TheTucsonFoothills

a mixed blessing for Cat 10

The Good News,
Another home sold today in Cat 10. 4790 N Via De La Granja, and it was the highest priced sale this year. And also the highest priced sale in Cat 10 since February 08.

The not so Good News, that is, for sellers in Cat 10.
it was the highest priced sale this year. And also the highest priced sale in Cat 10 since February 08.

It sold for $995,000 or $168/sf. (In that price range it was the best deal in the Foothills this year. Bar none. I represented the buyers)
De La Granja was first listed in September 2007 for $1,750,000 and after 2+ years and a few big price cuts, when it dropped to $995, we pounced. It was range priced $995,000 to $1,150,000.

But the plot thickens. There are 16 homes for sale in Cat 10 and, after many months on the market and many price reductions, they’re listed at $890,000, $1,000,000, $1,175,000, $1,295,000, $1,299,000, $1,349,000, $1,395,000, $1,550,000, $1,699,000, $1,775,000, $1,795,000, $1,895,000, $2,290,000, $2,490,000, $2,500,000 and $2,650,000. Or between $227 & $430/sf, for an average of $321/sf.
And at those prices, no one’s biting.

And there have been just 4 sales this year in Cat 10, all under a million; $587,500, $640,000, $755,000 and De La Granja today for $995,000. They ranged from $168 to $268/sf, or an average of $224/sf. (I also represented the buyers of the house on Camino Sumo that sold for $587,500, $201/sf)

There’s no getting around it, the bar has been lowered.
This is true for the high-end market throughout the foothills. 
Ignore it at your peril. 

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birds of a feather on Kolb Rd

5360 N Ventana Overlook Pl (the ) and 7055 E Foothills View Ct (the X) both started life as side-of-the-road spec homes back in the good old days when no one thought much about those details. And both spent more than 2 years on the market and both had many price cuts – and neither one found a buyer – and eventually both went to foreclosure.

Ventana Overlook was first listed in 2007 for $1,075,000, and Foothills View in 2006 for $900,000.

And after all that time and all they’d been through, they both went to contract within a few weeks of each other. Ventana Overlook went to contract last week listed at $499,900 ($154/sf) and today Foothills View, which went to contract 4 weeks ago, sold for $475,000 ($147/sf)

So they’re both going to end up selling for about half, or less, than their original asking price and for roughly the same $/sf. 

But I’m a little surprised that Foothills View went first. Because, if anything, I’d have thought Ventana Overlook, with the added convenience of backing right up to Gavi’s Italian Restaurant, would have been the first to go.

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in it for the short haul

Having just opened them in 2007, RealEstate.com has already pulled the plug on it’s Sierra Vista and Oro Valley offices. But instead of fessing up and announcing that it closed them because they couldn’t make a go of it, they chose to skirt the issue and pin the blame on Oro Valley and Sierra Vista, calling them tertiary markets. 3rd rate and apparently not good enough for the likes of RealEstate.com.
Imagine the gall. 

Victor Vaca, national vice president of sales for Charlotte, N.C.-based RealEstate.com, said the closures were in line with moves the company has made in other, smaller markets across the country. Sierra Vista and Oro Valley are "tertiary" outlying markets, he said, and RealEstate.com is focused on core metro areas.

blah-blah-blah, and Good riddance. I’ll bet they sang a different tune when they opened in 07.

And how do you suppose the people in Oro Valley & Sierra Vista, whose homes are listed with RealEstate.com, feel.

PS – in case you’re amongst the multitude who’ve never heard of it, RealEstate.com is a residential real estate brokerage and the brainchild of Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp.

starting life as a short sale

I have no idea what the story is, but 4630 E Palais Pl in the Summit was listed today for the first time ever for $1,495,000 ($273/sf), as a short sale. It was built in 2007/1.1 acres/5469 sf/6 Beds/4.5 Baths/
2 story/4 car/Pool-Spa/and though I haven’t seen it in person, on paper, it looks like it might be a deal. That is, if you can negotiate and endure the short sale process.

Summit is a small, discreet, gated community with just 11 home sites at the very top of Swan.

There’s one other home for sale in there for $2,949,000 ($391/sf) and 2 others that were listed but didn’t sell and nothing sold in the last 3 years. So who knows.

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prices and such

5231 N Foothills Dr in Cat 7, sold for $450,000 exactly 4 years ago and went to contract today listed at $350,000. They did try selling it in 06 for $750,000, but maybe deciding to wait for better times, soon gave up. They snoozed, they losed.

6920 N Mercer Spring Pl, in Foothills ll, sold for $735,000 in 2001 and today went to contract listed at $780,000. Even if it sells for list, with commissions and closing costs, 8 years later and they’ll come out short. However, it went to contract after just 64 days, and no price cuts either.

