Lake Forest Home Sales September 2009

The September closed sales number of 47 properties was 19% below the number of sales in September 2008, when 58 were sold. The good news was that the average price per square foot only fell 4% since then! There may be a few more closings reported in the next few days, so I may update this to show the late closings.

Bank owned sale $120K

The condos included 17 of the 47 closed sales with a range from $120,000 up to $369,000. The lowest sale (bank-owned) was originally listed for $109,890 but multiple offers drove it up to the $120K mark with offers being cut off after 7 days. Last sold in 2001 for $115,000 it had been refinanced to a mortgage amount of $175,000 in 2004. (The previous owner did quite well on this condo when he sold it for $115,000 because he had bought it for $47,000 as a HUD foreclosure in 1998! Sometimes these bank-owned homes go back more than once!)

With only one bedroom and 660 square feet, it’s price per square foot came out to $182. The highest sale at $369,000 was originally listed for $377,000 and took 84 days to find the buyer. The price per square foot on that one was $274. The average closed sale price of $239,005 came in at 103% of list price, and $221 per square foot.

The 30 single family homes that closed in September ranged from $350,000 for a bank owned fixer up to $1,140,000 for a lake front “point home” and averaged $269 per square foot. The low price leader was another bank-owned home originally listed for $341,000 but the multiple offers drove it up to the $350,000 sale price with offers being cut off in only 2 days! It had pretty good square footage, of almost 1800, so the $195 per square foot price is the lowest this month for a single family home. This home had last sold in November 2006 for $750,000 using 100% financing from New Century Mortgage (very likely a “liar loan.”) You can tell from the photos that this home was not in the same condition this month that it had been 3 years ago, but that’s still a huge fall from the top!

$750,000 in 2006

$350,000 in 2009

The highest sale, a “trophy house location” on the lake front finally closed at $1,140,000 after falling in and out of escrow several times since January 2008! Listed at $1,395,000 it closed at 82% of list price, and $469 per square foot. (It had previously sold for $1,500,000 in September 2006.)

The market is being driven by the first time buyers, and they are scrambling to find a home and get closed before the November 30th deadline. (I am betting that the program will be extended by Congress, but you can’t count on it, so if the $8,000 tax rebate makes a difference to you, you need to pick your house and get into escrow in the next two weeks! )

Wondering what your house is worth?

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