the national media have been talking about it, and if you get people convinced that the market is down, it takes longer to come back up. I know it will come back up. … I hope it’s sooner than later.”

Richard Jones of Carol Jones, Realtors agrees. He said the local multilist numbers tell the story. On one mid-February day, Jones found 88 new listings on the Springfield multilist, along with 42 price reductions – and only 21 sales.

“This is almost every day; people are slashing prices like you wouldn’t believe,” Jones said. “I have not seen the price reductions outnumber the new listings, thank God, but I’m waiting for that day.”

Among the properties being listed at below market value is the 13,000-square-foot home at 3769 E. Eaglescliffe Drive. Listing agent Indy Wallace of Indy Wallace Realtors said the home’s $1.9 million list price is well below the $3 million it cost to build the home for original owners Loren and Ann Moore. According to the Greene County Assessor’s office, the home’s current owner is Joseph Shearrer.

Now that it’s officially a buyer’s market, Jones said consumers can consider as much as 6 percent of a home’s listing price to be negotiable, while in previous years that number would have been about 3 percent. He added that he doesn’t see the market improving considerably until the early part of 2009.

Jack Rhoads, an agent with Murney Associates, said while sellers are cutting prices, part of the reason is that the listing prices were too high to begin with.

“Last year, average listing prices were at an all-time high,” Rhoads said. “People were being too aggressive with their listing prices, so when they brought them down to where they should be, they didn’t lose any money – they never had it – they just got what the house was actually worth.”

He added that while sales numbers are down, historical perspective is needed; Rhoads said that median sale prices are up 24 percent in the last six years.

Hurst noted, though, that he doesn’t think the slower market should discourage sellers or buyers.

“In southwest Missouri, you can’t get taken advantage of in the housing market unless you literally buy something that’s falling down,” Hurst said, noting that the relatively low prices of real estate in Springfield make the market more stable.

Rhoads agreed; he noted the historically low interest rates that make now a good time for potential buyers.

“I sold real estate in 1978, when interest rates were 15 (percent) to 18 percent. We used to say, ‘If we could only get interest rates down to 12 percent, we could sell everything in town,’” he said. “Today they’re at 6.5 percent, and people are reluctant to buy because they think the market isn’t what it should be.”

On the Market

What follows is a snapshot of the Springfield housing market, based on SBJ research of current home listings on the Web sites of local Realtors, who access the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors’ multilist service. Information was cross-checked on multiple Realtor sites for accuracy. All the information included is up-to-date as of Feb. 18.

Most Expensive & Largest

Address: 3769 E. Eaglescliffe Drive

List price: $1,999,900

Square footage: 13,000

Bedrooms: 5

Bathrooms: 5.5

Year built: 2002

Listing agent: Indy Wallace – Indy Wallace Realtors

This Highland Springs home tops two categories as the most expensive and largest home now on the market. Wallace said the home is listed well below its value. Wallace said the home’s current owner – Joseph Shearrer, according to the Greene County assesor’s Web site – bought the property out of foreclosure in order to sell it. The home, which cost more than $3 million to build for original owners Loren and Ann Moore, includes a theater room, finished basement and full-size vault. “If you walk through the door, you’ll feel like you stepped into Miami Vice,” she said. “The first thing that comes to mind is, ‘Where did they get the money to build a house like this?’ The kitchen, the lighting, the carpeting that matches the pattern on the glass, the sound system and security system – everything is custom-made.”

The size of the home, she added, is also impressive. “You could have five families live in there, and they wouldn’t run into each other,” she said.

Least Expensive

Address: 1638 W. Belmont St.

List price: $16,900

Square footage: 900

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 1

Year built: 1945

Listing agent: Brian Anderson, Benchmark Realty

Anderson, who also owns this property, according to county records, said this home, located in the Campbell Elementary School area of west-central Springfield, could be a good investment property or rehabilitation project. “It will take about $10,000 worth of work,” he said.

Smallest

Address: 2710 W. Walnut St.

List price: $18,000

Square footage: 325

Bedrooms: 1

Bathrooms: 1

Year built: 1900

Listing agent: Richard Jones, Carol Jones, Realtors

This property, owned by Lucian D. Smith, according to county records, consists of a single living/sleeping area with kitchen, plus a full bath, sits on a large lot, which Jones said makes it a good possibility for expansion. “The lot is 50 (feet) by 150 (feet), and the setbacks are far enough that the owner will almost certainly build onto it,” Jones said.

Oldest

Address: 726 N. Prospect Ave.

List price: $199,000

Square footage: 1,002

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 2

Year built: 1846

Listing agent: Scott Hurst, Benchmark Realty

This 160-year-old home, owned by Shane Montgomery, according to county records, has been remodeled with new wiring, plumbing, siding and landscaping. But much of the value of the home, Hurst said, comes from its location – it sits just a few blocks from the intersection of Chestnut Expressway and National Avenue, which is soon to be rezoned for commercial development. The property is accessible to Jordan Valley Park, Hammons Field, Ozarks Technical Community College, and Drury and Missouri State universities. “If that house were in a typical neighborhood, it would be considerably less expensive,” Hurst said.

(A listing for the “newest” house on the market is not included, as several homes in a new subdivision are built simultaneously, making that distinction hard to determine.) [[In-content Ad]]