Market Numbers as of March 3rd, 2008

•1.     Current Single Family Residential Listings in Bakersfield Metro total:  3411

•1.     Listings priced under 200000: 1410

•2.     Listings priced between 200K and 250K:   649

•3.     Listings priced between 250K and 300K:   492

•4.     Listings priced between 300K and 350K:   279

•5.     Listings priced between 350K and 400K:   207

•6.     Listings priced between 400K and 450K:   94

•7.     Listings priced between 450K and 500K:   109

•8.     Listings priced between 500K and 600K:   110

•9.     Listings priced between 600K and 700K:   49

•10.    Listings priced between 700K and 800K:   37

•11.    Listings priced between 800K and 900K:   15

•12.    Listings priced between 900K and 999K:   11

•13.   Listings priced over a million: 31

•2.   Sold listings Since Jan. 1^st 2008 total: 476

     3.  Sold listings in since February 3^rd, 2008:                     DOM

•1.     Sold listings priced under 200K:  67                    51                  

•2.     Sold listings priced between 200K and 250K: 45     65

•3.     Sold listings priced between 250K and 300K: 36 135

•4.     Sold listings priced between 300K and 350K: 24 56

•5.     Sold listings priced between 350K and 400K: 8  82

•6.     Sold listings priced between 400K and 450K: 3  40

•7.     Sold listings priced between 450K and 500K: 12 49

•8.     Sold listings priced between 500K and 600K: 4  56

•9.     Sold listings priced between 600K and 700K: 1  26

•10.   Sold listings priced between 700K and 800K: 3  178

•11.   Sold listings priced between 800K and 900K: 0  0

•12.    Sold listings priced between 900K and 999K: 0  0

•13.    Sold listings priced over 1 million:   1                 142  

•3.     Actives per area             / Solds per area since February 3rd, 2008

•1.     Area 10       145    /         8       

•2.     Area 21       114    /         3

•3.     Area 22       89      /         9

•4.     Area 23       23      /         0

•5.     Area 31       131    /         4

•6.     Area 32       303    /         9

•7.     Area 33       90      /         5

•8.     Area 34       46      /         4

•9.     Area 41       96      /         2

•10.   Area 42       139    /         3

•11.   Area 43       14      /         1

•12.   Area 51       442    /         15

•13.    Area 52       732    /         37

•14.   Area 53       347    /         35

•15.   Area 54       4        /         0

•16.    Area 61       76      /         5

•17.    Area 62       452    /         43

•18.    Area 63       159    /         11

•19.     Area 64       16      /         1

•20.     Area 96       149    /         3

•4.     Short Sales: 829

•1.     Short sales under 200K: 415

•2.     Short sales priced between 200K and 300K: 291

•3.     Short sales priced between 300K and 400K:  93

•4.     Short sales priced between 400K and 500K:  28

•5.     Short sales priced between 500K and 600K:  6

•6.     Short sales priced over 600K:  8

•7.     Short Sales sold in last month: 13

•5.     Bank Owned Properties Currently listed: 791

•1.     Priced under 200K: 495

•2.     Priced between 200K and 300K:  214

•3.     Priced between 300K and 400K:  64  

•4.     Priced between 400K and 500K:  12

•5.     Priced between 500K and 600K:  4

•6.     Priced over 600K:  4

•6.     Bank Owned properties Sold since February 3rd, 2008 : 97

                                                                           AVE. DOM

•1.     Properties sold under 200K:  48                 50                                  

•2.     Properties sold between 200K and 300K: 34                56

•3.     Properties sold between 300K and 400K: 11                30

•4.     Properties sold between 400K and 500K:  5                  46

•5.     Properties sold between 500K and 600K:  0                 0

•6.     Properties sold over 600K: 0

•7.     Bank owned properties pending: 462

•7.      Single Family Homes sold since Jan. 1^st. 2008:

•1.     3757 homes sold in 2007

•2.     6006  homes sold in 2006

•3.     4351 homes sold in the 2005

•4.     422 homes sold in the last 2 months

•5.     735  homes sold in the last 3 months

•6.     334  REO sold in last 3 months

•7.     867  homes pending

•8.     Days on Market Statistics for January 2008

•1.     1-30 days:     97 homes

•2.     31-60 days:  58  homes

•3.     61-90 days:  47 homes

•4.     91-120 days:  20 homes

•5.     121-180 days:  19 homes

•6.     180+ days:   7        

•7.     AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET: 62

•9.     January Resale Stats:

•1.     Total units sold:  258

•2.     AVERAGE price for: $230,377

By Larry Baer, Market Alert

Commentary:    The biggest story of the day is not the mortgage market friendly data contained in this morning's February Nonfarm Payroll figures -- but rather the announcement from the Federal Reserve that they plan to pour tons more money into the short-term credit markets in an effort to ease persistent liquidity strains at financial institutions.

