Wanted - More Houses Priced under $450,000 on the East Side of Providence

What's selling in the Single Family Market on the East Side of Providence?

Well, houses in good condition and priced under $450,000 - that is what's selling.  The point is that we have far too much inventory in the upper ends of the market and far too little in the lower end, first time home buyer market.  Consider the following pending transactions for the month of January 2009: 

January 2009 Pending Sales Single Family Homes - East Side of Providence

In January, there were 4 pending sales of single family homes on the East Side compared to 6 pending transactions for the same period last year.  Of these 4 properties, all were listed under $450,000 and the one on Sessions Street was a foreclosure. 

Listing Address	Listing Price	Sq Ft.	Beds/Baths	Days on Mkt	Sale Type	Photo	Neighborhood	Comments
9 Belair Ave	449,000	1684	3 beds, 2 baths	88	Conventional		Blackstone near Brown Stadium	Providence 4 square. Price started at $465K.
137 Sessions	310,000	2343	4 beds, 1.1 baths	10	Foreclosure		Blackstone near Brown Stadium	Shortest time on market. Had multiple offers.  Intereting to see if it closes above asking price.
301 Rochambeau	409,900	1426	3 beds, 1.1 baths	214	Conventional		Blackstone near Hope Street - Rochambeau Library	Open floor plan, newer construction 1997.
60 East Manning	415,000	2706	7 beds, 2.1 baths	61	Conventional		Fox Point - Near Gano Street	Largest Squar footage and number of bedrooms

Our take on January 2009 Single Family Property Sales on the East Side:

With credit markets in a deep freeze, just about the only people who are purchasing property are the first time home buyers.  With the FHA limit at $426,000 for the Providence area, conforming FHA loans are the easiest way to finance in this this tight credit market.  Nothing over $450K sold in the month of January. Other price segments remain frozen in place.

Interestingly, of 49 active single families on the market, just 13 or 27% are priced below $450,000, yet 16 properties, or 33% of the active listings are $1,000,000 and above.  We have a lopsided level of inventory at this point with too few for the areas that are selling (first time home buyers) and too many (73%) in the trade up and luxury ranges.  Hopefully we will see more in the first time home buyer price range come spring. In general, there are less pending sales this year (one third less volume) as there were in 2008. Click here to view all East Side Single Family Listings.

Foreclosures don't happen often on the East Side, but when they do, be sure there will be multiple offers as in the case of 137 Sessions, and the price of the property will be bid up. Best to bring cash in this circumstance and your very highest and best offer at the get-go.

Just a note --- Pending sales are an important measure of what is selling on the market, not what has sold then "closed", but what people are interested in buying NOW.  It is more predictive of the future selling market than looking at closed sales. For pending sales, we have no "closed" sale price, just the "asking" price at which the home was last listed.  In this market, it is safe to say that the majority with finally close at a price less than asking and if 2008 is an indication, then we can assume at least 95% of list price on average.  This does not hold true for properties with less than average days on market, which tend to sell closer to their asking price. 

So it you are a seller out there and on the fence and you have a home priced under $450,000 there is still lots of demand, the MOST demand in the single family home market on the East Side right now.

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