July 31, 2008

Economic Recession Vs. The Housing Market

As I suspected, my previous blog elicited many comments, some agreed, some did not. There were a few different areas that I wanted to go into, but wanted to remain focused and to the point. No tangents in this here blog. Later yesterday evening I went in to shoot Lary King Live and as luck would have it, they talked about the exact same thing that I wrote about. King had a full panel of experts that included Ben Stein, economic columnist for the New York Times Paul Krugman, CEO of 1-800-CashOffer, Jeremy Brandt, Author of “Girl Get Your Credit Straight,” Glinda Bridgforth and star of the Bravo television show “Flipping Out,” Jeff Lewis. As you can imagine, it was quite the heated discussion. All seemed to agree with what I wrote and many of your comments, some were even harsher than Mr. Leykis or Mr.Beck.

People are saying we are in a economic recession because of the housing crises…umm, no no no, we are in a housing crisis because of greed. Many are not aware or don’t realize or simply don’t want to admit that you can have a strong economy and have a bad housing market and vice-versa. It is possible that one can have nothing to do with the other. What is happening with the housing market was bound to happen regardless of how the economy is. It is a cyclical market and is going to experience ups and downs in both good and bad economic times.

A good example of this would be Orange County. An area that can boast of having one of the largest economies in the world, has experienced up to a 45% decrease in both sales and housing prices in some areas. For the entire county as a whole, sales are down 26% from this time last year and the median home price is down 23% from this time last year, according to Dqnews.com. To note: The 92649 area code of Huntington Beach has experienced a staggering 57% decrease in sales…OK, that just may be the recession

July 30, 2008

Foreclosures - Taking a Hard Look at Both Sides of the Issue

What’s happening with the foreclosure market has caused quite the mess in California and the nation at large. This misfortune of many folks losing their homes has spun the Federal Government into a “let’s save the people type of mode.” But here is something that is really scary, there are quite a few people out there that believe that these individuals in foreclosure should not be saved. Yes, as harsh as it sounds and is to some extent, many folks, particularly hard to the right conservatives, put the blame solely on the buyers. I have heard many conversations, seen several interviews and have read quite a few articles where people just aren’t buying into the whole predatory lending deal. “You should have read the fine print,” many have stated. I am not saying that I am one of these people. I do have sympathy for the massive amount of people that have lost their homes, but this blog is here to say there are those that don’t.

Glen Beck, of CNN Headline News is one of those people. “Using public money to help out a private situation is insane,” stated the host of his own radio and evening news show. For  people that understands government and the economy, they will find some level of truth to his statement. (Side note: He also feels that Barack is a Socialist, there is some level of truth to that as well.) Of course, Glen Beck is a right-wing type of fellow and thus his remarks are not too surprising. Never the less, his views are widely shared.

Tom Leykis, (small L Libertarian and registered independent) controversial radio talk show host of the “Tom Leykis Show,” is one of the most financially savvy individuals around (and a certified genius) and you could not pay him to give an ounce of sympathy for people who are losing their homes. “They’re all idiots, they should have paied a real estate lawyer to read over their contracts if they did not understand them.” The problem with this statement is that it is highly idealistic and does not take into consideration that real estate lawyers cost a pretty penny and the buyers may not have been able to afford one, especially during an already financially strapped time.

The whole issue boils down to greed on both sides of the fence. Hungry and greedy real estate agents and brokers not being 100% truthful to their clients. And the clients knowingly biting off more than they can chew. Better judgment should have been used by both parties as they made these real estate transactions, because now, in the end, everyone loses.

Now to our good friend, Mr. George W. Bush, who as of today signed into law a bill that aims to boost our struggling market and provide a fail-safe Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to CNNmoney.com. The bill is twofold: 1. To offer affordable government-backed mortgages to homeowners at risk of foreclosing on their homes. 2. To bolster Fannie and Freddie with a temporary rescue plan and a new more stringent regulator. Ironically, Bush promised to veto the bill as of last week, but decided to sign at the last minute. He still is opposed to one aspect of the bill though - giving aid to states to buy foreclosed property. Hmmm, go figure.

July 29, 2008

Shake Rattle and Roll - Past Sales in Newport Beach

I was just having a conversation the other day about how the two major natural disasters that Southern California has to deal with are fires and earthquakes. Well today we just experienced that latter and boy was it a shaker. I have lived in So Cal for most of my life, so quakes are nothing new to me. Although, I must say this one had me a tad bit concerned. I lived outside of the Los Angeles area for eight years and I often heard people say ” I could never live out there [California] too many earthquakes.” Of course, they have their own set of natural disasters to deal with, but found a way to justify a Nor’ Easter over a little ground movement. Hey, give me a little ground shaking any day over a hurricane. Ironically enough, the ground started to move just as I sat down to begin this blog, so I thought, hmm, why not find a way to incorporate that. When looking for a place to live in Southern Cali, there are many things to take into consideration, but the thing about earthquakes is that they can happen anywhere in the southland, so it makes it difficult to gage. Where as fires are more prone in certain areas. The 5.4 quake that was centered in Chino Hills will certainly do little to stop folks from buying in Southern California, especially the more desirable areas such as Newport Beach. The biggest effect that earthquakes have on the market is earthquake insurance, which is very expensive, but optional. There is no indication why people sold these homes in Newport Beach, but I have a strong hunch it was not because of the earth moving beneath them.

