Market Report for West Side of Murrieta -  Homes for Sale 12-2012

The West Side of Murrieta's homes for sale are an eclectic mix of neighborhoods, but locals differentiate between this large area and other sections of Murrieta.  In part, it may be because the homes are connected to Murrieta Valley High School.  Mostly, I think it's that the homes are in proximity to the Santa Rosa Plateau to the west, which gives some beautiful views and also afternoon breezes that come east, usually, off the Plateau.

Here's the area on a map:

You can click the map to search homes on Murrieta's West Side.

These neighborhoods include:

• Bear Creek - many estate homes on a lovely golf course
• Copper Canyon - lovely tract homes surrounding the wonderful Cole Canyon Elementary School.
• Countryside/Creekside - wonder tracts of about 350 homes just to the south of MVHS
• Historic Old Town Murrieta - an eclectic mix of traditional, single construction homes, manufactured homes on permanent foundation, etc.
• La Cresta -- lots of estates and ranch or horse property
• The Ranchos, off Washington & Santa Fe near MVHS
• The West Side of Murrieta, and some of the house you see just to the east of the 15 fwy -- ask the school district what schools apply.
• Most of the 92562 Zip Code

As of December 2012, the grip of the Short Sale seems to be lessening across this larger area of Murrieta.

A Short Sale is where the owner has to ask his lender to take less than - "short of" - what is owed on the loan, usually trying to show a hardship forces the sale.  These transactions take longer than standard sales or bank-owned (i.e., real estate owned, or REO) sales.

If you'd like a free consultation with a local, experienced real estate broker, you may want to call my husband, Frank at 951-326-7330.  He is a real estate agent and also retired military, which gives him a lot of insight and experience as frequently, if you are not military yourself, the party across the table from you is.  You may also email Frank.  

Market Report for Murrieta West Side Homes for Sale - July 2012

The neighborhoods west of the 15 freeway in Murrieta, CA, are an eclectic mix of lovely tracts of single family and also townhomes, mini-mansions, one-twos manufactured or stick-built homes and even ranches.  It's grouped together by local residents as "the West Side" due to location and access to the same amenities: while elementary schools are several, the homes are mostly connected to Thompson Middle School and Murrieta Valley High School, though some make the choice to go to Murrieta Mesa High School just across the freeway at Los Alamos.  It surrounds Old Town Murrieta, and gives easy access to freeways for commuting via Clinton Keith, Kalmia/Cal Oaks and Murrieta Hot Springs onramps to the 15 freeway, as well as being within 10 to 15 minutes of amenities such as restaurants and shopping throughout Murrieta and in Temecula just to the south.

Market Report for Murrieta West Side Homes for Sale and Real Estate as of 6-2012, including communities on the West Side of the 15 freeway such as:

• Tenaja,
• Bear Creek,
• Copper Canyon,
• The Murrieta Ranchos,
• The Vineyard at Bremerton,
• Creekside,
• Old Town Murrieta near Murrieta Elementary School.

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What do these numbers mean?  The first one that jumps out is the high number of Pending home sales, compared to the Active and Sold.  This is an effect created by Short Sales.  In a Short Sale, a homeseller owes more on the home than it can fetch in the current market, so the seller has to ask his lender to take "short" of what is owed.  The Short Sale process requires lots of financial documentation from the seller showing a hardship, and the banks are swamped, so the result is that these transactions take a long time from when they are started.  To do a Short Sale, the homeseller is well served to find a buyer who's willing to buy the home if the short sale succeeds, so that the Short Sale bank has an offer in front of it when it finally gets to the file.  Having a buyer under contract on the home with a long wait time is what causes the Pending number to be high, and what tells us that this is a heavy Short Sale market.

The good news for buyers is that buyers have options in this real estate market in Murrieta's West Side, and surrounding areas:

• Have an agent who knows how to protect them from being "stuck" on a single Short Sale home; 
• Catch a Short Sale home when an earlier buyer has given up and moved on, and the Short Sale bank finally approves the sale; 
• Have the buyer's loan submitted and approved during the Short Sale wait; 
• Focus on bank-owned and standard sales and Short Sales that are well along in the process, etc.

To search homes for sale in Murrieta's West Side, you can:

1.  Go to Sand to Sea Properties' website and search with NO LOGIN,

2.  Go to Sand to Sea Properties' website and search with higher functionality, the ability to log in and save searches, etc.

3.  Fill out a form and HAVE US FIND HOMES.

4.  See the map search feature below. 

Homes for Sale in Murrieta 92562 - July 2011

Do you just want to look at homes for sale in the 92562 zip code?  It can be hard to find a search feature that limits your search to the 92562.  The above search is a map search that gets as targeted as possible in showing only homes in the 92562, and yet it is not perfect.  As with researching any home search, you should do your homework to make sure the home fits your criteria, including whether it technically is a home for sale in the zip code 92562.

Other investigations you should undertake include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Megan's law search for proximity of predators (remember, even this database is only 75% accurate, I've heard).
2. Drive-bys at different times of day.  Who is around? What is traffic like?  Do you feel comfortable?
3. Location of the sun at different times of the day for that 92562 home for sale.  How does this affect your perception of the backyard?  Is the pool shaded all afternoon?  Does the sun heat the back of the house throught the afternoon (hello, AC bill)..
4. Distance to the schools your child will attend.  Does it matter to you whether a child can he or she walk home if need be?  
5. Distance to shopping and restaurants.  Do you want to be able to walk to Starbucks?  Have walking trails in the community?
6. Your perceptions of the neighbors.  Talk to people.  Chat about what they like and don't like about the street, neighborhood, city, commute.  Do you feel comfortable around these people as neighbors?

