Real estate values in Valley still reeling | Yakima Herald-Republic

High-end home sales in Valley still reeling

Sales of homes above $200,000 have slowed considerably the past few years as potential buyers decide they can?t afford residual costs
by Mai Hoang
Yakima Herald-Republic

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YAKIMA, Wash. -- The colonial-style home at 202 S. 16th Ave. was built in 1911 for Dr. Edmund West, a surgeon who relocated to Yakima from Chicago to serve a growing city.

Few know about West, but many know the home, which has become a Yakima landmark over time.

More than 100 years after it was built, the home still maintains features original to the house, such as a front porch supported by Tuscan columns and symmetrically placed windows.

Such features led the home to be named on the National Register of Historical Places in 1987.

These days, it's better known as the "Gasperetti Home," after John Gasperetti, who made his own mark in the Yakima Valley as the owner of Gasperetti's Restaurant and John Gasperetti's Floral Design.

Gasperetti, who lived in the house for 30 years, hosted many fundraisers and parties for various organizations and nonprofits there.

But the home's deep history has not sheltered it from the tough housing market facing higher-priced homes in the Yakima Valley.

Last summer, the home got another -- but more unfortunate -- designation: bank-owned.

Now the home, currently owned by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., or Freddie Mac, sits empty.

By the end of 2011, Yakima County had enough homes priced between $250,000 to $500,000 to sell for two years without having to list more homes in that price range, according to data from the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Washington.

That's bad news for the Gasperetti Home, which is currently assessed at $310,800. That's more than $60,000 less than the home's appraisal three years ago.

While higher-priced historic homes get a lot of "oohs" and "ahhs," most people face a gap between their dream of living in such a home and their ability to afford it, said Ken Fears, manager of regional economics for the National Association of Realtors in Washington, D.C.

"People daydream about this home but then they are hit with the reality of maintenance and upkeep," he said. "(They) think of the cost of maintaining one of these homes, which can be pretty significant."

Gasperetti put his home on the market in 2007, shortly after he began remodeling a one-story, Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired home on Scenic Drive.

There was no buyer in 2009, when renovation of his new home was complete.

He continued to work with real estate agents to try to get the home sold, but by early 2011 his time was up -- the home was in foreclosure.

Gasperetti declined to comment for this story, but court documents show that he had an outstanding principal balance of just under $321,800. When the house was part of a Yakima County foreclosure auction in June, it garnered no bids, though some expressed interest, said Dennis Copeland, who conducts foreclosure auctions.

Most people who buy foreclosed homes tend to go for lower-priced homes that they can remodel and sell quickly, he said. The starting price of $360,000 made it a tough buy for most.

"Right now, the high-end houses are at the bottom of the totem pole," he said.

The home was recently re-listed at $244,000, which is below the assessed value and far below the $379,000 asking price listed in June 2009.

But the new price is still above the price range where most homes have been selling.

Despite improvement across the local market, single family homes under $200,000 made up 72 percent of overall sales in Yakima County during first two months of this year, according to data from Headwaters-The Source, a Selah-based firm that tracks real estate sales.

The median sales price in Yakima County last month was $137,250.

In contrast, about 20 percent of homes sold during the same period were between $200,000 and $299,000.

But the bank isn't looking for a fire sale either.

Yakima chiropractor Dennis Cozzocrea always had a penchant for old homes, remodeling several over the years.

This time, he was looking for a house for his family, which includes five children.He wasn't crazy about the home's proximity to the high-traffic 16th Avenue arterial. But ultimately, the history behind the house won Cozzocrea, 48, over.

"I hate to see these properties deteriorate," he said. "I hate to see the loss of our history."

But Cozzocrea found his interest -- despite the house sitting on the market for several years -- wasn't enough.

His bids -- ranging from $215,000 to $260,000 -- in the last year have been rejected or countered.

With the home still vacant, he believes the listed price -- though much lower than in the past -- is still high given the extra maintenance that comes with a vacant bank-owned home.

He believes that he'll have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to restore the swimming pool and landscaping as well as other problems that may come up.

"The bank has allowed the property to slip in disrepair," he said. "It was a lot better shape then when I looked at it a year ago."

It's understandable that potential buyers such as Cozzocrea would be conservative in their offers, Fears said.

If a home ends up being appraised for less than the final sales price -- certainly a possibility these days -- the seller is responsible for the difference, he said.

But given how well-regarded the Gasperetti home has been over the years, bank owners may not want to let go of the home for too low a price, he said.

"(The bank) may be viewing this home as underpriced," Fears said. "They may be willing to hold on to it until there's an upside."

* Mai Hoang can be reached at 509-577-7685 or maihoang@yakimaherald.com.

Source: http://www.yakimaherald.com/stories/2012/03/21/real-estate-values-in-valley-still-reeling

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