200 Paris Ln: sold for $583,000, 1 Bed, 1 Bath, 975 SQ. FT. Condo style/built in 1989

2418 Holly Ln: sold for $850,000, 3 Beds, 1.5 Baths, 1,179 SQ. FT. Residental style/built in 1954

2518 Margaret Dr: sold for $875,000, 4 Beds, 2 Baths, 1,701 SQ. FT. Residental style/built in 1954

2101 E. 15st: sold for $625,000, 3 Beds, 2.5 Baths, 1,596 SQ. FT. Condo style/built in 1990

35 Ocean Vista: solf for 1,047,500, 2 Beds, 2.5 Baths, 2,276 SQ. FT. Condo style/built in 1981

3605 W. Balboa: sold for 1,169,000, Beds and Baths not listed, 1,659 SQ. FT. Residential style 1959

610 Clubhouse Ave: sold for 1,190,000, 2 Beds, 2 Baths, 2,500 SQ. FT. Residential style/1972

547 Tustin Ave: sold for 985,000, 2 Beds, 1 Bath, 1,391 SQ. FT. Residential style/built in 1947

July 28, 2008

Vacancies Run Amuck - Past Sales in Huntington Beach

  Huntington Beach Pier

Past sales nationwide are looking a tad bit slow these days and Huntington Beach is no exception, with the average house in H.B. sitting on the market for 114 days, according to Altosresearch.com. The amount of vacant homes available for sale nationwide currently stands at 2.2 million, this has remained unchanged from last quarter, according to the Census Bureau. Not surprisingly, California is home to many of these vacancies. Dean Baker, co-director of the Center of Economic and Policy Research, says “The west has been hugely hit by the collapse of the California housing market, that’s ground zero of the meltdown.” These past sales provide some good insight into the H.B. market.

7351 Coho Dr: sold for $382,000, 2 Beds, 1 Bath, 873 SQ. FT.

9531 Flounder Dr: sold for $450,000, 3 Beds, 2 Baths, 1,176 SQ. FT.

8222 Katherine Dr: sold for $542,000, 3 Beds, 2 Baths, 1,009 SQ. FT.

8772 Grant Dr: Sold for $525,000, 3 Beds, 1.5 Baths, 1,010 SQ. FT.

9852 Argyle Dr: sold for $247,515, 3 Beds, 1.5 Baths, 1,100 SQ. FT.

19745 Keswick Ln: sold for $320,000, 3 Beds, 1 Bath, 1,120 SQ. FT.

19132 Tigerfish Cr: sold for $615,000, 2 Beds, 1 Baths, 896 SQ. FT.

19132 Bushard St: sold for 470,000, 3 Beds, 2 Baths, 1,176 SQ. FT.

8742 Lauder Cr: sold for $640,000, 4 Beds, 2.5 Baths, 1,624 SQ. FT.

July 25, 2008

It’s All About The Applications - Open House for Newport Beach

I watch quite a bit of news while I am at home during the day composing these blogs for you all to read. The most common reoccurring headline I hear is something negative to say about the real estate market. As difficult as it may be, I like to look at the glass half full, even in the middle of a real estate downfall. With mortgage applications down 6.2% according to Cnnmoney.com, obviously fewer people are looking for housing, but this could mean less competition for you. As cited from the trade group Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey, refinance applications have declined 5.6% and the purchase volume fell 6.7% on an adjusted basis. Refinance applications accounted for 3.9% of all applications, of course this means that more than a 1/3 of the applications were from people that already owned their home. Also, according to the association, the average interest rate for a traditional 30 year fixed loan to 6.59%. So what does all this mean for you? Well it’s simple, more leverage for you when you go in to purchase home. Take a look at some of these great abodes that Newport Beach is offering for open house.

