I randomly picked one unit from RMLS that was listed July 5th 2005 for $559,000.  It closed for $299,000.

The Atwater still has an active sales office in the South Waterfront and the Encore and 937 are also open for business.  We’ve worked with buyers in both of the Pearl District complexes this year.

Real Estate Auction post graphic

Real estate auctions in the Portland area are no longer surprising.  The Atwater Place auction led the way last year with an auction that sold off 40 units in under 90 minutes.  The John Ross resisted for awhile by initially lowering prices and then holding their own auction of  luxury condominiums earlier this year.

The auction trend is moving north.  The next auction of high profile condos will take place on Hayden Island later this month. Jim Redden of the Portland Tribune interviewed me last week and his story on the Waterside Condominium auction is now online.  30 units of the complex will be auctioned off with the lowest minimum bid st $165,000.  There may also be a reserve price so that bid may not be enough to get you a set of keys.

The auction will be held by Kennedy/Wilson on October 24th.  A how-to-by-at-auction seminar will be held on October 17th.  Every auction house has its own set of rules so don’t plan on showing up on the 24th with your checkbook expecting to be able to get in on the action.  Register and bring your “homework” with you.  If you have questions, we can help.

Worth checking into if a new construction condo is something you are considering.

2121 Belmont was built to be sold as luxury condos at the peak of Portland’s real estate market. Nearly nonexistent sales dictated a conversion to apartments but the income from the rentals is not enough to service the debt. The bank has issued a notice of default to the owners of the 123 unit building.

The John Ross is at 74% occupancy but that still leaves 84 unsold units (some are pending).  There is talk of an upcoming auction, similar to the  Atwater Place auction, but that is not confirmed.  The John Ross lowered prices almost immediately after the Atwater auction and brisk sales were reported but a handful of sales per month will draw the project out for a long time.  Accredited Marketing Partners had accepted bids for 40 of the 41 units on offer at the Atwater in 80 minutes when they ran the auction.

There are 37 John Ross units listed for sale in RMLS.  Picking one randomly:

• Original asking price $1,074,800 on 3/1/06
• Reduced to $1,069,000 on 2/6/07
• Reduced to $899,000 on 7/24/08
• Reduced to $819,000 on 1/22/09
• Reduced to $749,000 on 7/10/09
• Reduced to $579,000 on 10/2/09 which is the current asking price (1PM 2/27/10)

Scott Aster writes in PSU’s Quarterly & Urban Development Journal 2010 First Quarter report, “Housing Market Analysis“, that housing units in Portland are currently selling for 91.68% of original asking price. The John Ross building falls well short of today’s market.

The only unit that did not receive a bid was the penthouse.  First listed for $1,300,000 it did not garner the $899,000 minimum bid.  It was not the most expensive property available.  The previously offered at $1,539,000 unit sold for $897,000 (58% off asking and 128% of its minimum bid).  At the lower end, four units sold between $240,000 and $242,000 that all had minimums of $169,000.

The luxury condo auction featured property previously valued at$29,076,125.  It grossed $18,821,000 (66%) or $235,000 a second for 80 minutes.  My tracking of final selling prices may have been off slightly on one or two of the properties.

What were the expectations?  At September 13th’s REDC Auction property sold for an average of 44% of their previously valued prices so yesterday’s average was considerably higher though for the most part, the properties on offer were very different.

Will we see more auctions like this in Portland real estate market or in the building itself?  I would not be surprised to see another auction like this in either the South Waterfront or Pearl District.  The ability for a developer to rapidly raise cash has to be very appealing.  The downside is that a certain percentage of units must remain owner occupied in order to be financed down the road and there is a clear monetary hit to the bottom line (though some may be better than none).  I did not see any occupancy requirements in the terms and conditions for this auction.  If they can keep occupancy levels reasonable, it would not be surprising to see another Atwater Place auction.  Previous reports stated that even if all 4o units close escrow the building will still be less than half sold.

The South Waterfront was not insulated from the real estate market decline.  The Adrea (the far left building in the picture above) was converted to apartments (as was the Wyatt in the Pearl and 2121 Belmont in SE).  From there, we have Atwater Place, the John Ross, the two Meriwether Towers and OHSU’s building on the far right.  This is a great picture of the proposed build-out of the area.

The site is known as the Cronin Block
The condo complex to be named The Wyatt
15 stories – 244 condominiums
Pearl District/Hoyt Yards – NW 13th & Marshall St. The block next to the site is the home of the new Pearl District Safeway (which will be a mixed use space with residential space on top)
Completion: Summer to Fall 2007. I’d lean towards the latter.
Architects: Fletcher Farr Ayotte Architects
Developers: Robert Ball

The following is an artist rendering of the site. When we were down there last week looking at the large hole in the ground it is hard to belive what is still to come.

The block is named the Cronin. Previously, rumors had the tower being called the Coplin. Now we have the Wyatt.

Perhaps someone can shed some light?

The Strand just released the West Tower for sale over the weekend. The first sales will go to people already on the “priority list.” Once they have filtered through those offers, the remaining units will be opened up to the public for sale.

The Meriwether is the first development in the South River Blocks. Move in is scheduled for April.

The John Ross is the forward crane in the picture. When it is completed in 2007, it will be the tallest building in Portland.