Category Archives: Real Estate

Plenty of Signs the Market Has Cooled

Posted on August 27, 2013 | Leave a comment

Do you feel that hint of a chill starting to swirl through the housing market? The cooling is slight, but it’s for real.

Home prices are not rising as fast in most metropolitan areas as they did earlier this year and much of 2012. Multiple bid competitions — fierce in many places this spring and late last year — aren’t as intense. Inventories of homes for sale have increased this summer, reversing near droughts of listings that helped fuel higher prices.

Has your neighborhood “cooled?” Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your home value questions.

Add in rising mortgage rates, and you’ve got a distinct, measurable momentum shift in the pace of the housing recovery. The recovery is still well underway — it’s just not as effervescent as it once was.

Consider some of the key numbers:

• Asking prices on homes listed for sale declined by one-third of a percent in July, the first drop on a monthly basis since last November, according to data compiled by Trulia.com. Quarter-to-quarter data through July confirm the moderating trend line.

• Pending-home sales — under contract but not yet closed — dropped by four-tenths of a percent in June, according to the National Association of Realtors. Resales of houses in June dipped by 1.2 percent.

• Inventories of homes listed for sale rose in a number of the hottest markets recently, after hovering near record lows for a year or more. Low inventories stoke buyer competition and bidding wars that can send prices up sharply. More plentiful inventories give buyers more to choose from and tend to calm things down. Trulia estimates that nationwide inventories of homes for sale are up 6 percent since January.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Are Home Bidding Wars Easing?

Posted on August 25, 2013 | Leave a comment

San Diego County remains one of the most competitive housing markets in the nation, but local bidding matches appear to be easing, shows an analysis from online real estate brokerage Redfin. Competition softened in July due to an increase in listings and mortgage rates.

Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your home value questions. They are San Diego Home Value Experts.

More than 70 percent of deals reviewed by Redfin in July faced multiple bids, a drop from 82 percent in June and a drop from 73 percent a year ago, based on the brokerage’s data. The national rate is 63 percent.

San Diego and Orange counties faced the steepest decreases in competition month-to-month. Still, the two regions rank as the No. 4 and No. 3 most competitive markets in the nation. San Francisco and Los Angeles topped the list.

Local home sales shot up to a 7-year high in July as 13 percent more listings became available, allowing potential buyers more choice in a supply-constrained market. Also, recent home-price and mortgage-rate spikes have discouraged some buyers who may have dropped out of the market. That paved the way for more persistent consumers to ink deals.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

What’s in Store for the Real Estate Market this Fall?

Posted on August 13, 2013 | Leave a comment

From Karen Starr, The Grubb Co

Q: In your view, what is in store for the real estate market this fall?

A: Our fall market already feels as though it’s going to be a full speed ahead climate where buyers and sellers alike will need to be ready. It is normally a busy time for residential real estate sales.

Summer is winding down. Vacations are coming to an end. (Did I hear a wistful sign of sadness?) School will be back in session, freeing up time and energy to focus on making a move before the holiday season arrives. Interest rates remain amazingly low, and according to the tradespeople who follow my industry (painters, stagers, etc…) their “dance cards” are filling up fast with appointments for late August and September. They are super busy helping sellers prepare their homes for sale. I’m feeling a small “tsunami of inventory.”

Want to know what your home is worth now and in the future? Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your value questions. We can answer your questions for the San Diego Market.

Buyers, what might your to-do list look like for August? A few suggestions: Make sure your pre-approval letter is updated and that your lender/mortgage broker is standing by to customize that letter for the offer that you will be making. Select the right real estate broker/agent to work with, one who is on the same page with how you like to work, and on top of the market, both the inventory and the temperature (important in a multiple-offer situation). Know the inventory; go to open houses on the weekends to finely tune what you want and don’t. You will be a stronger partner for your agent, and together you will more quickly be able to find the home that is just right for you.

Sellers, get to work putting your house in proper order for your sale. Clean up the yard and do some pre-market planting now so that the plants will look more established when your lovely home makes its debut. Meet with your stager to walk through your house. Together you can determine what painting needs to be done and the extent of cleaning required to optimize the interior spaces for showing.