Over-all
Over-all, home prices in SoCal were flat year over year at $285,000. Sales also increased by 14.7% year-over-year. Home prices went up by $10,000 on a month-over-month basis in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. For the remaining counties there weren’t significant changes.
From DQNews (“Southland home sales and prices up,” 15 December 2009): Sales have been stoked in recent months by several factors: A federal tax credit for first-time buyers, which had been set to expire last month before it was extended and expanded; robust investor activity, especially inland; super-low mortgage rates; the availability of government-insured, low-down-payment mortgages for first-time buyers; and the allure of a potential “deal” on a distressed property. “This market is still really lopsided. Foreclosures and short sales are huge factors. There’s still not a lot of discretionary buying and selling outside the more affordable markets. Anybody who can sit tight is doing just that. The market won’t fully rebalance itself until financing becomes available for the higher price ranges,” said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president.
A Newspaper Rodeo
From the San Diego Union Tribune (“Median home price at $325,000 – again,” Roger Showley, 15 December 2009): For the fourth straight month, the county’s median price stood at $325,000 in November, MDA DataQuick reported yesterday. It’s the first time in 21 years of record keeping that the median price has stayed the same for so long . . . Erik Weichelt, president of the San Diego Association of Realtors, said he has heard that because many developers and condo converters want to clear out inventories, they are making bargains available. “Builders really need to get liquid by year’s end and pay off some of those (lender) notes,” he said. “We’ve definitely seen an increase.” . . . While stable prices often indicate a turn in the market, it’s unknown whether this is the precursor to an upward swing or a pause before prices fall again. The median price reached a record in November 2005 of $517,500 and fell 45.9 percent to this past January’s low of $280,000. But there’s no guarantee the $45,000 turnaround since then will result in prices everywhere returning to their records anytime soon.
My comments: Interesting comment about builders needing to sell to pay off notes.
From the Ventura County Star (“Housing market will continue to face challenges into 2010, Allison Bruce, 15 December 2009): The coming year likely will be a rough one for housing as loans reset, foreclosures continue to climb and high unemployment keeps the market from stabilizing. That was the 2010 forecast provided in a conference call Tuesday by leaders with foreclosure information company RealtyTrac Inc. and real estate search company Trulia Inc.. While they had slightly different outlooks, one part of the message was the same — don’t expect things to start turning around anytime soon. Ventura County sales totaled 752 in November, 3.2 percent higher than a year ago, while the median sales price of new and existing homes and condominiums was $365,000 last month. The median — where half the homes sell for more and half for less — was unchanged from October, but up from $355,000 a year ago . . . For California, Arizona, Florida and Nevada, an abundance of adjustable rate mortgage loans will reset to higher rates starting next year and keep those states at unusually high levels of foreclosure for at least 18 months, Sharga [Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac] said. These are the same states that recorded massive increases in home prices during the boom years and have a high number of “exotic” loans that offered low teaser rates or even avoided payments on the principal. Sharga said there is about $2.5 trillion worth of loans that will reset between July 2010 and August 2011.
My comments: Warning about resets.
From the Press-Enterprise (“Inland home sales, prices rise,” Leslie Berkman, 15 December 2009): It was the second consecutive month that Riverside County's median price increased, in November reaching $200,000, but nonetheless a decline of more than 9 percent from a year earlier, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego. San Bernardino's median price last month was $160,000, down not quite 14 percent from November 2008 . . . "This market is still really lopsided. Foreclosures and short sales are huge factors. There's still not a lot of discretionary buying and selling outside the more affordable markets," said MDA DataQuick President John Walsh . . . Real estate experts say home sales are being limited by banks, which are holding back distressed homes from the market, possibly to prop up prices or in an effort to use mortgage modification to reduce foreclosures.
From the LA Times (“Southern California home prices and sales improve in November,” Alejandro Lazo, 16 December 2009): Still, rising home prices have translated into some jobs for real estate professionals this year, and more will follow in 2010 if the economy continues to rebound, those in the industry said. For instance, hiring of temporary workers at real estate firms in the region has picked up in the last six weeks, said JoAnne Williams, chief executive of JWilliams Staffing in Irvine. "Things are starting to move in a positive direction, very slowly, very cautiously, but moving," Williams said. "They are gearing up. There is just a sense that the demand is there." The official numbers don't reflect a hiring increase yet. In Los Angeles County, the number of jobs in the real estate sector -- which includes agents, property managers and appraisers in the commercial and residential property markets -- fell by 400 in the 12 months ended in October, according to government statistics, with 53,300 people employed in those professions.
My comment: Interesting note about potential job growth in real estate.
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