Foreclosures Drop to 3 Year Low

Foreclosure activity dropped to a three year low in February as mortgage servicing companies slowly resumed their repossession procedures. In the 26 states that have judicial foreclosure processes, where lenders temporarily called-off foreclosures as a result of faulty egal paperwork, default notices decreased 19% for the month and were down 48% from year ago figures.

Default notices, scheduled auctions of homes and bank repossessions were reported on 225,101 U.S. residential properties during the month, marking a 14% drop from January, and a 27% decline from a year ago. The drop marks the biggest year over year decrease since RealtyTrac has been keeping track of foreclosure activity in 2005.

“While a small part of February’s decrease can be attributed to it being a short month and bad weather, the bottom line is that the industry is in the midst of a major overhaul that has severely restricted its capacity to process foreclosures,” said RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio. “We expect to see the numbers bounce back, but that will likely take several months. And monthly volume may never return to its peak in March 2010 of more than 367,000 properties receiving foreclosure filings.”

Some 63,165 properties received default notices for the first time in February, a 16% decline from the previous month and a 41% drop from a year ago as default notices hit a four year low.

Seven miles off the coast of Massachusetts, Martha’s Vineyard entered the popular imagination around 1993 when then-President Clinton and family vacationed at the home of his friend Vernon Jordan. President Obama has twice vacationed on the island since he took office. The vineyard is now a full-fledged international destination. Modest summer homes have been replaced by massive luxury manses, but local officials have wisely decreed that 2% of every real estate sale go to a land bank that buys up and preserves open spaces. You can’t go wrong buying into Chilmark or Edgartown. Chilmark prices:

Median 2009: $1.34 million

Median 2010: $1.35 million

see the full article below

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052970203979804576152351515182700.html

Buyers in markets around the U.S. are snapping up homes in all-cash deals, betting that prices are at or near bottom and breathing life into some of the nation’s most battered housing markets.

Cash buyers represented more than half of all transactions in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area last year, according to an analysis from real-estate portal Zillow.com. In the fourth quarter of 2006, they represented just 13% of deals. Meanwhile, downtown Miami prices rose 15% in 2010 from a year earlier, according to the Miami Downtown Development Authority.

One & Only on Main Street!  Exceptional Commercial Property, Exceptional Location….in the heart of the seaside Village. Bright, renovated Retail Space with high ceilings. Large floor space provides a multitude of possibilities. Welcoming and handicap accessible. Big Bay display window, half bath,1st floor office, FHA and central A/C. Huge Dry Storage/Stockroom room on second floor.

Carroll & Vincent represented the buyer and we were able to make this deal happen to the buyers delight. This property was listed at $1,995,000 by the selling broker and we were able to get the deal done at $1,400,000 saving the buyer almost $600k. So if you are looking to buy Martha’s Vineyard Real Estate call on us to help save you money.

CONGRATS to our winners, voted by YOU, the chili festers:

1st Place Professional – Little Red Smokehouse
2nd Place Professional – Black Dog Tavern
3rd Place Professional – JR Brody’s Roadside Tavern

1st Place Amateur – Bonnie Bearse & Dave Mutti
2nd Place Amateur – Don Welts (P/A Club)
3rd Place Amateur – Edgartown Firemens Association

NEW THIS YEAR: Host of NECN’s TV Diner, Jenny Johnson picked her Top 3 and awarded cash prizes!

1st Place ($500) – Offshore Ale
2nd Place ($300) – Little Red Smokehouse
3rd Place ($100) – Brendan Cooney (Oak Bluffs EMS)

Another piece of Chappy has washed out to sea. We know have two islands of Chappaquiddick. It seems a storm we had at the end of December has opened up a breach between the windmill and the gut. There will be no driving to the gut this year. Stay tuned for more information. But rest assured there is still plenty of Chappy real estate for sale just give us a call.

There have been 39 sales in the last 90 days in Edgartown alone. With 11 sales over $1M it tells us the market is coming back. All price points are moving and signs are that housing is making a comeback here. Katama homes still are well sought after and most of the sales have been second home purchases. 2011 is of to a great start for home buying on Martha’s Vineyard with Edgartown homes and the Katama Vacation market being the strongest.

Another Edgartown home comes under the wrecking ball. Edgartown land values continue to outpace the building values. In today’s market the land has become worth more than the building on it. Call us to show you where the next great value is on Martha’s Vineyard. This home owner looked all over Edgartown, Tisbury, West Tisbury, Oak Bluffs for the right real estate deal and found this diamond in the rough. After 56 years in the Real Estate business on Martha’s Vineyard Carroll and Vincent can show you as well. There is another real estate bargain out there for you.

Winter Solstice

The darkest longest day of the year…

This year’s winter solstice coincides with a full moon — a combination that happens only every 3 decades or so. But that’s not the only celestial oddity for the day: the moon also reaches perigee, its closest point to the Earth. So this solstice, which brings together the year’s lowest sun and longest night, comes at the same time as the closest moon — and a full moon to boot. The last time the full moon, lunar perigee, and winter solstice fell on the same day was in 1866. What a perfect night to have a solstice party.