And 5800 N Camino Padre Isidoro in Shadow Hills, sold for $555,000 in 04 and after a price cut today is down to $469,000, and still looking for a buyer. Though it may be tougher to find one now, because it’s listed as a possible short sale.

On a brighter note, 6652 N Avenida De Posada went to contract just 8 days ago at $1,495,000 ($336/sf) and today is listed as PENDING. Meaning they’ve leapt over all the hurdles and now are headed to COE.

And 3407 E Via Palomita in La Paloma Estates, listed for $975,000, sold today for $975,000 ($231/sf). Even with a stumble, they made quick work of this one.

It was listed on 11/5, went to contract on 11/7, fell out on 11/16, went back in contract on 11/18 and sold on 12/18. I mentioned it in a previous post, not just another wallflower

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the bigger they are …

From WSJ.COM

Fairfield Files for Chapter 11

By MIKE SPECTOR And LINGLING WEI

Fairfield Residential LLC, one of the nation's largest apartment owners and developers, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, the latest casualty of the turmoil engulfing the U.S. real-estate market.

Fairfield, which has built some 64,000 apartments, condominiums and off-campus student-housing units throughout the country, failed amid an inability to refinance debt or sell investment properties. That left the private San Diego, Calif., company with a litany of near-term maturities on debts related to various development projects and other investments.

Fairfield filed for Chapter 11 late Sunday afternoon in Delaware and listed assets of $958 million and liabilities of $834.9 million as ...
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I wonder, could this be the same Fairfield, that built the various Fairfield communities just south of Sunrise between Kolb Rd and Craycroft- Fairfield River Estates, Fairfield Sunrise East, Fairfield Sunrise East Resub, Fairfield Sunrise East Resub 2. Seems likely.

like coal in your stocking

6500 N Saint Andrews Dr in Skyline Country Club went to contract more than 2 months ago, on October 9th, listed at $1,325,000.
But the deal fell through and today it’s back on the market.

Oy! Saint Andrews is a spec remodel, a tear down really, that was totally rebuilt and first listed in October 2006 for $2,100,000.
It’s been on the market since then and as far as I can tell, this was it’s first contract. It had recently dropped from $1,525,000 to $1,325,000 and that did it. Well almost.

What a drag. Two months of looking forward to putting it all behind you and two months off the market and what do you get, nothing. Not having a buyer is one thing, but getting one and then having it all fall through after such a long time is just awful.

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at the right price

5360 N Ventana Overlook Pl - which I mentioned last week when it was re-re-re-listed, this time as a foreclosure for $499,900 - started out at $1,075,000 in January 08 and left the market almost 2 years later, sans buyer, at $799,000. And today, at $499,900, it’s in contract. that’s it with the little red check,

And it’s a heck of a lot a house for the money and, if you like Italian, badda bing, Gavi’s is practically in the backyard.

where do we stand on sales & prices

Coming into the stretch 501 homes have sold in the Foothills this year for an average/median sold price of $533,373/$435,000.

This compares to 521 sold in 08, for $605,142/$512,000
to 07 - 609 sold @ $675,168/$540,000.
to 06 – 707 sold @ $699,236/$570,000
to 05 – 963 sold @ $619,075/$520,000
to 04 – 959 sold @ $497,759/$408,000

But that’s old news, right. We all know that sales & prices have been going down, down, down since the boom went bust. The real question is, now that we’re in recovery mode and interest rates are lower than ever and there’s a tax credit to boot, how have sales and prices progressed this year.

1st quarter – 107 sold @ $525,097/$445,000
2nd quarter – 119 sold @ $508,374/$420,000
3rd quarter – 171 sold @ $566,918/$445,000
4th quarter, so far – 104 sold @ $515,336/$446,938

Give me a minute and I’ll figure out how to put a good spin on those numbers. Let’s see, if only the 3rd quarter had

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a late model Joesler

A 1955 Joesler at 5051 N La Lomita was listed today for $1,195,000 ($273/sf). Joesler died in 56, so this was amongst his last.

4371 sf/5 Bedrooms/7.5 Baths/Brick construction/mission tile roof/pool/Adorable guest house w/small kitchen & balcony overlooking Camino Real wash/on 2.7 acres at the tippy-top of La Lomita- a quiet off the beaten path, but just steps from it all, street that runs northeast off Camino Real.

With La Lomita there are now 4 Joesler’s for sale in the foothills;
5450 N Calle La Cima @ $849,000 – where minimalism meets Joesler, an out of the way Joesler at 4320 N Alvernon Way @ $1,250,000 and the pièce de résistance, the Marvin Residence on 12 acres in the old foothills @ $5,850,000.

a Joesler for everyone!

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to find your Tucson Foothills home