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Aug
31
Posted by ally may
California Association of Realtors Newsline has an srticle that says that consumer confidence is on the rise.
Consumer sentiment rose to 56.9 in August, up from 51.9 in July, according to The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index™ released Tuesday, indicating a slow shift toward an economic recovery, albeit one that analysts predict will likely take until well into next year to fully materialize.
How does this relate to the Sonoma and Napa wine counrty regions? Properties are selling here, some fairly quickly when priced well. 1375 properties either went into contract or closed escrow in August and while only 723 new listings came onto the market. That’s got to be good news to sellers with existing properties on the market. Of the 516 properies that sold, average dys on the market were only 94, which is pretty standard from the time a listing agreement is signed until it closes escrow, and the average price is $516,000. Now, these figures have in their equation the REO’S which take a lot longer to sell and sell for quite a reduced price, so I think the market is still looking very good for seller’s BECAUSE it’s still good for buyer’s. If buyer’s can’t buy, seller’s can’t sell.
“Consumer confidence readings suggest that the economy remains stuck in neutral, but may be showing signs of improvement by early next year,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “Declines in the Present Situation Index, both in terms of business conditions and the labor market, appear to be moderating. The Expectations Index, which posted a significant gain this month, suggests better times may be ahead. However, overall readings are still quite low by historical standards and it is still too early to tell if the worst is behind us.”
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Aug
13
Posted by ally may
Here’s some good news for California home buyers and sellers from the California Department of Real Estate- California may be the first real estate market to hit bottom and start back to recovery. Recent economic developments indicate that California may be the first state to find the bottom, based on the increase in sales volume in the previous three months. In June, home sales rose for the third consecutive month, following a 30-month decline. Although approximately 40 percent of the transactions were foreclosure sales, the increase is allowing the market to stabilize by depleting some of the excess inventory. Some experts believe that once a neighborhood’s median home price declines to 50 percent from the peak value that the homes in that neighborhood will no longer depreciate.
What does this mean to the real estate consumer, it may just mean a quicker rebound here than elsewhere, happy news to most of the people I’m working with, both on buying sides and seller sides. The concern for most buyers is, will the property they buy today, be worth what they paid for it next month, and I think the answer is looking much more positivly like YES!
Although California leads the nation in foreclosures, the state’s foreclosure process is more efficient than other states. Foreclosed properties are receiving multiple bids and financial institutions are selling these homes quicker than the market would typically allow. Which means for sellers there will be less compition from this other inventory. The Unsold Inventory Index in June decreased to 7.7 months from 10.2 months a year earlier, demonstrating that the market is improving.
I’m asked almost everyday,”Is it a good time to buy?” and that answer in my opinion has been yes for a very long time. But now I think it’s starting to look like it may also be becoming a good time to sell.
