The following San Jose Mercury News Article reports on a significant increase in home sales after 2 months of declining sales. It also reports on a decrease in new jobless claims. The data is on a national level. For Danville Real Estate we are seeing much the same with overall sales and prices up from just a year earlier. An interesting note regarding data for January and February is that although total sales were declining we were, and still are, experiencing very low inventory. I contend that the lower numbers in January and February were more due to the lack of acceptable homes on the market and not a sign of buyer indifference. We are now seeing short sales beingapproved in higher numbers and with less drama. This should help move properties quicker and result in higher sales through the summer months.
The attached San Jose Mercury News article chronicles an interview with the President of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers. In his interview Ed Smith gives his opinions regarding the effect that increasing interest rates will have on First Time Home Buyers. With inventory down and sales up we are seeing more first time home buyers being shut out of the market because many of them are looking to purchase lower priced entry level homes. Those same homes are the targets for investors who will typically come in with an all cash offer and squeeze out the would be First Time Home buyer who may be utilizing either an FHA or VA loan. In reading the article I believe that Mr. Smith’s perspective is right on the money and in line with what we have been blogging on ourselves.
The following L.A. Daily News article discusses the the new opportunities for home buyers as a result of the lowinterest rates and low home prices. Those who were once resigned to the situation of renting are now in a position to own their own home. With the short sale process becoming easier to navigate we are seeing many east bay renters now able to buy in areas like Danville and San Ramon where they had no hope of buying just two years ago.
The following article published in the Contra Costa Times reports on a Loan Modification Scam that targeted homeowners with distressed mortgages. The alleged scamers promised help with obtaining loan modifications for a fee. The message here is to be careful with your money and if a program seems to good to be true, it probably isn’t.
If you have a mortgage that is upside down please give us a call. We can help.
The question that I am asked most as a real estate professional is “How’s the Market?”. This is an interesting question because the market is so segmented that there is no ‘One’ good or right answer. What I have done in this video is pull the last two years of data for single family detached homes in Alameda and Contra Costa counties or basically East Bay Real Estate. I discuss what the market actually is for residential resale homes and where I believe it is headed for buyers, sellers, and investors. This takes into account short sales, foreclosures, normal resales and is a very accurate snapshot of our East Bay market today.
The sales price for single family detached homes in Danville are up 11% when comparing March 2009 to March 2010. Why is this and Is this a Trend?
Even though Danville Real Estate is more expensive than the last year we may be entering a period of flat prices or possibly even a very slight downward trend. The in the attached chart you will see a change in the trend line from increase in prices to flat sales prices. The next 3-4 months will be very telling in terms of prices as we are entering the seasonal “Selling” period. The thought about prices leveling off and potentially dropping is based on the high likelihood of a increase in interest rates and the potential increase in inventory brought about about the new programs regarding Short Sales and making them easier to transact.
This is an example of the old ranch style homes in the downtown Danville area. Many of these homes were built in the 1940′s and offer great charm and warmth.
The attached graph demonstrates what has happened with Median home prices for single family detached homes in San Ramon.
Prices are up over 12% from March 2009 and in my opinion we may have seen the bottom in terms of prices for San Ramon real estate. Many of the sales that we have seen are short sales and foreclosures so the days of getting a “Screamin Deal” may be over. I realize that there is a large number of distressed mortgages out there, in fact there may be as many as 8-9 million, but my thoughts are based mainly on the fact that the government has spent so much in time and energy over the last few years that they will not allow prices to free fall as they did in 2007-2009.
se Mercury News.