454 Bolero Way: $479,000, 2 Beds, 2 Baths, 970 SQ. FT. Open this Saturday from 1 - 4

454 Vista Trucha: $845,000, 3 Beds, 3 Baths, 2,155 SQ. FT. Open this Sunday from 1 - 4

2311 Redlands Dr: $849,000, 3 Beds, 2 Baths,  1,571 SQ. FT. Open next Sunday from 1 - 4

511 Park Ave: $1,329,000, 3 Beds 2 Baths, 1,152 SQ. FT. Open this Sunday from 1 -4

1948 Santiago Dr: $2,249,0005, Beds, 4 Baths, 3,900 SQ. FT. Open next Saturday and Sunday from 1 - 4

204 Via San Remo: $2,395,000, 3 Beds, 4 Baths, 2,915 SQ. FT. Open this Sautrday and Sunday from 1 - 4

July 25, 2008

Bang For Your Buck Euro Style…Are You Kidding Me?

                              Vs.    

Just when you thought you have seen it all, this comes along and blows you away. According to the Los Angeles Times, a home in Southern California was recently priced as 2,486,398 euros. Now I know the dollar is weak, but come on now folks. The builder and co-owner, Joe Folender will also list the dollar price of $3,895,000. His objective is to attract foreign buyers looking for a bargain during America’s economic hard times. “The dollar is weaker, we are capitalizing on the strength of other currency, whatever works, said Folender.” According to the article the trend has not become huge across the country yet, but has been seen in New York as well. You gotta love California, we set the trend for all things, both good and bad. It is hard to say how far this will go and how many agents throughout the country will utilize this practice, but one thing is for sure, people will always be looking for a bargain - both foreign and domestic.

 Here are some bang for your buck homes in the Huntington Beach area - With no euro signs!!!

8275 Cherrywood Cr: $335,000, 3 Beds, 3.5 Baths, price per suare foot $264. This condo style residence was built in 1974 and has been on the market for 86 days.

18756 Roxbury Ln: $799,000, 4 Beds, 4Baths, price per square foot $307. This single family residence was built in 2005 and has been on the market for for 143 days.

7305 Arcadia Dr: $639,999, 3 Beds, 3 Baths, price per square foot $243.  This single family residence was built in 2005 and has been on the market for 24 days.  

18737 Sinclair Ln: $779,000, 3 Beds, 3 Baths, price per square foot $300. This single family residence was built in 2005 and has been on the market for 161 days.

409 E. Utica Ave: $313,219, 2Beds, 2 Baths, price per square foot $285.  This condo styly home was built in 1989 and has been on the market for 23 days.  

19912 Sheffield Ln: $318,753, 3 Beds, 2 Baths, price per square foot $290. This single family residence was built in 1963 and has been on the market for 45 days.

July 23, 2008

A Price slash here, A price slash there

The price of Newport Beach homes have been slashed considerably since this time last year, but has only seen marginal decreases in that past few months. Writing about price reductions in Newport Beach always presents a particular challenge of sorts. When a house is originally listed at 3.5 million and is reduced to 3.3 million, I am not quite for sure what to make of it. I assume that if someone only has 3.3 million to spend and not a penny more, then I guess that would be great news for them. Of course, how many people actually fit into that category? If you can afford 3.3 million certainly 3.5 million would be in your range as well. Another fun challenge about Newport Beach is that it totally throws off the curve when doing price comparisons with the rest of the country. Of course living there gives you benefits and amenities that are hard to find elsewhere. Below is a median home price and sales breakdown of each area code in Newport Beach, along with what it was at this exact same time last year.

                           CITY                      ZIP     MEDIAN    %CHG  SALE   %CHG          

Reduced homes in Newport Beach

16 Cape Andover: 5 Beds, 5 Baths, 4,180 SQ. FT. The list price was “$2,395,000″ and changed to “$2,095,000″

8 Ima Loa Ct: 4 Beds, 3 Baths, 1,909 SQ. FT. The list price was “$799,000″ and changed to “$750,000″

1000 Nottingham Rd: 4 Beds, 6 Baths, 5,400 SQ. FT. The list price was “$2,750,000″ and changed to “$2,599,000″

539 San Bernardino Ave: 3 Beds, 4 Baths, 2,000 SQ. FT. The list price was “$1,859,000″ and changed to “$1,775,000″

215 Dia Dijon: 3 Beds, 2 Beds, SQ. FT. not listed. The list price was “$1,585,000″ and changed to “$1,550,000″

July 23, 2008

Home Prices Taking a Cut in Huntington Beach

Things continue to look up for those wanting to buy a home. Home prices throughout the nation, California and Orange County continue to be cut. Home prices dropped 7.7% nationally, which took the median home price down to 196,300 according to Cnnmoney.com. Of course this is drastically different from the $818,593 median home price of Huntington Beach. As it has been stated before in my post, a large reason for these sharp declines is foreclosures. This is pretty much a given, but what is not so obvious is the fact that foreclosures have created a huge backlog of inventory, with a record high of 2.9 million unsold homes on the market nationally according to the census bureau. The decrease in home prices in Huntington Beach is certainly a reflection on what is going on in the rest of the country.

