We looked at a house this weekend that I really liked. They are asking $975K for this house. It seemed high for the area so I ran a search in HAR for sold listings in the neighborhood over the last 24 months. This is what I found. That pricing just doesn't make sense for that location.

I'm getting so frustrated. We've been looking for a house for 19 months and we've only found a very small number that my husband even remotely likes. He's completely analytical in these decisions so when we find a house where the price doesn't make sense he just walks away.

Am I missing something?

As a whole it's not just a real estate thing. It's also real world inflation of hard assets. Stocks, bitcoin, etc. I tinker a little in antique arms. Recent auction prices are through the roof. Nobody wants to be holding cash.

You mix in a supply side crunch of materials and labor and things like cars and homes are probably going to continue to worsen.

Your husband might have to abandon his analytics some if he wants to buy. As long as you can commit to a home for a number of years, yall should be fine.

And if you like the place don't walk, make an offer that you feel is correct.

He will never abandon his analytics. We do not "need" to move and he loves the house we built. However, we both agree that our family could use a bit more space so we are looking for a bigger house. But we have the luxury to be selective .

Red, any idea why the over one million comp did not show up on the HAR property search for sold listings?

I live in that same area/school district. I've watched the market the entire time I've lived here, and it just doesn't seem like any comps older than about 9 months are even relevant right now. Inventory is just too low, and the cost of new construction is driving up the price of existing homes.

Houses that sold roughly a year ago in my neighborhood would now go for significantly more. The uptick really started after the first of the year.

I've seen some crazy prices. A 3000 sq ft house in my 'hood tried to list for almost $1 million. I don't think it sold, but that just illustrates how crazy things are. I posted about it in the custom homes thread a few months back.

There is one in my 'hood that just came on the market last week with 5400 sq ft on a lot half the size of the one you were interested in, and they are asking $1.5 million.

When I do a search on har.com for properties that have sold in that neighborhood in the last 12 months... NOTHING.

BTW, why does har.com allow you to search for sold properties on the mobile app but not the desktop website?

Yes you are missing something. All those other houses are about 3800SF. The one you are looking at is 6000SF. The $/SF is similar and in-line with the going rate these days. Heck, where I live it's more like $200/SF.

combat wombat said:

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When I do a search on har.com for properties that have sold in that neighborhood in the last 12 months... NOTHING.

BTW, why does har.com allow you to search for sold properties on the mobile app but not the desktop website?

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You can. Go to har.com and hover over Home Values at the top of the screen. Click on Home Values Search. When the search bar pops up, click on the link below it that says "Search Recently Sold". Then put in your zip code and time frame to search. Other search criteria is optional.

Thanks!

Win At Life said:

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Yes you are missing something. All those other houses are about 3800SF. The one you are looking at is 6000SF. The $/SF is similar and in-line with the going rate these days. Heck, where I live it's more like $200/SF.

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So comparable homes to this one just haven't sold recently. It doesn't look like the white elephant in that neighborhood. However, there are smaller homes in there. Price wise, among the comps, it looks like the white elephant.

combat wombat said:

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He will never abandon his analytics. We do not "need" to move and he loves the house we built. However, we both agree that our family could use a bit more space so we are looking for a bigger house. But we have the luxury to be selective .

Red, any idea why the over one million comp did not show up on the HAR property search for sold listings?

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I've had a few friends in your shoes before.

The only thing that worked was finding a semi completed custom home where the original buyer walked halfway through. It was in pebble creek. The builder was atypically motivated to deal with a customer's whims, the homeowner got to have a good amount of say in the final finishes as the house was just sticks when they took over.

Good luck, I just don't see that happening anymore, it was during a down year of oil money.

You could try calling up a bunch of builders and say you'd like to be on Line 2 in case someone decides to be an idiot, but even just calling like that gives the company confidence their product will sell and you're not getting a discount.

Your husband seems the type to be super analytical, find pockets of value, but then balk at the costs.

There's way less rational people out there who stumble upon the same value and just roll with the costs.

If the area you're looking at truly has features that will drive value forever, someone will pay top dollar for it one day when you're done with it.

Market insanity is only going to get worse with the Fannie and Freddie announcement this morning. Jumbo limits going up significantly.

Just in case anyone thought this inflation was "transitory".

Fannie does not buy Jumbos. The conventional limit is 625k in most states up from 548250. Some high cost states have a higher limit but are inline with their housing costs.

you might just need to find a new husband.

I kind of like this one.

SteveBott said:

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Fannie does not buy Jumbos. The conventional limit is 625k in most states up from 548250. Some high cost states have a higher limit but are inline with their housing costs.

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Yes. I know they don't buy jumbos. Where did I claim that?

The limit going up before you are classified as jumbo is going to keep demand propped up. They're raising the limits on what they'll buy.

Limits go up based on sales data. I've seen limits stay the same for years. The market determines the limits. What's driving the market is simple supply and demand. We have a house shortage and it is not easily solved.

The limit was raised by about 12% which mirrors the market