Adam Brett's Blog - All Things Real Estate in Fullerton and Beyond

2.38 Months To Sell All Homes Listed In O.C.

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:23:59 -0600

Based on Octobers home sales report a new market time report has been released. Market time is based

on home many months it would theoretically take to sell all the inventory in the local MLA for-sale listings at the current pace of home buying.

Two years ago it would have taken 13.31 months for buyers to purchase all available homes for sale but currently the market time is only 2.38 months.

Homes listed for under a million dollars have a significantly lower market time than homes asking for 7 figures. The market time for homes listed for under $1 million is 1.9 months compared to 8.8 months for homes listed for more than $1 million.

Number of Short Sales On The Rise

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:16:58 -0600

Throughout the county short sales - a sale of a home for less than is owed on its mortgage – are up.

The rise is shorts sales may help explain the increase in home transactions at a time when they are usually falling. Usually home sales decrease after August but this year the number of homes sold increased from August to September. Short sales often take longer to close so it may be sales from the summer are being carried over into September and October.

Short sales increased from 293 in January to 477 in September – a 63% increase in 9 months. Short sales are increasing while the number of distressed sales have been declining in the past year.

Number of Short Sales On The Rise

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:12:01 -0600

Throughout the county short sales - a sale of a home for less than is owed on its mortgage – are up.

Short sales increased from 293 in January to 477 in September – a 63% increase in 9 months. Short sales are increasing while the number of distressed sales have been declining in the past year.

O.C. Home Sales Up 2.3% Last Period

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:35:12 -0600

From mid-September to mid-October, 2,836 residences were purchased in Orange County – a 2.3% increase

from 2008.

September marked the 15^th straight month of sales gains vs. the year-ago period, which followed 33 consecutive months where sales failed to beat the previous year’s pace.

The average selling price of homes during this period was $430,000 which is a 2.4% increase from last year.

Single family homes are reselling for 33% less than their peak pricing while condos are currently selling for 35% below their peak in March 2006.

Local Homebuilder Has Productive Quarter

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:26:33 -0600

For the first time in three years local homebuilder Standard Pacific Homes came out of the red. They reported a

net loss of $23.8 million during the third quarter which was 94% smaller than the year before – although slightly bigger than the previous quarter.

Standard Pacific Homes revenues fell 18% in the July-September quarter due to a combination of a 9% drop in the company’s average sale price and fewer homes for the company to sell. Last quarter the average Standard Pacific Home sold for $302,000 compared to $332,000 the year before.

From a development standpoint sales were up from last year. The company averaged 2.2 home sales a month per development compared to 1.7 per development in 2008. Standard Pacific Homes was also able to able to pay down $348 million in short-term debt through a combination or stocks swaps and issuance of longer term notes.

Home-data Firm Predicts O.C. Home Prices To Rise 9.5% by August 2010

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:01:25 -0600

First American CoreLogic ( a Santa Ana based home-data firm) has come out with a report predicting

that O.C. home prices will be up 9.5% by August 2010. If this is becomes true, the median price of a home in O.C. would increase by $48,000 from the August 2009 median of $500,000.

First American expects the overall home prices in California to rise 7.9% in August and home prices nationwide to increase 4.6%. They projected March to be the month in which home prices hit bottom.

Many organizations are putting out their forecasts at the moment including UCLA, Cal State Fullerton and the California Association of Realtors – it will be interesting to see which one is the most accurate.

Beach Cities See Rise In Homes Sales

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:55:15 -0600

Last month 466 homes were sold in beach city ZIPs – which was a 21% increase from a year ago.

The median selling price was down 7.1% from a year ago coming in at $680,000 for the 17 beach city ZIPs.

Countywide sales were up 2% compared to a year ago and the median selling price was up 2% as well.

Throughout south inland ZIPs the median selling price was $486,250 out of 753 sales which was a 20% increase from a year ago. In the 24 ZIPs that make up Mid-county there were 841 homes sold at a median selling price of $354,750 which had a 10% drop in sales from last year.

Number of Homes For Sale Decrease By 57%

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:51:39 -0600

The number of homes listed for sale in Orange County continues to drop, decreasing by 174 listings

in the past 2 weeks. That is a 2% drop in 2 weeks! The number of listings available in Orange County as of Thursday was 7,749. The number of listings has dropped 39% from 2008 and 57% from its peak reached in 2007.

The housing market has not been this small since January 2006 when the slump was just getting started.

The current market conditions are great for sellers; properties are priced right and in great condition making the competition high and the number of homes on the market low.

Foreclosures Account For Only 4% Of Homes For Sale In O.C.

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:45:57 -0600

Based on the current sales pace it would take 21 days to sell all the bank-owned homes in Orange County

and competition is getting so rough that many homes are being sold for 3% over their asking price.

Less than 1 in 20 county’s 7,749 homes for sale were reposed homes taken by the banks through foreclosure. On the other hand, short sales – homes selling for less than their debts – made up 1 in 4 O.C. listings.

