Well the numbers are out and once again it's not great news for the Inland Empire. While numbers were cautiously positive across the country, including most areas of California, the Inland Empire lagged in both sales volume and median price. It's clear why our median prices continue to slide - the number of bank-owned properties coming on the market has continued at a strong pace and rumor has it we'll see another bubble of these homes hit us in May-June as the next wave of rate resets take their toll.
What's less clear is why our sales continue to lag even when the rest of the state and country seemed to have a better month (although you can't predicate any forecast on a single month of stats). In spite of attractive interest rates and a vast inventory of homes available at 2003 prices, I think people here are just scared that another shoe is going to drop. As quoted in the article which appeared today in The Press Enterprise, I am cautiously optimistic based on the number of sales Realtors in my office are putting on the board as well as my personal experience.
I am currently working with a first time buyer who is excited about the availability of FHA loans again in our market and the number of choices they have to look at. We've even had the experience of being up against multiple offers- in one case 11 offers in 2 days. These are all on bank-owned homes so there still isn't much relief for the average home seller out there - but it's a start. My other buyers are folks I've sold three or four homes for and to over the years, most recently a smaller home back when the market was headed up. At that time he purchased a 1,290 SqFt home for $316,000. Now that he's married again with kids, they have been looking at homes 2,800 to 3,500 SqFt for about the same price he paid for the small one 4 years ago.
Hope your markets are looking up this spring. Use your local media to get the positive message out.
Source: http://www.pe.com/business/local/stories/PE_Biz_D_homesales25.37381f0.html
Riverside and San Bernardino counties bucked the nation's and state's surges in sales of existing homes from January to February.
The California Association of Realtors reported a 7.4 percent month-to-month sales decline in the two-county region. February sales of existing Inland homes also declined 17 percent compared with a year earlier, and the median home price fell to $289,660, 27.2 percent lower than a year ago.
Steve Johnson, a director with MetroStudy, a Riverside-based real estate consulting firm, said he believes the Inland region did not share in the month-to-month sales gains in February because of a great reluctance among lenders to finance new mortgages in the area out of fear that prices will continue to tumble and foreclosures will continue to mount.
"They (lenders) think there is still softness in this market, and they are concerned about where the values are. So it is very hard to get loans finalized," Johnson said.
Still, Gene Wunderlich, president of the Southwest Riverside County Association of Realtors and a Coldwell Banker agent in Murrieta, said this month he has noticed an increase in home buying interest and in the number of homes going into escrow.
"Year-to-year numbers are down and the median price is down, but I think we are starting to see a little bit of relief out there," he said. "We are starting to see first-time buyers come back into the market because they don't want to miss the bottom before prices or interest rates start back up."
Nationally, sales of existing homes increased unexpectedly after six months of decline, but private economists say it is too soon to say the prolonged slide in housing is ending.
Gene Wunderlich - Selling Southwest California Homes including Temecula, Murrieta and the Southern California Wine Country.
Don't wait to buy real estate - Buy real estate and wait.
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