Gulf Coast Housing Frenzy!

BILOXI — Erin Hollis handed Carrie Adams a $5,000 check just moments after looking at Adams' north Biloxi house last month.Hollis knew two other people wanted to look at the one-story house off Popps Ferry Road listed for $290,000. She didn't want to take a chance on losing the house while waiting for her husband, Dix, who was stuck in traffic.Residential real estate — at least undamaged property — has been at a premium on the Mississippi Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina struck Aug. 29.
Katrina knocked the Hollises' beach home, which had been in the family since 1937, off its foundation. The couple and their two sons barely escaped the storm surge and have been living at their Perry County hunting camp since.After "I handed Carrie the check, she said, 'Welcome home.' I started crying. She started crying. The Realtor started crying," Erin Hollis said.
Real estate agent Carolyn Handler said she was overrun with clients since Katrina. "In two weeks, I sold $1 million in real estate," she said. "Typically, I maybe sell an average of $150,000 to $200,000 a month. There was a frenzy right after the storm."Real estate already had en hot on the Coast before Katrina, real estate agents said. Houses would be under contract for sale within about 30 days and closed after about 90 days, Handler said.Now people are buying houses as quickly as they go on the market. Handler said one client bought a house in Biloxi's Ancient Oaks area hours after it had been listed and without even seeing it.
Joe Ellis/The Clarion-LedgerDix Hollis inspects a built-in gun cabinet in the den of a house he and his wife, Erin, are buying in Biloxi during their final walk-through on Friday. The Hollises and their two sons lost their home in Biloxi to Hurricane Katrina. "He had me fill out a contract with a contingency to do a visual," Handler said. "That neighborhood will build back and build back better."While the market is good for sellers, smart buyers still want to know how much property previously has sold for, Handler said.
"You have to justify the price," she said. "I sold a property eight weeks ago for $248,000. (The client) is trying to sell it for $92,000 more. It won't appraise for that."Handler's colleague, Bobbie Alley, said people who try to inflate prices haven't been successful."That's what's going on with one of my listings," Alley said. "It's not a stupid buyer's market."
Meanwhile, the metro-Jackson market also experienced a surge after Katrina, said Cheryl Bullock, executive director of the Jackson Association of Realtors.During the first two weeks of September, 247 houses were sold in the area for an average price of $169,000, she said. The year before, 193 houses were sold during the same time period for an average of $159,000.
Joe Ellis/The Clarion-LedgerErin and Dix Hollis carry bits of what remains of their personal belongings in their new house in Biloxi on Friday while doing a final walk-through before an afternoon closing. The Hollises lost their previous home in Biloxi when a wave pushed by Hurricane Katrina destroyed it on Aug. 29. "I think that increase will continue as people get more settled and make decisions about purchasing a home away from the Coast," Bullock said.Bullock believes people will make decisions after they settle with insurance companies or after they see how the Coast will be redeveloped.Kay Kell, city manager of Pascagoula, wants people — especially residents of her city — to stay and help rebuild the economy.
"Our problem right now is finding people a place to stay," she said. "Places build back better. Property values already are going up. I know people don't believe us."Kell urges property owners to think long term.
"People are still in shock," she said. "Don't make a major decision in this type of situation."Kevin Hindmarch, Jackson County's director of appraisal, predicts the market "will be in turmoil for some time."Before Katrina, he said he had a handle on the county's property reassessments that were to go into effect Jan. 1. Now, the county has asked the state for an extension so it can restart the process.
Hindmarch has to look at each piece of property again. He estimated at least 15,000 pieces of property countywide were affected, including the Hollis family home on Collins Street.Erin Hollis, who is assistant director of the geriatric/psychiatric unit at Biloxi Regional Medical Center, said she and her husband haven't decided whether they will rebuild.
"The only thing that's left is the front steps," she said. "We're going to let (the reconstruction debate) ride out. I'm in no hurry to sell."Erin Hollis said she and her husband, who is purchasing director for Blue Wave Logistics based in Hattiesburg, didn't think too hard before returning to Biloxi. "We were both born and raised here," she said. "We've lost co-workers who have left the state, but we love Biloxi, and we love the water. This is home."Meanwhile, Adams and her husband, Ed, intend to live at their Vancleave fish camp until they buy a home closer to Jackson. They had planned to sell their house before Katrina. Adams said she didn't take advantage of the storm to increase her asking price.
"I wasn't really paying attention to real estate," she said. "After the storm, I thought no one would want to live here again."Two other potential buyers arrived at Adams' house after Hollis left her check. One offered $30,000 more than Adams wanted. The other buyer offered $37,000 more.
But Adams stuck with the deal she made with Hollis.