While searching for an investment property this morning for a new customer, I noticed something interesting about the available properties in Fontana at this time. Currently we have 78 homes for sale in Fontana ranging in price from $129k to nearly $8MM. Of those 78 homes, only 4 are under contract, and of those 4 homes under contract, 2 of those are distressed sales. One pending home in Pheasant Ridge is an REO property, the other in Country Club Estates is a pre-foreclosure short sale. These facts bring me to a cold conclusion- we need more distressed sales to boost volume. Remember last week when I mocked New Buffalo for their new choo choo? I talked about markets in decline and how they lure buyers in with reduced prices, and then I talked about how Geneva has held stable in spite of lesser markets tumbling. Remember that? Well maybe what I need in order to sell more homes, and what you, my precious almost buyer needs in order to find the motivation to buy is a few more distressed properties. Maybe if we had more REO properties and short sales on the market we’d be able to lure a few more buyers into the market. Then again, those short sales and REO’s are exactly the trouble with most markets, and even though they’ll drag pricing down to some degree, maybe they’re not all bad as at least they create some volume where there otherwise would be none. Inventory at Abbey Springs has stabilized after building through much of the first quarter of 2009. It seems as though Abbey Springs would yield a good deal or three this spring, with a few sizable price reductions in the past couple weeks. Abbey Ridge is slow, though we still have three units available there including my two bedroom for $499k and my townhome for $609k. The Abbey Villas are also slow, in spite of an increase in buyer activity. My two bedroom turn key unit in the rental program continues to be a good option for anyone looking to make an investment in this market. Foreclosure activity at Abbey Springs, Abbey Villas, and Abbey Ridge continues to be M.I. A.
There are two other distressed sales that I know of in Fontana. One in town, close to the lake, at a potentially alluring price, the other in Country Club Estates. Both properties are potentially good buys. Maybe REO’s are the solution not the problem. Then again, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe in my quest to earn a living I wish I had a few more properties to sell and a few more buyers who wanted to buy them. Maybe REO’s and foreclosures are indeed the problem, and maybe it’s best that Lake Geneva continues to avoid them. Maybe buyers just need to take a little bit of a longer term approach and realize that a stable market void of distressed sales is a good thing. Maybe after a decade of sexy boom and bust a little anemic slow and steady is just what we all need.