19251 Lookout Ln:  4 Beds, 3 Baths, 2,538 SQ. FTThe list price was “$820,000″ and changed to “$799,000″

19164 Chandon Ln: 4 Beds, 5 Baths, 3,215 SQ. FT. The list price was “$1,525,000″ and changed to “$1,495,000″

18900 Delaware St: 1 Bath, 1 Bath, 561 SQ. FT. The list price was “$118,900″ and changed to “$116,900″

9332 Nantucket Dr: 5 Beds, 2 Baths, The list price was “$699,999″ and changed to “$659,900″

19771 Estate Cr: 4 Beds, 5 Baths, $3,500 SQ. FT The list price was “$1,695,000″ and changed to “$1,575,000″

19311 Suray Ln: 2 Beds, 2 Baths, 1,225 SQ. FT. The list price was “$519,900″ and changed to “$499,000″

8152 Mainsail Dr: 1 Bed, 1 Bath, 881 SQ. FT.  The list price was “$359,888″ and changed to “$341,888″

19052 Oceanport: 1 Bed, 1 Bath, 725 SQ. FT. The list price was “$295,000″ and changed to “$285,000″

8202 Prestwick Cr: 4 Beds, 3 Baths, 2,494 SQ. FT. The list price was “$769,000″ and changed to “$699,000″

18812 Gregory Ln: 3 Beds, 2 Baths, 1,730 SQ. FT. The list price was “$899,000″ and changed to “$749,000″

1821 Park St: 6 Beds, 5 Baths, 3,500 SQ. FT. The list price was “$1,350,000″ and changed to “$1,299,000″

8432 Danbury Cr: 3 Beds, 2 Baths, 1,549 SQ. FT. The list price was “$730,000″ and changed to “$729,900″

July 18, 2008

Open Houses in Huntington Beach - We’re number 1

Coincidentally, my previous blog had a lot to do with numbers and rankings and as we take a look at Huntington Beach(Seal Beach was tied for #1 too), we see that it is number one in Orang County for pricing strength and sales according to the OC Register. The data is cited from Real Estate Economics of Irvine, they also gave the same ranking to both cities last quarter. Although H.B. is one of the highest priced communities in the country, it actually had an increase in resale volume from this same time last year. This great news may help to entice potential buyers who are looking to purchase an abode in H.B. Many of these open house listings prove the aforementioned data. With the ever-changing market, it will be interesting to see if Huntington Beach is able to retain its title for a third straight quarter. Happy Hunting my friends.

7821 Essex Dr: $375,000, 2 Beds, 2 Baths, 950 SQ. FT. Builit in 1985, this single level condo has underground parking.

606 Lake St: $539,000, 2 Beds, 3 Baths, 1,132 SQ. FT. Built in 1998, this condo is walking distance from the HB pier.

16512 Loire Cr: $589,900, 3 Beds, 2 Baths, 1,552 SQ. FT. Built in 1960, this single family home sits on a cul-de-sac, sellers are looking to get out quick because they are moving to Arizona.

 3221 Francois Dr: $675,000, 2 Beds, 3 Baths, 1,700 SQ. FT. Built in 1978, this single family residence is located close to Peters Landing Marina.

 7626 Park Bay Dr: $710, 000, 3 Beds, 3 Baths, 2,023 SQ. FT. Built in 1998, single family home has a gated pool and spa.

10072 Sprit Cr: $724,900, 3 Beds, 3 Baths, 1,815 SQ. FT. Built in 1967 and walking distance from the beach, this singel family home has a three car garage.

July 17, 2008

Newport Beach Never Looked So Good or Bad

Cnnmoney.com recently published a list of the 100 best places to live in America and guess what…Newport Beach isn’t on there. Are you surprised? Hmmm most likely not. Should it be on there? Well maybe, the question is quite subjective actually. There were only four cities in the state of California that made the list and only two were in Orange County - Fountain Valley and Irvine. When we take a look at the criteria for making the list, we quickly see why Newport Beach did not make the cut. The article took into consideration school systems, good jobs, low crime rate, an active outdoor culture and very affordable housing. Wait! Was that very affordable housing I heard? Well now we see the culprit and why Newport Beach was omitted. It certainly has all of the aforementioned qualities, but the price of the houses knocked it right of contention. If the article had been titled “100 Best Places to Live…For Those That Can Afford It”, I suspect that Newport Beach would have been in the top ten.

With a median home price of $2,066,438 (whew, it hurts just to type that) it is no shock that the coastline city did not make the cut. Still considered a buyer’s market, homes in Newport Beach have been on the market for approximately 110 days. The median price per square foot is $729. By the way, the winning city was Plymouth, MN, yes I know, it’s a far cry from Newport Beach.

 Home Sales and Demand Trends

 Homes for Sale

 Housing Market Conditions

 Price per Square Foot

 Real Estate Price Trends