In all of Orange County there are currently only 314 foreclosed homes for sale – a decrease of 8 homes in the past 2 weeks. The number of short sales homes on the market has only decreased by one home over the past 2 weeks with 2,075 currently for sale.

Overall the number of distressed listings made up 30.8% of the total number of homes for sale in Orange County.

Borrowers Refi Lowers Many Mortgage Rates By 17% Or More

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:42:09 -0600

The first three quarters of this year marked the smallest total equity cashed out since 2000. The numbers

were adjusted based on inflation by the total equity cashed out so far in 2009 has been $60 billion.

Nationwide the share of refinance loans resulting in new mortgages that were 5% or more higher than the paid-off first mortgage balance fell to a six-year low of 36%.

The amount of interest-rate reduction in the U.S. since the beginning of the year adds up to about $3 billion in payment savings over the first 12 months of the new loan. Half of borrowers who refinanced a conventional loan lowered their annual mortgage interest rate by at least 17% as new interest rate was about 1.1 percentage points below the old rate.

In the first three quarters of 2009 interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have averaged 5.1 – the lowest in the 38-year history of Freddie Mac’s mortgage survey.

Fullerton’s 22nd Annual Veterans’ Day Parade

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:39:13 -0600

Veterans Day is a week away and once again Fullerton American Legion Post 142, Veterans of Foreign

Wars Post 11390 and Fullerton Emblem Club 469 will host the 22^nd Annual Fullerton Veterans’ Day Parade and Ceremony.

The Parade will be start at Fullerton’s Downtown Plaza at 10:30am and end at Hillcrest Park. Once the parade arrives at Hillcrest a ceremony will be held at the Veterans’ Memorial. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 11am.

All veterans are welcome to join the parade and march along side JROTC units from Fullerton, Troy, Sonora, La Habra and Buena Park high schools as well as the Senior ROTC unit from California State University at Fullerton.

If you wish to walk in the parade you are asked to arrive at the Downtown Plaza no earlier than 10am. You must be able to march in regular cadence for ¾ of a mile to participate in the parade.

More information about the festivities can be obtained by calling the American Legion at 714-871-2412.

Homebuilding In O.C. Rising Slowly

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:52:18 -0500

Homebuilding in Orange County is beginning to rise again. 126 single-family residence permits were issued

in Orange County in September – which was a 63.6% increase from August and a 14.5% from September 2008.

Overall the number of building permits issued in Orange County so far are down 10.6% from 2008. In the last nine months builders have received 955 houses compared to 1,068 in the first nine months of 2008. The biggest drop in permits had to do with multi-family units. In September builders took out a mere 17 multi-family unit permits, a 90.2% drop from last year.

San Diego County and the Inland Empire saw the number of permits increase as well.

Home Prices Are Rising In Spite Of The Economy

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:48:07 -0500

Home prices throughout Los Angeles and Orange County rose 1.6% in August marking the third month of

month-to-month gains. This month marks the longest of those streaks since September 2006.

Unfortunately local home prices are still falling at a rate of 12% per year, but that is the smallest annual rate of decline since November 2007.

O.C. Finance Jobs At 2-year Low

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:44:31 -0500

The real estate and finance market in Orange County has lost 1 out of 7 employees. In the month of September t

here was 202,500 Orange County residents working in finance – although that is 15,400 less people than last year it is also the smallest year over year loss in two years.

The construction industry in Orange County has been hit the hardest – they have lost 10,500 jobs this year alone.

Brokers Saw The Best September In 3 Years

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:37:42 -0500

Since the deadline for the homebuyer tax credit is right around the corner, revenue from broker-handled

deals increased last month to the highest level for a September in three years.

Broker transactions account for roughly 85% of all local home sales and generated $1.4 billion in Orange County in September. Broker transactions include home sellers, brokers and agents. Brokers handled 2,454 homes last month – the most homes for a September since 2005.

Overall revenue was up 12.3% from September 2008, when broker deals generated $1.2 billion. For the first time in 4 years revenue rose from August to September – this year rising $149 million.

O.C. Home Prices Increase For The 8th Month

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:21:02 -0500

The median home price of Orange County homes appears to be on track for this year’s eighth month of

increases. If October ends the way its expected to end it should also be the second month of year-over-year price increases after 24 months of price declines.

For the month of September the median price of an Orange County home was $432,000, up 2.9% from 2008. Overall home prices in Orange County are 33% below their peak.

In September O.C. shoppers purchased 2,980 residences , up 3.5% from last year’s buying activity. Nationwide home sales jumped a record 9.4% in September as new home buyers are trying to take advantage of the tax credit that ends next month.

First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit A Magnet For Fraudsters

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:16:44 -0500

The $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit has been a target for fraudulent claims. There have

been more then 90,000 fraudulent claims made including those made by former homeowners and children.

Eligibility for the tax credit issued by the Obama Administration extended to those who has not owned a primary residence in the last three years and earned less than $75,000 as an individual or $150,000 as a married couple.

