May 13, 2008

Tough Time for Sellers at 525 North Sycamore

This listing — 525 N. Sycamore Ave., Los Angeles, #232 – came in a Redfin update last week as “reactivated.”  It’s a condo purchased at the height of the run-up, for $379,000 in July 2005.  This one-bedroom, one-bath, 622-square-foot unit came back on the market in August at the wildly optimistic sales price of $435,000.  Five price reductions later, it’s back, with an asking price of $339,000 and “short sale” in its listing description.

What are its chances?  Unfortunately, a look at similar sales (part of every Redfin listing) is disconcerting, because there are none.  That’s right:  Not only have there been no properties sold at 525 North Sycamore in the last six months, no nearby properties similar to it have sold, either. 

I went there this morning to take a photo.  The modernish complex, called Sycamore Villas, stands out amid this Hancock Park-adjacent neighborhood’s classic hundred-year-old apartment buildings.  Multiple “For Sale” signs cluster in an area near the entrance.

Here’s a look at some other units for sale in the building:

525 N. Sycamore Ave., #401
Price:  $369,000
1BR/1B/694 square feet
Days on market:  163
Notes: Purchased in March 2006 for $389,000.  No mention of a short sale, but the owner clearly is upside-down.

525 N. Sycamore Ave., #226
Price:  $295,000
1BR/1B/625 square feet
Days on market:  125
Notes: This unit is listed as a fixer-upper.  It was purchased in 1999, so the owners could have some price flexibility, which bodes poorly for the unit’s higher-priced neighbors.

525 N. Sycamore Ave., #209
Price:  $319,000
1BR/1B/694 square feet
Days on market:  65
Notes: This one was purchased in 2001 for $142,000, which shows you how crazy the market got in the next couple of years.  The owner is probably kicking himself for not getting out two years ago.