TR_Sept-Oct_2023-lr

MARKET & TRENDS

CONFIDENCE GROWS

Local Real Estate Investors Move from Caution to Confidence LOCAL INVESTORS STAY DISCIPLINED EVEN AS INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS CONTINUE TO RETREAT.

By Daren Blomquist

QUANTITY DEMANDED (SAVES PER PROPERTY) PRICE DEMANDED (WINNING BID-TO-VALUE) Local Real Estate Investor Demand Continues to Rebound FORECLOSURE AUCTION SALES RATE

ocal real estate investors who started out the year

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cautiously bullish have become more confidently bullish as the housing market continues to prove its resilience in the face of elevated mortgage rates and slowing home price appreciation, according to bidding data from Auction.com. After turning a corner in the first quarter of 2023, as buyers started to shake off the shock from skyrocket- ing mortgage rates in the second half of 2022, bidder demand metrics on the Auction.com platform continued an upward trajectory in the second quarter, both in terms of quantity demanded and price demanded. REBOUNDING DEMAND The average number of online saves per property available for foreclosure auction increased 4% in the second quarter compared to the first quarter and was up 3% from a year earlier. Online saves are a forward-looking indicator of quantity demanded from Auction.com buyers, the majority of whom are local com- munity developers purchasing fewer than 10 properties a year within a 100-mile radius of where they live.

SOURCE: AUCTION.COM

“We believe the market is absolutely rebounding,” said Tony Tritt, an Atlanta-based real estate investor who buys at foreclosure auction. “There is robust bidding at the courthouse steps. It came back in full force about two months ago.” A more real-time indicator of quantity demanded is the foreclosure auction sales rate, the percentage

of properties available for auction that sell to third-party buyers. This sales rate shot up 11% in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. It was the second consecutive quarter with an 11% quarter-over-quarter gain. The sales rate in the second quar- ter of 2023 was still down 2% from a year ago, but it was a whopping

46 | think realty magazine :: september – october 2023

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