The IRS has discovered 167 criminal schemes, opened 115 criminal investigation and has temporarily frozen more than 1110,000 refunds. They found that 582 supposed first-time home buyers were under the age of 18 and 73,7999 claims belonged to people who already owned a home.

Through late August more than 1.4 million claims have been made towards the tax credit.

Haunted Fullerton Walking Tour

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:08:33 -0500

If you are looking for something fun to do to get into the Halloween spirit why not go on the

Haunted Fullerton Walking Tour .

Fullerton is one of the oldest and most haunted cities in Orange County so why not take the tour and see where the ghosts are hiding. On the tour you will find out what businesses have pots and pans flying around when the lights shut off and which famous deceased Fullertonians like to make an appearance.

The tour lasts approximately 2 ½ hours and will cover 1.5 miles in the downtown Fullerton area. The tour begins at the Fullerton Museum Center and leaves at 6 pm. Call 714-738-6545 to make a reservation, the tour ends November 6^th.

Brea Is The Only O.C. City With Rent Increases

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:54:34 -0500

If you are looking for an affordable apartment look no further than Westminster.

The city had the county’s highest percentage of empty units and the greatest rent cuts. Rents in large apartment complexes dropped 9%, averaging $1,312 per month. Almost 11% of units in Westminster’s large apartment complexes are empty.

Mission Viejo and Irvine had the second and third biggest rent reductions. Summer rentals in Mission Viejo averaged $1,400 a month which was a 7.2% drop.

Irvine had the county’s second-highest vacancy rate at 8.5%. Irvine apartment owners cut rents by 7.1% to an average of $1,779 a month.

Rents went down last summer in 22 of 23 Orange County cities studied. Countywide the average rent was $1,523 over the summer, down 5% from the summer of 2008.

The only O.C. city studied to see rents increase was Brea. Brea’s average rent in a large apartment complex increased 3% to $1,469 a month.

Hardest O.C. City To Buy A Home?

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:48:30 -0500

According to the latest O.C. home inventory report, Aliso Viejo is the hottest market in terms of “market time.”

Theoretically all homes for sale in Aliso Viejo could be sold in 1.2 months at the current buying pace. It is the hardest place in Orange County to find a home to buy.

The O.C. city with the slowest market time is Corona Del Mar where – at the current pace – it would take 16.3 months to sell all for sale homes. It is currently considered the hardest place to sell a home.

Asking Prices Stay High, Demand Remains Low

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:43:26 -0500

The higher the asking price on houses in the current market conditions the longer it will stay on the

market. There has been some discrepancy between what sellers are asking for and where the market is currently at. This has caused an 85% ratio of the sale to original list price. The 15% price drop is what is needed in order to move the million-dollar homes.

Currently homes listed for more than $1 million dollars have a market time of 10.37 months. At the current pace it would take 2.48 for all homes for sale in Orange County to be purchased. Homes listed under a million dollars have a market time of 1.88 months.

O.C. Hotel Rooms Continue To Stay Empty

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:36:56 -0500

Summer was the perfect time for visitors to travel to Southern California. Not only is the weather

perfect but this year hotel room rates fell 16%.

Despite those incentives 25% of local hotel rooms went empty – compared to 19% a year ago. The countywide “revpar” score (which measures hotel cash-flow in regards to rates and occupancy) was down 22% for August.

Investors Are Purchasing More Foreclosed Homes

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:31:52 -0500

Last month in Orange County investors purchased 39% or 278 of 718 homes and condos sold at auctions.

Less properties are being returned to banks as lenders and loan servicers offer bigger discounts as high as 60% off debt owed on a first mortgage. Most homes seem to get a discount of 30% off debt owed.

Some investors are putting these homes on the market almost immediately, while others are choosing to rent them out temporarily while they wait for the market to rebound.

Sales of New Homes Rebounding In O.C.

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:20:39 -0500

After dropping to a record low in the winter, new-home sales have rebounded in Orange County. This could be the beginning of the recovery.

Due to the fact that resale homes are in less supply and are being picked off the market quickly, it may be in many homebuyers best interest to purchase a new home. Homebuyers know what to expect when they purchase a new home, rather than a foreclosure and many feel that if they ever want to purchase a new home now is the time since the market is down. This trend is primarily happening west of the 15 freeway though.

Builders are reaping the benefits – the number of contracts sold rose 42% from last year. It was the first year-over-year sales gain in the past six quarters. Net sales doubled from the first quarter of 2009 to the second, and then climbed 13% more last quarter.

O.C. Rents Fell 5% Since 2008

Adam Brett - Fullerton, California Realtor (RE/MAX NOC) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:40:46 -0500

Rents at large Orange County Apartment complexes have fallen 5% in the last year averaging $1,523.

That is a decrease of $80 a month and marks the fourth consecutive quarterly year-over-year drop. Nationally the average price of rent dropped 3.7%.

Vacancies fell from the second quarter by 1 full percentage point – the biggest drop in 7 years. The average vacancy at the Orange County complexes was 6.6%, compared to 5.3% a year ago.