Headline homes: Nashville's top sales, February 2011
High-end homes are hot again
CNNMoney.com says the $1 million-home market is definitely back in business. The country's largest markets all booked gains in 2010, with Nashville's rising 13 percent. A big factor in bringing back liquidity: A thawing mortgage loan market that has made things a tad bit easier on those in the "aspiring" category.
Normally buyers have to take out a jumbo loan to finance any mortgage beyond the $417,000 threshold ($729,000 in high-cost cities such as New York). These loans have higher interest rates because they are considered non-conforming -- or higher risk -- and are not backed Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
In 2009 buyers of high-end homes paid 1.8 percentage points more in interest than the average buyer. But in 2010, that spread had shrunk to just 0.6 points more.
We've been seeing the trend in our Headline Homes feature, too. Look for the February installment next Monday.
Headline Homes: Nashville's top sales, January 2011
Headline homes: Nashville's top 10 sales, December 2010
Headline homes: Nashville's top sales, November 2010
Headline homes: Nashville's top sales, October 2010
Another Headline Home sale in the making?
Bottom-fishing on a grand scale
One residential property deed recorded last month was not quite big enough to make our September Headline Homes, coming in at $1 million even. But it provided a remarkable example of what $1 million can buy in a distressed real estate environment: four luxury spec homes and three empty lots, all in upscale Williamson County subdivisions. Steve Hulen Construction LLC, which built three homes that have appeared in Headline Homes since 2008, owned all of the properties before they faced foreclosure, The sale, conducted by trustee Joe Prochaska on behalf of lender Regions Bank, conveyed the seven parcels to an entity called DI-TN No. 2 LLC. It has the same mailing address as several enterprises associated with the Knight and Doss families of Fort Worth, Texas, who have extensive real estate and banking holdings. The properties were located in the developments of Annandale, Westhaven, Windstone and Laurelbrooke. The four homes had previously been on the market for a cumulative amount of $6,217,600. The three lots have a combined, tax-appraised value of $610,000.Headline homes: Nashville's top sales, September 2010
Headline homes: Nashville's top sales, August 2010
