Hard to get too concerned about a 10% drop in sales YoY, when inventory was down more than that, and the rest of the stats held up nicely:
NSDCC December Sales
| Year | ||||
| 2013 | ||||
| 2014 | ||||
| 2015 | ||||
| 2016 | ||||
| 2017 |
It looks similar to when the frenzy died down in 2013 – not due to lack of demand (as we’ve seen since), but because the cupboards were bare.
2017: 207 sales x $563/sf = 122,171
2016: 240 sales x $502/sf = 120,480
2015: 256 sales x $477/sf = 122,112
Hmmm. Maybe nothing.
As of January, HUD raised their offerings to landlords by significant percentages. Enough that we’re thinking hard about what to do next, since there’s a line of qualified HUD folks backing up to the moon. Single renters making less than 50K fully qualify, and that’s a lot of folks. I think you can make more than that, but you get less of a stipend. The last time we had a new HUD renter, she was driving a brand new beemer–and a sports car–and that was quite a while ago. So you can still make some bucks and be fully on HUD, as I understand it.
Anyway, if you have normal renters in a number of units who are paying $4-500 bucks less then what HUD is now offering monthly, and HUD can fill a new vacancy immediately with no fuss… what shall a landlord do? Normally, HUD is out of the question for us, but… wow.
At the same time, we’re in a gentrification corridor. Our rents are going up fast anyway, just not as extreme as HUD solicitations. I figure we’re one irresponsibly discarded piece of avocado toast away from a stampede.