Here we are at the end of the year…wow, did 2012 just race past? Sales in the last couple of months have been slow area-wide, as most of our market focuses on holidays, family, travel, and the like. We continue to have regular traffic at the Mandoki Realty Sales Office, being so well located right on property. It’s usually people “exploring” Ft. Morgan…finding their way down the drive and then into our building after they make that quick U-turn on seeing the guardhouse. They may not be buyers on that first pass…but they find out we’re here, and they get a great overview of all the Plantation has to offer when they stop by to chat. Many, many times have I pulled a subsequent buyer’s name up from my contact database when they finally do come to buy.
Next month, after 2012 has officially closed out, I will begin my Annual Summary of Real Estate Sales at the Plantation and the local area. I hope to see some uptick in property values as most of the “distress sales” (foreclosures and shortsales) were largely shook-out by the time 2012’s buying season unfolded. But the process of improving property values is likely going to be more protracted than in past cycles, largely due to two factors: 1) the difficulty in securing financing with the 2008-09 collapse of the more liberal “shadow lending market;” and 2) the increased competition posed by all of those contemporary properties that were built-out from 2000-2007 (who are, of course, subject to the same financing problems and so whose pricing advances are likewise suppressed by them.) Thus, the most important things owners and their HOA’s can do is to keep their units and the complexes as fresh, up-to-date and well-maintained as they can, and to ensure that the HOA’s remain strictly compliant with the guidelines of the two largest lenders in the secondary market: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In short, if you want prices to go up, people have to want to buy here, and they have to be able to finance their purchase…it’s just that simple.
Wishing you and yours a safe and glorious 2012 Holiday Season!
