A San Diego Housing Turnaround or More Gradual Decline
San Diego housing market news
Are the last few months of San Diego’s rising sales and modest monthly improvement in median prices the long awaited housing bottom? Who can really say if it is, with any certainty? Keep in mind, since the San Diego housing market peak in the summer of 2005, any upword blip or new year forecast has been hyped as the return to real estate Nirvana.
San Diego & California unemployment is still increasing, a large number of adjustable rate loans are due to reset in the next several months and California State taxes have just had the largest hike in history.In addition, and a major factor, if there is true improvement in the economy, interest rates have to rise. Rising mortgage rates are always a depression on real estate activity.
It appears as though we may see a continued, yet much more gradual decline in housing prices. The deflation experienced by falling housing prices will be offset by the rise in commodity prices and the costs of all other goods that aren’t big-ticket items, aka inflation. In other words, every other product that doesn’t have a stimulus (cash for _______) associated with it.
This is how the administration is going to keep the promise to not directly raise taxes on the middle class. Instead, there will be a more insidious tax that affects everyone equally—higher inflation and higher cost of goods.
San Diego monthly events
San Diego Condominium Sale Prices
San Diego real estate median sales prices in July for condominiums.
The San Diego home price data was derived from data published by the San Diego Union Tribune and the graphs were produced by www.websitetrafficbuilders.com
San Diego condominium prices
San Diego condo prices - East County
San Diego condo prices - North County
San Diego MLS listings
San Diego Home Sale Prices
San Diego real estate median sales prices in July for single family homes.
The San Diego home price data was derived from data published by the San Diego Union Tribune and the graphs were produced by www.websitetrafficbuilders.com
San Diego home prices
San Diego East County Home Prices
North County San Diego Home Prices
San Diego home prices South Bay
San Diego real estate news
New Home Sales Jump 9.6%
San Diego new home sales
According to government data released today, US new home sales increased 9.6% in July vs June. Sales of new single-family homes rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000.
Nonetheless, the July sales figure was 13.4% below the sales pace of a year ago, and gains came amid price cuts. Also, the median sales price of new houses sold in July 2009 was 210,100 dollars, down slightly from 210,400 in June and 11 percent below last year’s median price.
The average sales price of 269,200 dollars was down 2.7 percent from a month earlier and off 10 percent from a year earlier.
Also, in a report by The Mortgage Bankers Association, it was shown that U.S. mortgage applications rose for a second straight week, with demand for home refinancing loans rising to its highest level since early June.
Applications for loans to buy a home, an early indicator of sales, rose slightly, but nevertheless gained for a fourth consecutive week. The seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, for the week ended Aug 21 increased 7.5 percent.
Los Angeles real estate
Are Real Estate Agents Ripping-off Their Own Clients?
real estate fees
With over three decades of real estate experience, I have a perhaps old fashioned perspective on the real estate business. Personally, I’ve never used a transaction coordinator. I’m a hands-on broker who feels that if you want to ensure something gets done right, you should do it yourself. With that said, I can see the benefit of using a TC especially for very busy agents, as well as new agents who may not be fully aware of the required timelines and forms required to ensure a timely close.
To me, it’s always been the broker’s duty and responsibility to not only negotiate the sale, but to ensure the escrow runs in a timely manner. If you delegate part of your responsibilities to a pseudo-employee, it only seems reasonable that you should pay for this service. After all, you cannot delegate away the responsibility for insuring the quality of the work by the TC.
Oddly, the majority of brokerages think the TC cost is something that should be paid for by the client. If this is properly disclosed in the listing agreement or in the buyer’s representation agreement, technically there is nothing wrong with it. Recently I noticed these fees have been escalating to $500-$600 and more per transaction side and I feel a little uneasy.
I’m not foolish enough to think that I can buck what is now an industry standard, but I use my refusal to charge my clients for a TC, to my advantage. The majority of my brokerage business is listing properties. In my listing presentation I point out that I prefer to oversee the details of the transaction myself. I won’t charge them for a TC and I won’t off load my responsibilities to someone else.
San Diego monthly events
Home Prices Move up 3% in Second Quarter
San Diego home
Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller’s national home price index increased almost 3 percent to 133 during the second quarter, compared to the first quarter — though it remains 15 percent lower than second-quarter 2008. National home prices are down about 30 percent from their peak in 2003.
Even with this better-than-expected report, all of the 20 cities in the index are lower than a year ago. Still, it’s too early to celebrate … with about 5.5% of all home mortgages seriously delinquent in their monthly payments.