Property Tax Delinquencies and Foreclosures are up at Ginn’s Conservatory and Short Sale Contracts Await Lender Approval

A lot of property in The Conservatory will change hands this year. Buyers are becoming active and prices are right.

Here are some stark numbers regarding properties in The Conservatory:

• The Ginn Company sold 337 lots in The Conservatory priced from $339.9 thousand to $529.9 thousand for a total value nearing $142 million. Stand-by buyers were waiting in the wings for recalcitrant buyers to step back from the deal.
• The real estate market turned down suddenly and sharply. The music stopped and there were no chairs.

• 80 lots were listed for sale at a median price of $459 thousand, well above the median acquisition cost of $419.9 thousand. Sellers refused to accept the facts that the market had changed.
• Property taxes were delinquent on 77 properties.
• One property had been taken back by the lender. Foreclosure had begun on a few more.
• No properties had been sold through the MLS listing service.

• 2007 property taxes are delinquent on 133 properties as of April 11, 2008. Taxes were due on January 1, 2008 and became delinquent on April 1.
• 2006 property taxes remain delinquent on 40 properties. Tax lien certificates were sold last May 31.
• 53 Lots are going through foreclosure, 29 since the first of the year. 9 of the 53 are already bank-owned, including the single bank owned lot from a year ago.
• 40 of the properties with delinquent taxes are also on the foreclosure list.
• There are 37 properties listed for sale on MLS with a median listing price of $249 thousand. 18 lots are listed below $200 thousand. Some are lender owned or short sales. Current Listings (pdf.)
• There have still been no sales of Conservatory properties, but there are a handful of contracts for short sales awaiting lender approval. Buyers have found a price point with which they are comfortable.