Monday, February 28, 2011

Sunriver Real Estate 1st Quarter 2011 update

We are now 2 months into the new year.  The activity level has picked up significantly in February and we have gone from 13 properties under contract at the end of January to 28 at the end of February.  We have gone from 0 closed transactions to 8 closed transactions.  Assuming we could close all the the currently pending transaction this quarter we would come in at about $9.7 million in volume for the quarter.  That is of course not very likely, we will most likely come in around $6-7 Million.   The homes that have sold and closed so far this year are running at 95% of sales price and $170 per sqft.  I do not expect these number to hold and I think our market is more in the $180-200 per sqft range once the quarters numbers are all in.

The inventory in Sunriver is at the lowest point ( 116 homes) of the year right now and we will start to see a large number of new listings coming on the market over the next few months.  I believe we are going to see a good selling season this year as the economy continues to improve and unemployment inches lower.

If you have any questions about buying, selling, listing, renting or just have a question don't hesitate to call me or send email.

John Watkins
jdw48@mac.com
541-390-3600

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Sunriver Q1 2011 update

Real estate in Sunriver has been slow through most of January 2011.  We currently have 13 homes under contract and 2 homes sold so far this year.  That gives us approximately $5.5 million in volume  with an average sales price of $369,000.  We are running at $185 per sqft and about 330 days on the market.  The first quarter of 2010 we closed 27 homes at an average sales price of $471,000 for a little over $12 million in volume.

The buyer traffic has picked up dramatically in the last 2 weeks and most of the broker's I talk to have had the same experience.  Our inventory of homes is always at its lowest point in January with only 125 homes on the market.  I do expect to see a large number of listings come on the market over the next few months.

If you are thinking about listing now is the time to get started and if you are a buyer, keep your eyes open and check the internet often as we should see a lot of new inventory over the next 3 months.  I do believe we are at the bottom of this market and this is a great time to buy.

John Watkins
Principal Broker
Bennington Properties
jdw48@me.com
541-390-3600

Friday, January 7, 2011

Sunriver 2010 real estate sales summary data

This is going to be a lot of numbers data which I really like to look at because it gives me a much clearer picture of what is happening in the marketplace.  First here is a summary chart by quarter of the sales data for homes sold in Sunriver for the period from 2008 through 2010.  Please remember that the averages are based only on the homes that sold.

  Q1 08 Q2 08 Q3 08 Q4 08
# Homes 11 26 17 18
$ Volume $6,773,700 $15,519,790 $10,674,470 $12,318,500
Average SP $615,791 $596,915 $627,910 $684,361
DOM 166 195 195 199
per sqft $300 $268 $261 $260
% of SP 97% 90% 94% 90%
         
  Q1 09 Q2 09 Q3 09 Q4 09
# Homes 18 14 16 32
$ Volume $9,166,752 $5,674,998 $7,401,296 $14,446,112
Average SP $509,264 $405,357 $462,581 $451,441
DOM 287 317 242 305
per sqft $226 $229 $220 $222
% of SP 92% 92% 93% 93%
         
  Q1 10 Q2 10 Q3 10 Q4 10
# Homes 27 20 23 22
$ Volume $12,714,516 $10,710,100 $10,155,489 $8,330,498
Average SP $470,908 $535,505 $441,543 $378,659
DOM 387 234 189 333
per sqft $199 $211 $203 $190
% of SP 92% 94% 95% 93%

The year 2010 ended with a big drop off in sales volume for Q4 compared to early quarters in 2010 and a big drop in volume from the Q4 2009 numbers.  The Q4 2010 DOM was way up as we saw a number of homes that had been on the market over a year finally sell ( 8 of 22 had been on the market over 1 year & 4 of them over 2 years), but this moved the DOM of homes sold up significantly from the previous quarter.  If you look at he annual data for the last 4 years 2010 feels much better.

Year 2007 2008 2009 2010
# Homes 143 72 80 92
Total $ Volume $91,195,962 $45,286,460 $36,689,158 $41,910,603
Average SP $637,734 $628,979 $458,614 $455,550
DOM 158 188.75 287.75 285.75
per sqft $287 $272 $224 $201
% of SP 96% 93% 93% 94%
When viewed this way 2010 shows a marked improvement over 2009 with more sales transactions, higher $ volume of homes sold.  What has continued to decline is the price per sqft. and average Sales Price.

