Yesterday I ran absorption rates for the seven county metro area. It would have been nice if I had mentioned that an adsorption rate of about six months indicates a balanced real estate market. Balanced means a market that does not favor the buyer of the seller. We had a sellers market for several years, in the last two years we have seen a buyers market. It is still a buyers market but it is coming closer to a more balanced market. An absorption rate of less than six months indicates a sellers market, an absorption rate of more than six months indicates a buyers market.
Yesterday I checked to see how many registered vacant building there are in St. Paul and discovered that the number is still rising at an alarming rate. There are currently 1775 registered vacant buildings in St. Paul. Last time a checked, about a month ago there were 1695.
Here is a breakdown of the vacant properties I found on the city of St. Paul web site:
Commercial Properties 44
Duplex 472
Mixed Use 3
Multi-family Residential 106
Single Family Residential 1150
Grand Total 1775
A percentage of these properties are foreclosures. There is not way to know what that percentage is. Not all vacant homes have to be registered. The only buildings or homes that need to be registered are those that meet the following criteria:
- Unsecured, or
- Secured by other than normal means, or
- A dangerous structure, or
- Condemned, or
- Has multiple housing or Building Code violations, or
- Is condemned and illegally occupied, or
- Is unoccupied for a period of time longer than one year during which time the Enforcement Officer has issued an order to correct nuisance conditions.
There are many vacant homes that are not registered. I find them when I show properties to buyers, they are on the market but unoccupied.
There doesn’t seem to be a limit to how long a property can sit vacant and in disrepair. I found one on the list that has been registered since 1989. I found 532 properties that have been vacant since 2006.
I know that our elected officials have been working on various solutions. . . . but the list of registered vacant buildings continues to grow.
Registered buildings have to be "secured", so people can’t get into them. I have noticed that the owners are not required to shovel the sidewalks on the winter, while the rest of us have 24 hours to remove the snow from our walks. They don’t have to mow the lawn either, the rest of us do. Registered vacant buildings have to have inspections and some have multiple code violations. The rest of us do not have to have inspections and we don’t have to bring anything up to code, and can have multiple code violations and can still live in our homes. (see "What is Illegal"?)
If there is a home on your block with the blue city of St. Paul paper stuck on the front door, keep an eye on it. Use the cities new online complaint form if there are any problems like vandalism, broken glass, long grass or shoveled sidewalks. Call the Police if there is any suspicious activity. It is up to all of us to make our neighborhoods safe.
Twitter
Flickr
LinkedIn
Facebook
RSS
Posterous
Email
FourSquare
Yelp
SlideShare
Does this news of a balanced market mean that the media will stop yelling that the sky is falling?
Thanks for the numbery post; they’re the best.
Lucie – The news media is generally about four months behind me when it comes to reporting market trends. Expect to hear something official in July.
“An absorption rate of less than six months indicates a sellers market, an absorption rate of more than six months indicates a buyers market.”
I didn’t know that. It’s really good information. Thanks. It’s also nice to hear some good news — that absorption rates are looking better in your area.
“An absorption rate of less than six months indicates a sellers market, an absorption rate of more than six months indicates a buyers market.”
I didn’t know that. It’s really good information. Thanks. It’s also nice to hear some good news — that absorption rates are looking better in your area.