“... it’s really jumped around a lot from when the market peaked in 2005 and 2006,” Nelson said. “And while it’s been a generally downward trend for really every neighborhood, it’s been different for each one, as well.”
Anne Marie Daniel, a Comey & Shepherd realtor in Butler County, said a factor hurting the luxury market is companies relocating workers.
“I have seen a lot of relocation packages come through where people can afford to take a $50,000 or a $75,000 or $100,000 loss on their home because their company is picking up a good part of that,” Daniel said.
“When three houses on a street were built for $500,000 and two of them, they’re able to sell it quickly because their company needs them to for $425,000, the last guy is going to either eat $75,000 or not sell.”
Comey & Shepherd recently released its annual Luxury Homes Report that tracks the sales of high-end homes in the region, including northern Kentucky.
Last year, the 21 combined markets accounted for 440 sales of homes priced at $500,000 and more, compared to 446 sales posted there in 2010, according to the annual report.
Median sales price dropped in 17 of the markets tracked. Sales, however, increased in 13 of the 21 markets, with the biggest gain occurring in Hamilton Twp./South Lebanon, which had 8 sales in 2010 but 16 in 2011.
That gain wasn’t echoed in West Chester/Liberty, which saw 14 luxury homes sold compared to 27 the year before.
There have only been 17 sales of homes costing more than $500,000 in Butler County since April 1, 2011, according to data from the Multiple Listing Service of Greater Cincinnati. Those sold include one in Middletown, one in Oxford, one in Millville and two in Ross. The remainder came from Liberty or West Chester townships.
Mason and Deerfield Twp., too, saw sales of luxury homes drop from 71 in 2010 to 50 in 2011, while median sale price slid from $650,000 to $620,000.
Tom Hasselbeck, president of the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors, said those who bought their homes when the housing market was high and sold it during the market’s decline likely lost money on that sale but benefited by gaining “a great value on the next purchase” because of a better interest rate and better prices.
“It’s taking some people some time to realize that,” Hasselbeck said.
The local luxury market is starting to see continued stability and an increase in the amount of units being sold, he said.
“We’re starting to see the average sale price climb,” Hasselbeck said.
Nelson warned that median sale price statistics can be affected by the price points of houses that came onto the market.
“If the top house that comes on the market in any one of these neighborhoods is $750,000 one year and the year before there were a couple of houses over a million (dollars), that’s going to skew the average sale price,” Nelson said. “It doesn’t necessarily speak to the intrinsic value of individual homes.”
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