Sounds like developers are having to work pretty hard to sell their condos in San Diego these days:
Developer Maisel Presley is selling condos online by dropping the price by $1,000 a day until a unit sells. A new development in upscale La Jolla is dangling zero money down programs to lure buyers.
On a recent Sunday afternoon, a prime time for condo shoppers, two real estate agents sat alone in the Atria sales office. Outside, bright green sandwich boards peppered the sidewalk and a woman twirled a large arrow to grab the attention of passing drivers.
About half the 150 units have sold since developers converted the building from rental apartments to condos last year, said Ed Easley, president of Crown Pacific Properties, which manages the building.
“We’re in a market that requires incentives, and just about everybody has got some sort of a program for their buyers,” he said.
According to Doug Kass’ personal experience, the sellers in East Hampton are going to have to come up with some incentive as well:
When I left East Hampton for southern Florida (my winter residence) last October (which, coincidentally, was the statistical peak in housing), there were no homes for sale on my block (which consists of about 12 homes). However, upon returning to Long Island in late May 2006, four of the existing 12 houses had been demolished and replaced with new homes for sale (I would estimate, on average, each home was about 7,000 square feet).
All four homes have been for sale since May (by speculators/developers) with no bids. Moreover, three other existing homes on my block have been put on the market this summer. No bids there either.
Real estage agents across the country routinely have Sunday open houses, and East Hampton is no exception. Those open houses on my street have come and gone; there has been no traffic.
And Doug sees things getting worse before they get better:
…the statistical peak in housing (measured by new-home sales) was October 2005, only nine months ago (and with a unit drop in new-home sales since the peak of less than 20%). By contrast, the average postwar cyclical downturn for housing has been between 26 to 52 months, and in units, has averaged a 51% drop.