Market Trend Report 
There are currently 17 blog entries related to this category.
National and Santa Cruz Homes for Sale – Economists Predict Housing Shortage
Friday, March 19th, 2010 at 1:01am. 58 Views, 0 Comments.
As a real estate agent for Santa Cruz homes for sale, part of my job is keeping up with current real estate news. Most of the time, I’m largely unsurprised by the news that comes across my desk, but this little tidbit blew me away.
For two years now, we’ve seen mass foreclosures, people walking away from their underwater mortgages and warnings that there’s more to come. Foreclosure numbers reached all time highs, housing prices have reached all time lows and half the country is unemployed. It’s enough to make a homeowner with one of the Santa Cruz homes for sale have a mental breakdown.
However, in February, the news went out, flooring most in the real estate industry: severe shortage of property predicted by the middle of 2011. This may sound unbelievable. …
Santa Cruz Home for Sale – Are You Obsessing?
Friday, March 5th, 2010 at 1:01am. 41 Views, 0 Comments.
The national real estate market, state markets and city markets all seemed to be wrapped up in a nifty bundle that effect whether your Santa Cruz home for sale will have a buyer. With the news reports over the last two years about the pop of the housing bubble, homeowners everywhere essentially lost their minds.
Here are a few examples:
• Some homeowners panicked and immediately put their houses up for sale
• Some homeowners chose to walk away from it all, leaving their homes vacant and mortgages in default
• Some homeowners went into a flurry of home renovations, with the idea of selling
• National and Santa Cruz home for sale listings shot through the roof
The amazing thing isn’t that the real estate market seems to be stabilizing – that’s not the miracle.…
A Seller's Market?
Friday, February 26th, 2010 at 1:01am. 41 Views, 0 Comments.
A Seller’s Market? Hard to believe, but many homes drawing multiple offers again as listing shortages continue
My how things have changed in just one year! A year ago at this time, many homes were languishing on the market as buyers stayed on the sidelines, worrying about their jobs, the sharp decline in their 401k accounts, and whether housing prices would ever rise again. Today, many of those buyers have swallowed their fears and are out in force once again, spurred by an improving economy, a solid recovery in the financial markets, and federal home buyer tax credits that will expire this spring.
While no one claims the housing market is out of the woods yet, an unusual dynamic is occurring in many communities around the Bay Area: Despite the choppy…
Market Trend Report for December 2009
Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 4:36pm. 56 Views, 0 Comments.
Trends At a GlanceDec 2009Previous MonthYear-over YearMedian Price$560,000$550,000 (+1.8%)$450,000 (+24.4%)Average Price$607,159$626,278 (-3.1%)$527,657 (+15.1%)No. of Sales144141 (+2.1%)117 (+23.1%)Pending Properties221286 (-22.7%)154 (+43.5%)Active467553 (-15.6%)974 (-52.1%)Sale vs. List Price98.1%97.4% (+0.7%)96.3% (+1.9%)Days on Market7883 (-6.0%)74 (+4.6%) Median Home Price Ends Year at Highest Level Since August 2008The median price of single-family, re-sale homes in Santa Cruz County reached $560,000 in December, a gain of 24.4% compared to December 2008.
Home sales were up 23.1% year-over-year.
We expect sales to be strong through the Spring selling season because of the extension, and expansion, of the first-time home buyers tax credit of $8,000…
Pending Home Sales on a Record Roll
Thursday, September 24th, 2009 at 2:34pm. 105 Views, 0 Comments.
Contract activity for pending home sales has risen for six straight months, a pattern not seen in the history of the index since it began in 2001, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in July, increased 3.2 percent to 97.6 from a reading of 94.6 in June, and is 12.0 percent higher than July 2008 when it was 87.1. The index is at the highest level since June 2007 when it was 100.7.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the housing market momentum has clearly turned for the better. “The recovery is broad-based across many parts of the country. Housing affordability has been at record highs this year with the added stimulus of a first-time buyer tax credit,”…
Mortgage Rate Outlook
Thursday, September 24th, 2009 at 2:23pm. 100 Views, 0 Comments.
Sep. 4, 2009 -- Mortgage rates ended summer on a softer note, drifting back to late-spring levels. A pause (at least) in stock markets after a strong summer run saw some investors shift cash from equities into less-risky investments to lock in gains, driving influential Treasury yields lower.
The overall average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages revealed in HSH's Fixed-Rate Mortgage Indicator (FRMI) nudged downward, slipping seven basis points (.07%) to close the first week of September at 5.56%. The overall average for 5/1 Hybrid ARMs lost five basis points to landing at 4.87%. Conforming 30-year FRMs finished the period at 5.25%, a level last seen in late May.
Construction Spending fell by 0.2% in July, while outlays for commercial properties declined…
California Housing Affordability Inches Downward
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 10:27am. 89 Views, 0 Comments.
Housing affordability inched downward throughout the state during the second quarter of 2009 as a result of incremental price increases and increased demand sparked by the state new-homebuyer tax credit, the California Building Industry Association said today.
The quarterly National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index found that homes were less affordable in 16 of the state’s 28 metro areas included in the report.
On a statewide basis, the HOI found that a median-income family could have afforded 62.7% of the new and existing homes that were sold during the second quarter, down from 64.4% in the first quarter.
Robert Rivinius, CBIA’s President and CEO, said the decrease in affordability could signal the bottom of the market and…
The Real Estate Report
Monday, September 21st, 2009 at 4:24pm. 93 Views, 0 Comments.
Trends At a Glance
Aug 2009Previous MonthYear-over YearMedian Price$500,000$540,391 (-7.5%)$577,150 (-13.4%)Average Price$534,600$545,152 (-1.9%)$659,537 (-18.9%)No. of Sales162178 (-9.0%)157 (+3.2%)Pending Properties365278 (+31.3%)182 (+100.5%)Active723746 (-3.1%)1,271 (-43.1%)Sale vs. List Price98.5%97.3% (+1.3%)97.3% (+1.2%)Days on Market8571 (+20.4%)71 (+19.7%)Inventory Declines, While Pending Sales Continue to Rise
Inventory of single-family, re-sale homes fell for the thirteenth month in a row in August, and it is now down 43.1% year-over-year.Pending sales, meanwhile, climbed 31.3% from July, and were up 100.5% compared to August 2008.
The median price for single-family, re-sale homes lost 7.5% in August. Year-over-year, the median price was off…
Santa Cruz County Trends At a Glance - June 2009
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 3:44pm. 98 Views, 0 Comments.
Trends At a GlanceJun 2009Previous MonthYear-over YearMedian Price$522,258$470,000 (+11.1%)$605,000 (-13.7%)Average Price$571,824$508,121 (+12.5%)$683,464 (-16.3%)No. of Sales183139 (+31.7%)154 (+18.8%)Pending Properties261262 (-0.4%)196 (+33.2%)Active741746 (-0.7%)1,271 (-41.7%)Sale vs. List Price97.8%98.0% (-0.2%)97.7% (+0.1%)Days on Market8292 (-11.1%)90 (-9.3%)