The Fed announced a boost in funding for its term auctions to $100 billion and said it would start a series of term repurchase transactions.  The "so what" factor here is that these two measures have likely put an end to the forced liquidation of mortgage-backed securities by a number of financial institutions.  It was the desperate scramble for liquidity by these institutions that was the primary culprit behind skyrocketing mortgage interest rates over the past four days.

The news from the Labor Department showing that employers cut 63,000 jobs in February had most of its "thunder" stolen by the earlier Fed action.  Mortgage investors were relieved to find that average hourly earnings posted a non-inflationary gain of 0.3%.  Revisions that showed January's job loss was actually 22,000 instead of the 17,000 originally reported and 50% reduction in the original December headline payroll number to a gain of 41,000 instead of the previously reported 82,000 were welcomed by investors as well.  The back-to-back January and February job losses were the first consecutive monthly declines since May and June of 2003.

Looking ahead to next week investors will closely eye Thursday's February Retail Sales numbers and Friday's February Consumer Price Index.  Both reports are expected to be mortgage market friendly - confirming the majority of analysts' assessment that the economy is now in the early stages of a recession.  It is also at least worth noting that Uncle Sam will enter the credit markets Wednesday afternoon looking to borrow $8 billion in the form of 10-year notes. The probabilities are high that the 10-year note auction will have little, if any noticeable impact on the trend trajectory of mortgage interest rates. 

