Buyer or sellers market

davidrudacille · #1 04-21-2008, 12:33 PM

Which is the current state of the real estate market on the north shore? Is it a buyers market or a sellers market. Or is it balanced? Is the market obviosly trending in any one direction.

SKY · #2 04-21-2008, 03:41 PM

If you know what you are doing it is a buyers market. They have built a lot of homes and condos that did not sell yet.

This could change, but there are just too many new homes for sale to be a sellers market. But you have to avoid the Gringo Price, if you know what I mean.

davidrudacille · #3 04-21-2008, 05:10 PM

I understand what you mean by the gringo price. I wonder how you can know what the DR price would be. Is there a difference in price in Cabarete. That seems to be a specialized market.

windeguy · #4 04-21-2008, 05:36 PM

In Cabarete, there are a large number of condo projects as mentioned in other threads here. For house sales, comparable recent sales numbers are hard to come by. There is no Multiple Listing Service here to help you and everyone is a Realtor with exclusive listings. I have seen houses listed "exclusively" with up to 4 Realtors at a time.

You may have also seen it posted that if you are serious about living in what you want to purchase, please rent for as many months as possible before you make a decision to buy. Learn the market and ask a lot of questions. Then maybe you will be likely to pay less of a Gringo Price. Trying to sell something you made a mistake in buying takes a long time here.

Cabarete is a niche market right now. I consider the condo prices to be astronomical, but there still seem to be some buyers.

DogKeeper · #5 04-21-2008, 07:16 PM

There is no way D.R. isn't already or becoming a buyers market.
The Buy/ Rent ratio is screwed up.
We have come across homes that are 'worth' $300k+ (thats what the owners paid) renting for $1k per month or less.
As a rule the market has to correct so rents are in line with property prices. For example; a $300k house should rent for at least $2500-3000 per month...NOT $1k or less.
Additionally, the US economy is a mess. People have been buying stuff via home equity loans. HELOCs. Helocs are more or less dead.
US is in a recession and the rest of the world is following.
Price will fall.

Encuentrobeachvilla · #6 04-21-2008, 08:05 PM

Just my opinion, but probably the next time I post/reply, for this topic, which will probably be months or a year from now,...that house that has a price of $300,000 today, will probably be quite a bit more then the price today! The attraction of the Cabarete area, is soaring, with Europeans with the strength of the euro, with Canadians, with the strength of the Canadian dollar, and Americans and Canadians(*remember this is not a new phenomena,ie,going to the sun/warmth by northerners, this area is just a "newly discovered paradise" ) that see the advantage of owning in the tropics, without the Florida real estate taxes, and the assistance of the Dominican government The influx of "major" hotel chains, building, and moreso, the "plans" that are on file, for these mega chains, hotel/international(well capitalized) resort consortiums,...are said to be on a similar scale, as to what initially was started,...when a place called "Cancun", was just getting off the ground. Cabarete is fresh, young, new, and exploding. Also, this development is moveing the borders of Cabarete outward, to "supply" the market "demand". An educated investor in this Cabarete market understands, that this is not a rental income to "cover" the note market, this is a market for capital appreciation, while he(the investor)enjoys the beauty of his investment, with personal enjoyment as well. Oh, bye the way, I am sure that I will hear the rebuttal,...Oh, I hope it does'nt get to over built, I hope it does'nt lose it's character,...well, I say to that,..."it is building it's character right now,...so get ready for it,...because it is happening right before your eyes! Best to all!

liam1 · #7 04-21-2008, 09:03 PM

i think currently it's a developer's market. developer's who can finance their projects without the need from "pre-construction sale" money are building their projects, financing them themselves start to finish, and currently they are sitting on a lot of unsold condos, but they are not giving-in and lowering their prices. either a lot of buyers come or the developers give in and lower the prices. they sure can afford to do so since building costs are very cheap.

jaguarbob · #8 04-21-2008, 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by liam1

i think currently it's a developer's market. developer's who can finance their projects without the need from "pre-construction sale" money are building their projects, financing them themselves start to finish, and currently they are sitting on a lot of unsold condos, but they are not giving-in and lowering their prices. either a lot of buyers come or the developers give in and lower the prices. they sure can afford to do so since building costs are very cheap.

dont know where you get building costs are very cheap,DR is the most expensive island in Caribbean for construction materials...costs have doubled and trippled for materials in last couple of years or less...barilla has gone up almost 300% in a year,and so has cement...some contractors are slowing down or stopping for now...and prices for built homes here are way out of wack,and unsellable for now.Look around and see all the half built homes and buildings.....all over the island....
bob

liam1 · #9 04-21-2008, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaguarbob

...Look around and see all the half built homes and buildings.....all over the island....
bob

that is a result of poor planning. selling a few pre-construction condos, raising some funds and starting the project with hopes as they go along they'll sell a few more pre-constructions to keep the project going, but when the money runs out and they haven't sold more units the project stops, word about poor management spreads and the project usually dies. in the last month or 2 the construction price went up, but when you calculate cost of cement, blocks, steel and the cost of labor, it is still cheap compared to the asking price of the property once it's completed and up for sale.

DogKeeper · #10 04-21-2008, 10:42 PM

We are heavily involved in the US real estate market...residential.

All doom and gloom aside....the US housing market has a long way to go before it hits bottom. When it does look for the market to stay flat for years...then slowly creep back to 05-06 price levels.

In the meantime millions of homeowners will lose their homes to foreclosures and millions more will be GIVING their homes back. In Socal homes have depreciated dramatically. As a result its common for someone to owe $100+ more on their homes that market value. People are walking away from their homes, giving them back to the lender.
The press isnt talking about this.

Something else, 90+ days ago the lenders started freezing HELOCs. I mentioned this before. Lenders were/ are 'reappraising' homes and as a result of the depreciation they are canceling home equity lines.

Most people (95%) are massively indebt, not flush with cash. Thats the American reality.

Bottom line, easy money is gone. That will effect the ability of (at least) Americans to buy in D.R. I am reading about the U.K. market starting to 'correct' in suit with the US real estate markets.

We have may properties in many parts of the world. I take no joy in telling you what I just did.