Are prices beginning their ascent? Though far from perfect, some indicators and bid observations may point in that direction. The indicators we cite (courtesy of condo-sales.com) look at condo prices as of the end of February 2010. You will see that studio and 2-bedroom prices appear to be up on an average price and price/square foot basis.
The bid information is cited by Urban Digs in the form of observational and experiential data, both in terms of bids and properties closing above their asking price. Noah Rosenblatt notes that we are, indeed, in a very different market today than we were this time last year. Not only are bids much stronger today, but the volume of high-end properties sold is increasing, along with the number of apartments selling above ask. Indeed, it seems like many sellers have shifted from pricing in the risk of a future down-turn to a stance reflecting a market bottom that is just about to be missed.
The follow-up discussion, of course, is: does this mean that there is more upside risk in the market than downside risk? We would love your thoughts.
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Thanks for the plug Ana Maria! Ive noticed that the lows of the price action from early 2009 was ultimately caught in the Q2 and Q3 2009 reports from the big brokerage firms. This delay is normal for our markets, as all these quarterly reports are lagging. So, the real time lows in early 2009 took 3-6 months to get captured by the reports. Therefore, we will have to wait for the Q2 and Q3 2010 reports which will show two things:
1) the y-o-y improvement from early 2009 due to lags
and
2) the passage of more time will show the progressive improvement in bids as discussed..it was not all at once, but rather took time to improve and the months of Jan/Feb/March were better than Sept/Oct/Nov! So, time will bring these out
I think the next 2 reports will show our improvement from these uber distressed levels of early 2009!