THE MARKET IS ALWAYS RIGHT! . YOU AND I ARE SOME OF THE TIME

Market Numbers as of February 11th, 2008

1.     Current Single Family Residential Listings in Bakersfield Metro total:  3518

1.     Listings priced under 200000: 1366

•2.     Listings priced between 200K and 250K:   707

•3.     Listings priced between 250K and 300K:   526

•4.     Listings priced between 300K and 350K:   316

•5.     Listings priced between 350K and 400K:   226

•6.     Listings priced between 400K and 450K:   105

•7.     Listings priced between 450K and 500K:   121

•8.     Listings priced between 500K and 600K:   107

•9.     Listings priced between 600K and 700K:   49

•10.   Listings priced between 700K and 800K:   39

•11.   Listings priced between 800K and 900K:   18

•12.   Listings priced between 900K and 999K:   13

•13.  Listings priced over a million: 29

•2.   Sold listings Since Jan. 1^st 2008 total: 286

3.  Sold listings in since January 11th, 2008:                             DOM

•1.     Sold listings priced under 200K:  83                           62                      

•2.     Sold listings priced between 200K and 250K: 57          70

•3.     Sold listings priced between 250K and 300K: 30         147

•4.     Sold listings priced between 300K and 350K: 15          56

•5.     Sold listings priced between 350K and 400K: 14          94

•6.     Sold listings priced between 400K and 450K: 14         108

•7.     Sold listings priced between 450K and 500K: 6            97

•8.     Sold listings priced between 500K and 600K: 2             79

•9.     Sold listings priced between 600K and 700K: 0             0

•10.   Sold listings priced between 700K and 800K: 2            71

•11.   Sold listings priced between 800K and 900K: 0            0

•12.   Sold listings priced between 900K and 999K: 0            0

•13.  Sold listings priced over 1 million: 0                            0

•3.     Actives per area    / Solds per area since January 11th, 2008

•1.     Area 10    155      /         4       

•2.     Area 21    124      /         4

•3.     Area 22    94        /         12

•4.     Area 23    14        /         0

•5.     Area 31    133      /         6

•6.     Area 32    309      /         17

•7.     Area 33    85        /         3

•8.     Area 34    41        /         4

•9.     Area 41   104       /         5

•10.   Area 42   139       /         3

•11.   Area 43   15         /         0

•12.   Area 51   463       /         19

•13.   Area 52   731       /         44

•14.   Area 53   381       /         20

•15.   Area 54   4           /         1

•16.  Area 61   82          /         9

•17.  Area 62  467        /         43

•18. Area 63  165        /         20

•19. Area 64  15          /         1

•1.     Short Sales: 796

•1.     Short sales under 200K: 360

•2.     Short sales priced between 200K and 300K:  298

•3.     Short sales priced between 300K and 400K:  102

•4.     Short sales priced between 400K and 500K:  35

•5.     Short sales priced between 500K and 600K:  9

•6.     Short sales priced over 600K:  12

•7.     Short Sales sold in last month: 8

•2.     Bank Owned Properties Currently listed: 827

•1.     Priced under 200K: 496

•2.     Priced between 200K and 300K:  227

•3.     Priced between 300K and 400K:  77

•4.     Priced between 400K and 500K:  20

•5.     Priced between 500K and 600K:  7

•6.     Priced over 600K:  4

3.     Bank Owned properties Sold since January 11^th, 2008 : 112

                                                                           AVE. DOM

•1.     Properties sold under 200K:  52                                 62              

•2.     Properties sold between 200K and 300K: 29                65

•3.     Properties sold between 300K and 400K: 8                  31

•4.     Properties sold between 400K and 500K: 5                  88     

•5.     Properties sold between 500K and 600K: 1                  99

•6.     Properties sold over 600K: 0

•7.     Bank owned properties pending: 331

•4.      Single Family Homes sold since Jan. 1^st. 2008: 286

•1.     3757 homes sold in 2007

•2.     6006  homes sold in 2006

•3.      4351 homes sold in the 2005

•4.     496 homes sold in the last 2 months

•5.      722  homes sold in the last 3 months

•6.      300 REO sold in last 3 months

•7.      667 homes pending

•5.     Days on Market Statistics for December 2008

•1.     1-30 days:     102  homes

•2.     31-60 days:   74 homes

•3.     61-90 days:   60 homes

•4.     91-120 days:  37 homes

•5.     121-180 days:  42 homes

•6.     180+ days: 21         

•7.     AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET: 72

•6.     December Resale Stats:

•1.     Total units sold: 336

•2.     AVERAGE price for: $258490

Keller Williams hires nearly 50 agents in Bakersfield

BY VANESSA GREGORY, Californian staff writer
e-mail: vgregory@bakersfield.com | Tuesday, Dec 4 2007 8:40 PM

Last Updated: Tuesday, Dec 4 2007 8:42 PM

Amid an atmosphere of mergers and layoffs, a fast-growing commercial and residential real estate firm is ignoring the bleak pundits, and placing a bet on Bakersfield

A local representative of Keller Williams Realty Inc. has hired nearly 50 agents, with plans to employ 310 within four years, Bakersfield CEO David Culen said Tuesday.

Culen expects the firm to finalize its franchise agreement within days. "We feel that it's a great time to open up a real estate firm in Bakersfield," Culen said. "Our business model was created in the 1983 oil bust in Austin, Texas."

That meant the company's systems evolved to thrive in a down market, he said.

Recruiting, at least, may be easier in a slow market, when restless agents have the time and the motivation to examine their career options.

"To come in (during) a busy market, agents would be so busy that they couldn't even think about moving," residential agent Denise Wigley said.

A 10-year veteran of Bakersfield's real estate business, Wigley left Watson-Touchstone Real Estate in Bakersfield, lured by a Keller Williams corporate culture she described as transparent and agent-oriented.

Agents can vote on business matters and review the financial books, she said.

In a nod to the firm's egalitarian aspirations, CEOs like Culen are called "team leaders."

But Keller Williams' decision to wade into today's glum market struck Brian Wiley, a financial and economic radio commentator, as a very bold move.

"I can't even imagine it, to be honest with you," said Wiley, who hosts "Moneywise" on Kern News Talk 1410.

"What in the world could their business plan be?" he asked.

Company literature suggests the business plan rests, in part, on giving agents a hefty bulk of control.

"It's an agent-run company," said agent Susan Ford, who also left Watson-Touchstone to join Keller Williams.

"The agents vote and make the decisions."

They also own their property listings, rather than ceding them to a broker's control, she said.

This could prove a challenge to other brokerages, she said.

Agent Jon Busby, who co-owns Bakersfield Premier Realty, shrugged off the new competition.

"Honestly, the people that produce -- it's not going to affect them a bit," Busby said.

"Personally, I think it's good, because it keeps everybody sharp," he said.