The Santa Clarita Valley market is definitly in a down market. You may not want to believe it, but the numbers don't lie. We entered 2007 with a lot of activity in the lower end housing. But when the large sub prime lenders started going bankrupt the low end activites dried up. I was hoping that first time buyers would still qualify with 3-5% down, but very few buyers are qualifying for new loans at all. According to my research March 2007 the SCV had 300 homes close escrow, in April 225 closings and May only had 236 closings. In May we had 724 new homes on the market, putting our inventory up to over 2200 properties. At this rate we have a present standing inventory of 10-11 months.
How does this affect our clients?
The GOOD news is for buyers! There are some really good deals to be found for people buying their first or moving up. This is the time to do it.
The BAD news is for sellers. We are in a buyer controlled market. If you want to sell you have to be the best house on the clock and the lowest price (even below market), and ready to deal with the buyers.
We are also seeing a huge influx of foreclosures hitting the market. This is does not help the inventory. On top of this it looks like interest rates are going to move up over the next 6 months to a year, so now is the time to get it sold.
This market is not going to go away quickly we should expect it to continue for the next two years.
Homes are still a very good investment and will continue to be. Homes are our greatest tax write off and they will still grow in value. If you need help in Real Estate, Investments or Property Management. Call us 661-702-1940!
Thanks,
Dave McKean
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