Buffalo's High End Real Estate Market Holding Up

Actually, it is not holding up fine, yes a few very very expensive property's have sold, as will happen in any city with the really well healed crowd, but talk to a few of the good real estate agents who are honest and you will hear the same thing from them all. The Buffalo market at the moment is mostly 1st time home buyers looking in the 100k range which is a good thing, at least they are looking. But and it is a big but, the homes in the 200 up range are sitting on the market idle for months and months. A few in the EV area may move, yet all in all it is pretty rough out there, even in Buffalo. Sometimes these articles are so misleading, makig Buffalo sound like the Emerald City in the County of Oz.[by the way, you should use the Avanti as a barometor when all all 8 units are sold, being on the market is one thing, selling all is another]

buffbuff, I believe the title of the article is "Buffalo's ** High End ** Real Estate Market Holding Up". There is no discussion around low and middle end. Even taking those markets into consideration, the current Buffalo RE market is still much better off than the rest of the country.

This little story assumes that a few million dollar homes are making for a great luxery market in Buffalo. Homes in the 200/300/400 and up range are still high end in any smaller market such as Buffalo [or many markets for that matter], they are not shifting. Look at what homes in the Central Park area are being reduced to. Sorry, but 3 or 4 homes selling for over a mill do not creat a stong market and will these buyers ever realize a return or is a bubble being created now, 2 years behind the rest of the country?

buffbuff - could you list some sources that show that the 300k / 400k market is drying up in Buffalo?

300miles, could this article list more than 1 source that it is even holding up?
The original asking price was $1.75 mill but it had to be discounted over 30%. Remember, Buffalo is always 2 years behind every trend(i.e. dropping home values), hence,lets talk then.

buffbluff, thanks for telling us something that the 300 million americans already knew. The country is actually is experiencing a housing recession. No one is claiming that the Buffalo market is robust or that house are selling like the new sabres jerseys did 2 years ago. What people are saying is that the market is "holding up". "Holding up" means that prices are not decreasing and in Buffalo's case, they are slightly increasing year over year. This is all relative of course. San Francisco prices dropped 45% year over year. Do the math with me....if Buffalo was experiencing similar declines as San Francisco, than a house bought last year for $1 million would sell for roughly $500k this year. Do you know understand what "holding up" means now?

If the stuff sells, that's what it is worth. Right, free market crowd? So, I guess we'll see.

RE: Dropping home values: My friend "lost" $100K in the value of his downstate house recently. I like to joke that he lost more imaginary money than most people up here ever imagine (though I know that is hyperbole, I'm just trying to make him feel better). Anyway, anybody want to trade places with him? Even 2 years from now...?

I would venture a guess that at least million-dollar living arrangements around here FEEL like a million bucks. 6,300 square feet?!?!? More oppulence for your buck in Buffalo...just like the regular housing market.

Not at all surprising. Many of these gems are once in a lifetime opportunities and will command a premium. Can you imagine what the long-lost Goodyear Mansion could go for these days?

ok, your right, the buffalo market is really strong and people are giving up their jobs in other cities to live here in our wonderful affordable housing stock, knowing they will be able to shop at Tiffany's in the city. All 4 people that spent over a million dollars are proving how strong our housing market is. Go Bill's!

Just what I figured.
Nothing to back up the big words...

I would suggest looking at sites like Trulia to see market activity. Asking prices are increasing steadily in areas to the west and south of the EV area. Yes, these are asking prices but it reflects confidence in neighborhoods and increasing market strength - all good signs of an increasingly stable housing market.

http://www.trulia.com/home_prices/New_York/Buffalo-heat_map/

1.3 million could buy and restore an entire block on the west side, or black rock. imagine turning complete city blocks into the beautiful homes they once were. that might bring even more people to the city,with affordable restored properties for much less. i must say that it's nice to see these majestic properties used and not sitting vacant,but the low end properties need to be filled if we want to see this city turn around!!

BuffBuff,
Your sarcasm and cartoon characterizations of Buffalo are unhelpful--why bother?

The upper upper market (700,000 plus) in Buffalo is doing reasonably well, but the upper market 300--600,000 (with more units for sale than the uber-market), is not as healthy because people in that income bracket are just not shedding that kind of money until their investments stop bleeding. But the fact remains that Buffalo's prices are still not as dented as the national trends. The houses in the 300-600,000 range are sitting longer; that's a fact, but that market is not drowning in houses for sale, which makes it less desperate.

The high end condos will continue to sell for very high prices--they offer a new level of services that many people want. There's still a lot of money in Buffalo--a lot of poverty (just as in any older city) but a lot of money. But meanoldman makes the best point above: it's the middle and lower income market that will turn the tide. Let's work toward that.

Am I on BRO's Realtor Advertising Channel?

There is not one more overpriced, unecessary, illegitamate profession than real esate broker dealering.

10's of thousands of dollars a transaction for what? That profession makes me want to puke. Go do something for society besides ripping it off.

Do you know the Nat. Assoc. of Realtors has tried for years (and has been successful) at squashing the emergence of online home buying, as well as blackball "FSBO" homes when you bring one up (like it's falling apart and no realtor wants to sell it). Scum of the earth.

They share the blame for the mess were in today.

And now for the rest of the story:
http://buffaloruse.com/2009/02/little-baghdad-proposed-for-stretch-of-fillmore/
Maybe the "low end" will benefit from all the infusion of the elite's flashy capital.