Great presentation of 322 E. Oglethorpe Avenue

On Tuesday, I was privileged to be invited to a presentation by SCAD's Building Assessment Strategies II class on my listing at 322 E. Oglethorpe Avenue. (http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?t=2192251&prt=10003) The class of 14 1st and 2nd year Historic Preservation Grad students, led by Professor James Abraham, conducted the assessment over the last school term. The presentation included dozens of photographs and full architectural elevations and plans of each room in the entire house. It was a 2 hour presentation, which I won't attempt to recap in a quick blog. But the detail--and discovery of details--was impressive. The class figured out which plaster moldings were original, where original entry doors were, some of the elements of the 19th century rear garden, etc. One of the most interesting elements was learning the home you see from the street, a three story 1880s Italianate residence, actually started its life sometime between 1799 and 1809 as a two-story Federal style building.

To quote from the history section of the assessment:
"William J. Spencer acquired Lot 37 in the Columbia Ward in 1799, constructing a two-story frame house by 1809. By 1811, the property was put up for sale, advertised in The Republican and Savannah Evening Ledger.

'Lot 37, Columbia Ward joining Mr. Rodman's and a convenient and well finished 2-story house with a kitchen and all other outhouses complete, at present occupied by Mrs. Clark; and a small tenement house joining the same, with a brick foundation, on the front 1/2 lot, 56 feet long, 20 feet high and 1 story high.'"

Kudos to Melanie Markowicz who presented the history portion of the assessment. She, Preston Martin and Professor Abraham also got under the house to discover the original foundations. Very cool stuff and a great reminder of why I'm interested in historic preservation. Thanks again for having me.

Blogger Matthew Allan is a specialist in Savannah Real Estate, focusing on Savannah's downtown historic districts, including the Landmark Historic District, Victorian Historic District, Thomas Square Historic District, Starland Historic District, Baldwin Park, and Ardsley Park Historic District.

US New Home Sales at 2-Year High in April

Good news for sellers--there is decreasing inventory on the market, so that should slow price decreases. Buyers--you have historically low interest rates and the lowest prices since December 2003. If prices are stabilizing, there are opportunities to lock into low prices and low rates. I'll repeat my mantra for buyers--if you like the house, and the payment makes sense, this is a good time to get back into the market.

Sales of newly built U.S. single-family homes rose faster than expected in April to their highest level in nearly two years, government data showed on Wednesday, as buyers signed contracts to benefit from a popular government tax credit.

The Commerce Department said sales jumped 14.8 percent to a 504,000 unit annual rate, the highest since May 2008, from an upwardly revised 439,000 units in March. It was the second straight month that new home sales rose.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected new home sales to increase to a 430,000 unit annual pace from March's previously reported 411,000 units.

Buyers had to sign contracts by April 30 and close on the home by the end of June to qualify for the federal tax credit.

New home sales are measured at contract signing and analysts believe buying activity will temporarily ebb in May.

However, they expect sales to pick up toward year-end as the economic and labor market recovery gain more vigor.

Data on Monday also showed the tax credit spurred sales of previously owned homes, which are recorded at contract closing, to a five-month high in April. Existing home sales are expected to rise through June when the tax credit ends.

Despite the jump in sales, the median sale price for a new home dropped a record 9.7 percent from March to $198,400, the lowest since December 2003, the Commerce Department said. In the 12 months to April, the median sale price declined 9.5 percent.

The number of new homes on the market fell a record 7 percent to 211,000 units in April, the lowest since October 1968. Last month's sales pace left the supply of homes available for sale at 5.0 months' worth, the lowest since December 2005, from 6.2 months 'worth in March.

Published by: Reuters. Original article here: http://www.cnbc.com/id/37354168

Blogger Matthew Allan is a specialist in Savannah Real Estate, focusing on Savannah's downtown historic districts, including the Landmark Historic District, Victorian Historic District, Thomas Square Historic District, Starland Historic District, Baldwin Park, and Ardsley Park Historic District.

Mortgage Rates at All Time Lows

It's interesting that you don't really hear this, but mortgage interest rates are at all time lows right now. Let me repeat that--all time lows. You would think that would be a big story. Right now, my mortgage partner, Michael Caputo from Bank of America, is quoting 4.75% 30-year fixed mortgages and 4.5% 30-year fixed mortgages for FHA loans. FHA requires on 3.5% down, so think about that for a moment: 3.5% down, 30-year fixed loan, all time low interest rate. That should be attractive to most people. And by the way, you can do a 5-year loan at 3.5%. Rates are just absurdly low.

