by Scot Campbell – 2/7/2012 Homebuyers have been told there is a “shadow inventory” of foreclosed homes, so naturally they want to know “Where are they?” Alan Mallach, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, helps explain why more properties have NOT ended up on the market as foreclosure resales. Sometimes the owner cures the [...]
Feb
7
2012
7
2012
Feb
6
2012
6
2012
How’s the Market for Single Family Homes?
Huntington Beach Single Family Homes January 31, 2012 Update By Scot Campbell– February 6, 2012 Ground Hog Day is past and the unofficial beginning of the spring home buying season is upon us. So, will there be six more weeks of “housing market winter” or will spring be sprung early? You will be pleasantly surprised [...]
Feb
6
2012
6
2012
How’s the Market for Condos & Townhouses?
Huntington Beach Condo & Townhome Market Update January 31, 2012 By Scot Campbell– February 6, 2012 Ground Hog Day is past and the unofficial beginning of the spring home buying season is upon us. So, will there be six more weeks of “housing market winter” or will spring be sprung early? You will be pleasantly [...]
Feb
6
2012
6
2012
Real Estate Economics issues 2012 Forecast
Mark Boud of Real Estate Economics published their National 2012 Real Estate Market Forecast on January 30, 2012. Mr. Boud consults mostly merchant builders on market conditions so they may make better decisions on current and future building projects under consideration. Here is a summary of his research: There are strong signs of private employment [...]
Feb
6
2012
6
2012
Demand surges 24% in just two weeks.
It is time to get realistic for buyers looking to purchase a home in OC below $750,000. 02/04/2012 – Source: Steven Thomas – Quantitative Economics and Decision Sciences I talk to REALTORS® out in the trenches and they all say that most buyers that are new to the market are unrealistic in their expectations. Flip [...]
Feb
2
2012
2
2012
Record Low Mortgage Rates, O.C. Employers hire 24,600
Low mortgage rates and positive job growth are both highly correlated with a healthy housing market, so it was interesting to see today that mortgage interest rates hit another low and Orange County added a significant number of jobs in 2011 (the highest number of new jobs since 2006). Brian Lewis reported in Bloomberg today that [...]
Jan
26
2012
26
2012
California & O.C. Foreclosure Activity Drops
Source: Dataquick January 24, 2012 The number of California homes going into foreclosure dropped in the fourth quarter of 2011 to the second-lowest level in more than four years, the result of evolving lender and mortgage servicer policies as well as shifting market conditions. A total of 61,517 Notices of Default (NODs) were recorded at [...]
Jan
20
2012
20
2012
Socal Home Sales Surge in December 2011
Source: Dataquick – 01/17/2012 La Jolla, CA—Southern California home sales surged last month from November – as they normally do – amid relatively strong activity under $300,000 and a record share of sales to “absentee” buyers, mainly investors. But with the purchase plans of many ordinary buyers and sellers still on hold, the year-end rush [...]
Jan
20
2012
20
2012
California Home Sales rise 4.2% Year-over-year
Source: Dataquick – 01/20/2012 An estimated 37,734 new and resale houses and condos were sold statewide last month. That was up 15.5 percent from 32,669 in November, and up 4.2 percent from 36,215 for December 2010. California sales for the month of December have varied from a low of 25,585 in 2007 to a high [...]
Jan
17
2012
17
2012
Housing Skeptic becomes Housing Booster
Source: OC Register For many years, former UCLA economist & founding principle of Beacon Economics, Chris Thornberg was a housing bear, he had a decidedly negative outlook on housing… and he was right. In 2007, Thornberg told the O.C. Register that home buying was folly: “What’s the point of buying today when you can buy [...]