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80 MAINE 'Housing Gap' is Widening Within Some Metros ere are "hot" and "cold" housing mar- kets spread out all over the country as each market has recovered at its own pace. e gap between hot and cold housing communities in some cases exists within the same core-based statistical area (CBSA), according to Pro Teck Valuation Services' latest Home Value Forecast. One extreme case is the Nassau County- Suffolk County, New York CBSA, which ranks seventh overall in CBSAs for May and the data generally indicates a seller's mar- ket for housing. For example, sales are up 11 percent, active listings are down 44 percent, and months of remaining inventory (MRI) is down almost 50 percent. Another indicator of a seller's market in Nassau-Suffolk is a 55 percent drop in the number of active days on the market, down to 41. Within the Nassau-Suffolk CBSA, the community of Roslyn stands out as a hot mar- ket with an average house price of just below $1.2 million—an all-time high for that area. However, in Island Park, less than 20 miles from Roslyn, home prices average around $288,000 after peaking at $500,000 in 2006. "At Home Value Forecast we like to say that all real estate trends are local, and what's happening in one community doesn't translate to the next," said Tom O'Grady, CEO of Pro Teck Valuation Services. "is is very true in Long Island, where the differences between wealthy communities and the rest is signifi- cant." Top 10 CBSAs this month include: » Boise City, ID » Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA » Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade, CA » Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA » Stockton-Lodi, CA » Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA » Nassau County-Suffolk County, NY » Portland-South Portland, ME » Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA » Oakland-Hayward-Berkeley, CA » Bottom 10 CBSAs this month include: » Midland, TX » Billings, MT » Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC » Racine, WI » Rockford, IL » Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ » Gary, IN » Jackson, MI » Jacksonville, NC » Madison, WI Averaging CBSAs often do not show the entire real estate picture, according to Pro Teck. In many cases, such as that in Nassau- Suffolk, real estate markets within the CBSA have "recovered" or "rebounded," while in others they are still struggling. "Of the 143 ZIP codes we track in the Nassau- Suffolk CBSA, only 28 communities, 19.6 percent of the total, have exceeded pre-crash home price highs," said O'Grady. "As the recovery continues, we look for that number to increase." NEW YORK Here's One Way to Fight Zombie Properties Local municipalities in the areas hit hard- est by the foreclosure crisis have made various attempts through legislation to combat the prob- lem of "zombie properties," or vacant and aban- doned properties in the process of foreclosure. While the number of zombie properties has been on the decline—the most recent data reported by RealtyTrac showed 1.4 million vacant properties nationwide, with about 19,000 of those properties in active foreclo- sure—the question of whose responsibility it is to maintain those properties has been a major sticking point between servicers and lawmakers. e longer the properties remain vacant, the more potential they have to become magnets for squatters, vandalism, and violent crime, bringing down property values and lowering the quality of life in their surround- ing communities. Hempstead Town, New York—population 800,000, making it the largest municipality designated as a town in the United States—is proposing a solution to the problem in order to combat the zombie property problem: Hold banks and servicers responsible. Town Supervisor Anthony Santino has proposed a law that would require the servicer of the mortgage provide a $25,000 "security fund" (either by cash, cash bond, or letter of credit) to maintain vacant and abandoned properties that are in the process of foreclosure in compli- ance with the Hempstead Town Code. "It's time for big banks and other financial institutions to 'do the right thing' when it comes to ensuring that properties which they have seized don't become a blight on local neighborhoods," Santino said. "It's unaccept- able for banks to make big profits on home mortgages and then turn their backs on neighbors by failing to maintain these same properties once they foreclose on them. at's why I have come up with a plan that puts lenders 'on the hook,' ensuring that they put up 'security funding' to guarantee property upkeep of vacant homes." Santino said the money would be used to provide maintenance such as lawn care, removal of debris, securing of properties by boarding up windows and doors, graffiti Connecticut Planet Realty, LLC Sales@CTREOTEAM.com 203-982-4985 cell www.CTREOTEAM.com Security • Preservation • Disposition Steve Rivkin New Jersey Lisa G Lopez Broker of Record Home Alliance Realty 142 E. Bay Ave Manahawkin, NJ 08050 609-978-9009 (o) 609-384-5109 (c) lglopez@verizon.net www.HomeAllianceRealty.com www.LisaLopezProperties.com New York Todd Yovino Broker/Owner Island Advantage Realty, LLC Metropolitan New York and Long Island's Default Specialist for Over 27 Years Todd@iarny.com | 631-820-3400 www.islandadvantage.com

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