The full article is at Bankrate.com. Click here.

Blogger Matthew Allan is a specialist in Savannah Real Estate, focusing on Savannah's downtown historic districts, including the Landmark Historic District, Victorian Historic District, Thomas Square Historic District, Starland Historic District, Baldwin Park, and Ardsley Park Historic District.

Virtual Historic Savannah Project

Savannah College of Art and Design has played a major role in revitalizing Downtown, mostly through renovating and re-purposing about 70 structures. There's also a historic preservation degree program, and of course the thousands of students, no matter what their course of study is, have energized Downtown. Just on a cool note, they have created this Virtual Historic Savannah Project site, which I'm going to leave in my permanent links as well.

Blogger Matthew Allan is a specialist in Savannah Real Estate, focusing on Savannah's downtown historic districts, including the Landmark Historic District, Victorian Historic District, Thomas Square Historic District, Starland Historic District, Baldwin Park, and Ardsley Park Historic District.

What's It All Mean?

From Reuters News Service this morning--the headline would suggest things are good, right? But look at all the contradictions. My advice--if you can afford the house, you're not planning on moving in a year or two, and it's a viable rental alternative, then it makes sense to buy. Keep it simple.

Report-U.S. homeowner confidence rose in 1st qtr -Zillow

(Reuters) - U.S. homeowners grew more confident about the value of their homes in the first quarter, but the optimism was at odds with actual declines in values, real estate website Zillow.com said on Thursday. The overconfidence could portend an onslaught of new supply of homes for sale that would threaten prices. Nationally, 50 percent of homeowners believe their home's value declined in the past year, according to the Zillow Q1 Homeowner Confidence Survey. But in reality, 65 percent of U.S. homes declined in value, according to Zillow's Q1 Real Estate Market Reports. The numbers put Zillow's Home Value Misperception Index at a reading of 5, up from negative 2 in the fourth quarter. A reading of zero would indicate that homeowner perception is in line with reality, while a negative reading means homeowners are overly cynical. "The specter of shadow inventory continues to loom over the housing market, and will certainly impede an earnest recovery," Stan Humphries, Zillow's chief economist, said in an interview. "Pent-up supply makes up part of this inventory." Zillow said 7 percent of homeowners, which translates to 5.3 million homes, said they would be "very likely" to put their home on the market in the next 12 months if they see signs of an improving housing market. In all of 2009, sales of existing homes totaled 5.2 million. An additional 8 percent said they would be "likely" to put their home on the market, and another 14 percent said they would be "somewhat likely." These homeowners represent "sidelined sellers," a component of "shadow inventory" that if materialized, could significantly delay timing of a market recovery. On a regional basis, homeowners in the South and the Midwest were overly optimistic about the value of their homes, with a Misperception Index of 14 for the South and 4 for the Midwest. Homeowners in the West and Northeast, on the other hand, were overly pessimistic about the value of their homes. The Western region's Misperception Index came in at negative 12, while the Northeast was at negative 2. "It is clear that with 7 percent of homeowners saying they are 'very likely' to put their homes on the market with signs of a turnaround, we are in for a saw-toothed bottom, where inventory will begin to decrease, causing values to stabilize and some of these 5.3 million sidelined sellers to put their homes on the market, causing inventory to grow," Humphries said. This pattern should repeat itself several times during the next three to five years before a real recovery in housing takes hold, he said. (Editing by Leslie Adler) Keywords: USA ECONOMY/HOUSING (Reuters Messaging:julie.haviv.reuters.com@reuters.net; email: julie.haviv@thomsonreuters.com; +1-646 223-6153) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved.

To view the original story click here.

Blogger Matthew Allan is a specialist in Savannah Real Estate, focusing on Savannah's downtown historic districts, including the Landmark Historic District, Victorian Historic District, Thomas Square Historic District, Starland Historic District, Baldwin Park, and Ardsley Park Historic District.

Zillow.com Widgets

Just added some Zillow.com widgets to my blog. Check them out--the "What Kind of Neighbor Are You" quiz is especially amusing.

Blogger Matthew Allan is a specialist in Savannah Real Estate, focusing on Savannah's downtown historic districts, including the Landmark Historic District, Victorian Historic District, Thomas Square Historic District, Starland Historic District, Baldwin Park, and Ardsley Park Historic District.