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Business & Tech

WI Real Estate Report: Foreclosures Sell Quickly, Town Shows Little Distress in 2010

Experts say WI real estate market has remained stable despite economy, will get stronger in 2011.

The West Islip real estate market held strong in 2010 and closed out the year with eight foreclosure sales-- nearly identical to 2009 numbers--with an average sale price of $274,875.  

In 2009, there were nine foreclosure sales with an average price tag of $370,644. There are three bank-owned (REO) properties currently listed on the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island (MLSLI.com).

Part of deciphering the distressed market of a town involves knowing how many homes are "underwater" or in danger of becoming bank-owned. This takes some talent, because if you were to use a search engine to look for "West Islip foreclosures," what you would find is there are about 115 homes "in foreclosure" according to various website results.

But rather than use such a broad number with limited details, we'll look at short sales. A short sale is a home that is being sold for less than what is owed on the mortgage. A short sale is an option for avoiding foreclosure for homeowners who can no longer afford their home.

Therefore, these listed short sales are a good way to gauge how a town's real estate market is fairing overall. In West Islip, as of December of 2010, there are ten homes listed as short sales. With about 149 homes listed for sale, the 10 short sales, plus the three REO listings, represent approximately 8.7 percent of the West Islip real estate market.

One surrounding town, by comparison, has a higher available inventory (440 homes total for sale) which includes 159 short sale listings and 20 REO properties on the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island. This represents a whopping 40.6 percent distressed market share.

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Yet another surrounding town offers 63 short sale listings and 11 REO properties for sale with an total available inventory of 242, which translates to 30.6 percent distressed market.

Bilal Hito, who purchased a foreclosure in West Islip this past year, talked about what made him buy a distressed property in West Islip.

"Throughout Long Island, prices went down," Hito said.  "In West Islip, it sort of kept its nickel a little more than others. It's rare to get a foreclosure in West Islip, so when I saw this one, I jumped at it."

This could be a direct correlation to the low number of distressed properties in the area. The market in West Islip is holding value better.

Hito also said that one of the of main reasons that makes a West Islip foreclosure a good deal is the property tax reduction.

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"When I bought my home in West Islip, I paid half of what the home was worth just five years ago, so the property taxes went down substantially from the previous tax assessment," he said.

John Fitzgerald, co-owner of Realty Connect USA and a REO expert, predicts a stronger market for West Islip in 2011.

"The market is going to open up in 2011," Fitzgerald said.  "There will be higher demand for homes and foreclosures that come up in West Islip will sell very fast, so don't expect them to be on the market very long. But that does not mean higher sale prices but inventory will start to sell."

Given the two local comparisons, the West Islip real estate market is holding up quite nicely. With a low number of distressed sales, the drag on the real estate market in West Islip seems to be much less than it is in some Suffolk County townships. Good news for West Islip homeowners.


Tom McGiveron is a Licensed Associate Broker with Realty Connect USA in Hauppauge, New York. Tom specializes in short sales and foreclosures as well as regular residential sales in West Islip and manages several websites including www.tommcgiveron.com and www.LIREOhomes.com. Tom holds a Master's Degree in Counseling from the State University of New York at Oswego.

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