Ivestigate, investigate, investigate.  Once you've bought a home, you can remodel everything about it, except moving it from the spot where it sits.  Make sure you're comfortable there, and, ideally, love it.

Here's a list of some neighborhoods you might want to consider rather than the broader search for homes for sale in 92562's zip code:

Amberwalk condos for sale - community pool, gated, views of the Murrieta city amphitheater and Santa Rosa Plateau.

Bear Creek homes and detached condos in the gated, coveted golf and tennis community that perches to the northwest hills of Murrieta.

Copper Canyon homes for sale - pool homes, view homes, all with the awarding winning Cole Canyon Elementary school ranked 10 on a scale of 10.

Murrieta Ranchos - large semi-custom ranch-style homes on large lots with pools and views to the Santa Rosa Plateau, around the corner from Murrieta Valley High School and Thompson Middle School.

Creekside - lovely homes on quiet, tree-lined streets just about a half mile south of Murrieta Valley High School.  Many of these homes have pools, views, and closer proximity to Murrieta Elementary School (about a mile away).

Greer Ranch - gated community with community pool, many homes with views as the hills are terraced with homes, extensive HOA amenities and proximity to Vista Murrieta High School and the 215 freeway.

Video of Murrieta Bank-Owned Pool Home

Amenities of this neighborhood and this home:

• Quiet, tree-lined streets with sidewalks,
• Large, open floor plan, over 3600 sq ft,
• Granite counters in kitchen,
• Wooden and wrought-iron staircase,
• Bedroom and office downstairs,
• Pool has jacuzzi and waterfall,
• Views unobstructed of the Santa Rosa Plateau to the west,
• On a cul-de-sac,
• Half mile to Thompson Middle School,
• 3/4 mile to Murrieta Valley High School,

Keep in mind, we do not have this listing.  I would love to have it, since it is so close to where I live and work, but for now I will be waiting for it to come on the market, for it to have signs in the yard and for it to be open for offers from my clients who want a Murrieta bank-owned pool home with views on a cul-de-sac and are ready for a fixer-upper as far as the back yard goes.  I have not recently seen the inside, but it was highly upgraded before going through the foreclosure process. 

Here is video of a well-maintained pool in the same neighborhood (also not currently listed, but audio has some more information on the Murrieta pool homes in the Vineyard, and it's a lovely pool:

Market Report for Murrieta's West Side, August 2010

Here are my market reports since March 2010 and now in August 2010 in the Murrieta's West side community, with analysis to follow:

The market for homes for sale in Murrieta's West Side appears to reflect what the overall housing market has done:

• In May, homes Pending sale increased as buyers were looking to take advantage of the Federal Homebuyer tax credit. Our personal experience with our brokerage's many buyers in that Spring 2010 time frame, too, was that the clients saw the value of purchasing a home at monthly costs lower than renting. So for our clients, the Federal Tax Credit was just an added bonus to doing what they already thought was the smart financial move for them. Similarly on the west side of Murrieta, there was a clear spike in purchases, with buyers trying to get into contract by April 30 or close by June 30 (the original Fed Tax credit deadline). 

• The higher number of Pendings in the market for West Side Murrieta homes over these months relates to Short Sale activity, where buyers are stuck waiting for the bank that holds the seller's note to approve a sale price at far less than the seller owes.  This can take from 2 to 6 months to play out. That means there were a lot of Murrieta West Side homes that went Pending in April and showing as Pending in May, June, July, and August when they finally closed, keeping the Pending figure for Murrieta homes looking like there are lots of homes going into escrow, when in fact, they were sitting for months as "Pending" while waiting on the short sale bank's approval. 

• It therefore appears the Murrieta West Side market was bought into by people at risk of having the home later go to short sale, due to factors of Bubble-high pricing, appraisals including homes that sold as "kited" prices (buyers offering a lot OVER the list price and getting appraisers to go along, falsely lifting market prices) as well as, of course, the Non-traditional loan products that were foisted on some buyers. The markets in Murrieta and Temecula that had far more Short Sales are typically the tracts with master-developed floorplans and on similar-sized lots.

• Timing of a buyer's offer on short sale homes in Murrieta's West Side is very important in this market. In Short Sales, the home stays on the market as Pending while the buyer with the first accepted offer gets anxious to be moved into a new home, and in fact the seller's bank allows the short sale approval deadline in the buyer's Short Sale Addendum to pass. This frees the buyer to move on and go ahead on offers on homes that might allow for a quicker close date. At that point, the home is much closer to an approval on the short sale.  Then, a buyer who comes into the market at this later time has a good chance to get their offer to the front of the line and buy a short sale home in the market Murrieta's West Side while waiting much less time than an original offeror would have had to wait.

We are helping our clients in this market, trying to keep the wait as short as possible to get into a Murrieta West Side home. Clients should consider both the speed of getting into the home, and the ease or difficulty of selling at some point down the road. Analyzing the market report for the West Side of Murrieta and surrounding areas helps prepared you ahead of time in making these decisions.

You can search Murrieta homes for sale at our website. Or you can have us set up an automated search through the MLS that emails you West Side Murrieta homes - or any other geographically-determined area here - as soon as they hit the market. We would be happy to help.

Market Report Homes for Sale West Side of Murrieta

It's a great place to live!