Tag Archives: California

Redwood City Real Estate Market

Posted on June 11, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment
Electronic Arts, Redwood City, California, USA
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A suburban community in the San Francisco Bay area, Redwood City, California, lies in San Mateo County and has a population of more than 80,000. The community’s residents are fairly well-to-do, with a median annual household income of more than $70,000. The market for Redwood City real estate struggled initially when the recession hit the vast majority of towns in the U.S., but the beginning of 2010 has shown positive signs of improvement, especially in price, for the Redwood City market.

According to statistics from the San Mateo County Association of Realtors, in the first quarter of 2010 there were 216 new listings of Redwood City homes for sale in the first quarter of 2010, up slightly from 203 in the first quarter of 2009. Total inventory of single-family homes in the first quarter was 189 this year, down by just two from last year. Sales activity was up more than 25% in the first quarter this year, with 100 homes this year sold versus 73 last year. Homes spent an average of 74 days on the market in the first quarter this year, up from just 59 days last year’s first quarter. Most importantly, both the average and median prices have risen annually in the first quarter. The average price was almost $726,000, up more than $20,000, and the median price was $665,000, up by more than $100,000 from the same time last year.

The market for condos in Redwood City showed similar trends, mostly encouraging signs that the market is improving. In the first quarter of 2010, there were 22 new condos listed for sale, and inventory stood at 21, up from inventory in 2009 of just 12. Condo sales activity during the quarter actually fell compared with 2009, as there were only eight condos sold in Redwood City in the first quarter of this year, versus 14 last year.  The number of days condos are spending on the market has remained consistent, at 40 days now versus 39 days last year. However, both the median and average prices of condos sold in Redwood City have risen. The average price in the first quarter of 2010 was $467,250, up more than $60,000 from last year at the same time, while the median price was $482,500, up by more than $75,000 from the same period a year earlier.

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San Diego real estate market

Posted on June 10, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment
Seal of San Diego County, California
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The distress of the San Diego real estate market seems to be easing, as most indicators are rallying despite some signs of continued fragility. According to a May 25, 2010 article from San Diego 6 News, “San Diego has logged 11 consecutive months of increasing home prices, while much of the nation’s housing market continues to decline. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for San Diego rose 1.5 percent from February to March and was up 10.8 percent year-over-year.” The piece went on to say that “Nationally, the S&P index of 20 major cities fell 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2010, but was 2 percent higher from the same period last year. The index was down .5 percent from February to March. Prices in 13 of the 20 metropolitan areas tracked by the index declined from February to March.”

This same basic news – that the average price of a San Diego home for sale rallied once again in March – was mentioned in a May 25, 2010 article in the San Diego Union-Tribune. This piece found that “With 11 consecutive months of growth, San Diego County is leading the nation’s largest metro areas in home-price appreciation, the widely watched Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index showed Tuesday. In March, the index of San Diego prices was up 10.8 percent from the previous year, the biggest increase since the heady days of mid-2005.” The piece by Roger Showley continued to say that “By contrast, prices in the 20 metro areas that comprise the index declined by 0.5 percent from February to March, the sixth straight decline. They were up 2.4 percent year over year.”

Foreclosure rates, one of the usual indicators of distress in the San Diego real estate market, eased considerably in the most recent tracking period. According to a May 24, 2010 article also in the Union-Tribune, “Mortgage defaults dipped in San Diego County last month to their lowest level since January, as distressed-property owners found alternatives to foreclosures, MDA DataQuick reported Monday. Other signs of distress seemed [to] be easing, as delinquencies stopped growing, banks acted on their foreclosure backlogs, more homes were listed for sale and there were more building permits.”

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San Jose real estate market

Posted on June 9, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment
Old Santa Clara county court house. 161 North ...
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The San Jose real estate market, a subsidiary of the larger Silicon Valley real estate market, continued to make progress during the most recent months of the fiscal year. According to a May 20, 2010 article in the Mercury News, “Santa Clara County posted only a slight gain in home sales last month compared with April 2009, but the median home price jumped 26 percent. The median price of previously owned single-family houses sold last month was $550,000, up 26.4 percent from $435,000 in April 2009, and flat from March 2010, according to a report Thursday from MDA DataQuick.” The piece by Sue McAllister went on to say that “In San Mateo County, the median price of houses sold in April was $638,000, up 16 percent from a year earlier and down 9 percent from March…The number of houses sold in San Mateo County rose 21 percent from April 2009, with 442 houses changing hands.”

The average value of a San Jose home for sale declined sharply in the most recent assessment, according to a May 20, 2010 article in the Mercury News. This piece noted that “The crash in once high-flying Silicon Valley home prices came into sharper focus Thursday when county officials announced a new record in the number of properties that have dropped in assessed value.” The article by John Woolfolk went on to say that “All told, 118,400 houses, condominiums, duplexes and commercial properties will see their assessed values lowered by a total of nearly $21.4 billion. To put that in perspective, just 4,442 properties in 2006 saw assessed values drop, with losses totaling less than $3 billion. Assessor Larry Stone called the numbers ‘historically off the charts.’ This year’s figures top last year’s record reductions in value by $2 billion and 20,000 properties.”

The Bay Area communities surrounding the San Jose real estate market also faced some setbacks in the month of April, according to a May 20, 2010 article. This article from the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal found that “Bay Area home sales fell slightly below the year-ago level and remained well below average in April, according to a report Thursday by MDA DataQuick.”

