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…

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 Trends At a Glance Dec 2009 Previous Month Year-over Year
Median 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 Sales 144 141 (+2.1%) 117 (+23.1%)
Pending Properties 221 286 (-22.7%) 154 (+43.5%)
Active 467 553 (-15.6%) 974 (-52.1%)
Sale vs. List Price 98.1% 97.4% (+0.7%) 96.3% (+1.9%)
Days on Market 78 83 (-6.0%) 74 (+4.6%)
 
Median Home Price Ends Year at Highest Level Since August 2008
The 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…

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From national and Santa Cruz real estate to the U.S. economy, the predictions for 2010 are in.  Like any predictions, they vary from somewhat bright and cheery to doom and gloom:

CNBC’s Realty Check predicts:
• the beginning of a housing market recovery mid-year
• higher foreclosure inventory
• rising mortgage rates, probably leveling off around six percent.
• suffering commercial real estate

The National Association of REALTORS®’ (NAR) chief economist is projecting:
• A sustainable recovery.  The tax credit expansion will help to relieve extra housing supply through mid-2010.
• A rise in existing home sales.  The NAR is expecting existing home sales to rise as high as 5.69 million, even with continuing unemployment issues.  That's a 13.6 percent increase.

…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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Trends At a Glance

Aug 2009 Previous Month Year-over Year
Median 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 Sales 162 178 (-9.0%) 157 (+3.2%)
Pending Properties 365 278 (+31.3%) 182 (+100.5%)
Active 723 746 (-3.1%) 1,271 (-43.1%)
Sale vs. List Price 98.5% 97.3% (+1.3%) 97.3% (+1.2%)
Days on Market 85 71 (+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,…

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Trends At a Glance Jun 2009 Previous Month Year-over Year
Median 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 Sales 183 139 (+31.7%) 154 (+18.8%)
Pending Properties 261 262 (-0.4%) 196 (+33.2%)
Active 741 746 (-0.7%) 1,271 (-41.7%)
Sale vs. List Price 97.8% 98.0% (-0.2%) 97.7% (+0.1%)
Days on Market 82 92 (-11.1%) 90 (-9.3%)

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