As the economy continues to improve in 2011 I do believe we will continue to see sales activity increase and more people feeling comfortable about buying and owning a second home/vacation rental.  Remember 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every day and we have one of the best places in the country to retire if you are healthy and active.

Another good indicator for 2011 is that the Case-Shiller Housing index on price to income for housing is down from 1.65 in 2007 to 1.06 in 2010.  We have almost returned to 1 which is where it should be, and if we can see some personal income gains in 2011 we just might get there.

Email me if you have any questions about this data.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Mid 4th Quarter 2010 Sunriver Real Estate Update

  The 4th quarter has turned out to be a bit slower than I expected.  I had forecast $11.25 million in sales volume and it does not look like we are going to get there.  Sunriver currently has Pending sales of 2 condos, 9 homes and 1 lot, and sold properties 4 condos, 12 homes and 1 lot.  Assuming all this business closes before 12/31/10 the total sales volume will be just over $9 million.  We could do better than that but I am not counting it.

 Buyers are clearly being very careful in this market.  The resort real estate market has been very slow now for over 2 years.  With the election behind us and hopefully the worst of the economy issues we are looking forward to next year showing some needed improvement in this market.

  We are still benefiting from extremely low interest rates and a large inventory of homes to choose from.  Caldera Springs has seen several of its more expensive homes sell recently and we continue to see new homes going up as the cost of money and construction are very favorable.

Happy holidays to everyone.

Questions please give me a call or send me and email

John Watkins
jdw48@mac.com
541-390-3600

Thursday, November 11, 2010

November Sunriver Scene Article


I wrote this article for the Sunriver Scene about 3 weeks ago.  I have re published it here in case you did not see it.      


      "I spent most of my career as a CPA and CFO, so I have a great love of financialnumbers and the story they can tell us.  Unfortunately it is now quite clear that all the political rhetoric and public funds have not succeeded in giving us a quick recovery from the latest recession.  Certainly some segments of the economy are starting to show some upward trends and the government has declared that the recession ended last summer as GDP turned positive.   The reality of it for most of us is that real estate and unemployment are the factors that most affect our day to day lives and they have yet to show any serious signs of improvement.  If you were smart enough to let you 401K ride out the recession you are most likely about half way back to where you were before the crash.  On the other hand if you held on to all your real estate you are pretty much still at the bottom wondering when things start to improve.  It is quite clear we are still grinding through the bottoming process in real estate.  I do believe we have bottomed out and I am    confident that 2011 will bring some stability to our market.

       Below is a chart of data from the last 3 years of homes sold in Sunriver.  I have estimated Q4 2010 numbers based on the carryover from Q3 2010 and from the current momentum in our market.   Three things are worth noting in the numbers: first – the days on market moved down in 2010 to something more reasonable ( 200+ days).  Second –Sales price per sqft has been somewhat stable this year in the $200 range.  Third – the percentage of sales price has improved in the last 2 quarters (92% to 95%).  All of these would tend to indicate that we have reached a somewhat stable bottom and that our homes are closer to being priced correctly.   These are clearly signs that we are at thebottom. and our home values should be stabilizing.
Homes Sold
Q1 08
Q2 08
Q3 08
Q4 08
# Homes
11
26
17
18
$ Volume
$6,773,700
$15,519,790
$10,674,470
$12,318,500
Average SP
$615,791
$596,915
$627,910
$684,361
DOM
166
195
195
199
per sqft
$300
$268
$261
$260
% of SP
97%
90%
94%
90%
 
Q1 09
Q2 09
Q3 09
Q4 09
# Homes
18
14
16
32
$ Volume
$9,166,752
$5,674,998
$7,401,296
$14,446,112
Average SP
$509,264
$405,357
$462,581
$451,441
DOM
287
317
242
305
per sqft
$226
$229
$220
$222
% of SP
92%
92%
93%
93%
 
Q1 10
Q2 10
Q3 10
Q4 10- EST
# Homes
27
20
23
25
$ Volume
$12,714,516
$10,710,100
$10,155,489
$11,250,000
Average SP
$470,908
$535,505
$441,543
$450,000
DOM
387
234
189
225
per sqft
$199
$211
$203
$205
% of SP
92%
94%
95%
95%




       We have sold 18 condominiums this year with 4 in the 3rd quarter and we have 5 pending sales that will carry into the 4th quarter.  There have been only 2 lots sales this year, both in the 2nd quarter and one is currently pending for the 4th quarter.

