4/30/2007

Supply & Demand, Let The Free Market Decide



Fremont Lofts Worcester Auction Price Sheet Pictured Above.


So the remaing available units at The Fremont Lofts in Worcester are turning into The "Free Market Lofts" on May 20th as the 23 remaining units are going to auction, with starting prices as low as $140K for the lone remaing 1 bedroom and as low as $150K for 2 bedrooms. The two level true style lofts that were priced at $319K & $329K for a year have a starting bid of $240K.


It seems the developer noticed it was time to adjust their marketing and pricing strategy of the past year and a half. See back in November Crystal and I made an offer of $180K on a unit that was priced at $219K. Our offer was flat out rejected at the time. When we made the offer we thought the pricing that The Fremont was using was overvalued and we were offering what we thought was true market value in November of 2006, which was $180K. Here we are 5 and almost 6 months later and that unit remains unsold and is now going to auction with a minimum bid of $165K.

The same could be said of University Park Lofts over on Main South. All in all back in November we probably visted Th Fremont a total of 8 times and University Park a total of 5 or 6. University Park was still a work in progress at that time, and there were some units that we really thought we could work with. Great views, but limited space and no gym, which Th Fremont did boast. And again we thought that University Park was also about 20% to 25% overpriced.

So here we sit... Within the past month University Park has unveiled a plan where they are now renting units as well as selling and the remaining unsold units at The Fremont are going to auction on May 20th. It seems the free market system is working here, when the buying pool drys up and refuses to pay more than what they deem "fair value" the developers must adjust at some point.


Free Market Wiki
Fremont Auction Site
University Park Lofts
Crystal's Take

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