       Sunriver as a community has made a very strong statement in the last two years by voting to increase the monthly dues to build up a financial reserve and by voting to fund a new pool and community center to keep us competitive in the resort market for years to come.  We are and will continue to be the largest and most successful resort community in Central Oregon.  Our courage to invest in our community in the middle of this recession will bode well for us and our real estate investment when the economy 
returns to more normal levels."

Please contact me if you have any questions about this article or if there is anything I can
help you with.

John Watkins, Broker
Bennington Properties
Sunriver, Oregon.
Jdw48@mac.com

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

3rd Quarter 2010 Final Sunriver Real Estate Sales numbers



First lets get the numbers on the table for Sunriver.  We closed 31 transactions ( homes, condos, land, shared ownership) in the 3rd quarter 2010 for a total sales volume $10.82 million.  The good news is that this was a small improvement over the 3rd quarter last year of last year which came in at $10.3 million.  The  bad news is that the 3rd quarter 2010 sales total was the 3rd straight quarterly decline in sales volume from the $16.6 million 4th quarter of 2009.  Q1 2010 was $13.7 million, Q2 2010 was $12.9 million and then Q3 2010 came in at $10.8 million.  A more typical year would have gone the other direction as we usually see most of our business happen in the 3rd quarter.  We have 17 transactions totaling $5.3 million currently pending for the 4th quarter which does give us a good start, we also still have close to 200 homes on the market to choose from.  I doubt we are going to match the $16.6 million we did in the 4th quarter of last year.
Our market is clearly grinding its way through the bottoming process and most of the data would indicate that we are going to see more of the same through the winter months this year and early next year.  Extremely low interest rates and prices have helped convince many buyers over the last year that it is a good time to buy something in Sunriver, but they continue to be very price motivated buyers.  
Caldera Springs had a good quarter with one home sale and 8 lots sales in the 3rd quarter and has 3 lot sales pending and 1 home sale pending for the 4th quarter.  There are a number of new custom homes under construction and the lot sales are a good indicator for the future of Caldera Springs.  Caldera will soon be offering a new cabin product in the $400K range which should bring in some new interest to the cabins. 

If you have any questions or specific requests please contact me.

Thank you,

John Watkins
541-390-3600
jdw48@mac.com

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Sunriver Real Estate 3rd Quarter progress Report!!!

First I would like to say thank you to the Sunriver Owners for supporting the new Aquatic Center.   I strongly believe that this addition to Sunriver along with the continued updating of the Sunriver Village will add significant value to Sunriver real estate in the years to come.   I think the timing is perfect for these key improvements as I also believe we are at the bottom of the real estate problem in our area.

Now here is the data, so far the 3rd Quarter of 2010 is not an improvement over 2009 or the 2nd quarter of 2010.  Lets hope that with all this good news that the buyer's return to make this quarter the best of the year.   At the mid point of Q3 2009 we had closed 9 homes with and average price of $363k, currently we have closed 8 homes with an average price $352K for the 3rd quarter of 2010.  Q3 2009 had a total of 27 closed transaction for a total of $10.3 million in volume.  Q3 2010 currently has 8 closed deals and 16 pending deals for a current potential of $9.1 million in Volume.  I think we will do better than that and come very close to topping last year.

Caldera has 5 pending lot sales and 2 closed lot sales.  The pricing is very disappointing as it ranges between $119k to $199K.  Caldera has 2 pending home sales and Crosswater has 1 pending home sale.

We still have a great inventory of product with 226 homes and 56 condos for sales in Sunriver and 15 homes and 33 lots for sale in Caldera.  We also have fantastic interest rates still available.

Please call me if you have any questions on this data or you have any real estate needs that I can help you with.

John
541-390-3600
jdw48@mac.com