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Sacramento real estate market

Posted on June 7, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment
This is a picture of the Sacramento Riverfront...
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The Sacramento real estate market is showing signs of improvement, although the number of home sales did decline slightly in the latest period. According to a May 20, 2010 article in the Sacramento Bee, “For once California’s economy looks good compared to that of some other states. A foreclosure crisis that has dimmed the state’s golden glow with images of financial ruin and broken government is beginning to wane, says a leading trade group for the U.S. mortgage industry.” The article by Jim Wasserman went on to say that “The new data confirmed improvements in California and the Sacramento area recently cited by researched MDA DataQuick. Last month the firm said mortgage defaults have fallen for a year straight in the state and region, with foreclosures dropping now as well. In hard-hit Sacramento suburbs such as Natomas, Lincoln and Elk Grove, residents see dwindling evidence of the crisis.”

After remaining quite low for some time, the average price of a Sacramento home for sale rallied slightly in the month of April. According to a May 24, 2010 article in the Sacramento Business Journal, “Sacramento-area home prices are climbing off the mat, increasing 12.4 percent from the bottom reached in April 2009, according to a report released Monday.” The piece, written by Ron Trujillo, continued to note that “The fourth-county region – arguably one of the hardest hit, with an abundance of foreclosures and 35 percent-plus home price declines – had a median-home price of $188,100 in April, compared to the so-called ‘trough’ price of $167,340 a year ago, according to the California Association of Realtors.”

Home sales in the Sacramento real estate market decreased somewhat in the most recent tracking period, according to a May 20, 2010 article in the Sacramento Business Journal. The piece by Michael Shaw said that “Home sales in the four-county Sacramento region were slightly lower in April than the same month last year, according to figures released Thursday from real estate information company MDA DataQuick. There were 2,873 home sales of all types, including new homes, and existing homes and condos, in April compared with 3,036 sales a year ago, the company reported.”

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Newport Coast real estate market

Posted on June 6, 2010 by admin| 2 Comments
The Newport Center Skyline in Newport Beach, C...
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The Newport Coast real estate market, which is quite closely connected to the larger trends of the Newport Beach and Orange County real estate markets, seemed to be relatively healthy despite retreating slightly from some earlier gains. According to a May 18, 2010 article from the Orange County Business Journal, “Orange County’s median home price edged down $2,000 in April from March, but still stands $50,000 higher than the prices seen here a year ago. The median price of a home sold here in April was $430,000, a less than 1% drop from a month earlier, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick, a unit of Canada’s MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates.” The article by Mark Mueller continued to say that “Median home prices are now about 13% higher than they were a year ago, but still are off nearly 33% from their highest level, seen in mid-2007.”

A May 18, 2010 article in the OC Metro provided a different perspective on the same set of statistics, pointing towards increases in the pending volume of Newport Coast homes for sale. According to this piece, “Orange County saw gains in its median home price and sales activity in April, compared to the same time last year, according to a new report from MDA DataQuick. The county’s median home price hit $430,000 last month, up 13 percent from $380,000 in April 2009.” The article by Kristen Schott continued to state that “Sales rose 11.6 percent in Orange County in April, compared to 2009. Buyers snapped up 2,669 homes in the period, up from about 2,391 at the same time last year. The number also rose slightly from March.”

Another indication of rising strength for the Newport Coast and Orange County real estate markets was mentioned in a May 24, 2010 article in the Orange County Register. This piece, composed by Jon Lansner, said that “Appraisers found price strength in central Orange County (+3.4%, year-over-year for April) and in southern and beach communities (+2.8%). Northern O.C. values were down 1.8% by the RERCSC math…Orange County was one of three SoCal counties showing year-over-year price gains, albeit small ones.”

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Santa Cruz real estate market

Posted on May 23, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment
Seal of Santa Cruz County, California
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The Santa Cruz real estate market, along with the rest of the Silicon Valley, continues to face a number of challenges and hopeful indicators during the first half of 2010. Commercial real estate is very close to rock bottom, while housing affordability is mixed and home sales are starting to rise. According to a May 10, 2010 article in the Mercury News, “Pending home sales were up again in March, pointing to an upswing in home sales for the spring home-buying season, according to the National Association of Realtors. The Pending Home Sales Index is a forward-looking indicator of the housing sector based on pending sales of existing homes.” The piece, composed by Rose Meily, went on to say that “Contracts signed in March rose 3.5 percent to 102.9 from 97.7 in February, and is 21.1 percent above March 2009 when it was 85; this follows an 8.3 percent increase in February.”

Although it may not directly affect Santa Cruz homes for sale, the commercial real estate market in the region is in serious distress. According to a May 3, 2010 article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, “The county’s once hot commercial real estate market has cooled considerably, with nearly a million square feet of office space empty at the start of the year and asking rates dropping compared to a year ago. The market hasn’t hit the 1 million mark since 2004, according to Cassidy Turley BT Commercial, which reviews the data for Santa Cruz County quarterly.” The piece, written by Jondi Gumz, continued to say that “Industrial vacancies rose to 7.3 percent from 3.3 percent in the same time frame, with the asking rate dropping 11 percent to 85 cents per square foot triple net…In the city of Santa Cruz, office vacancies edged up from 14.7 percent to 15.2 percent. Asking rates were $1.88 per square foot, off by just 4 cents.”

The affordability of Santa Cruz real estate is mixed, according to a May 13, 2010 article in the San Jose Business Journal. This piece found that “An index of the affordability of homes for first-time buyers rose between the last three months of 2009 and the first three months of 2010. But it was down from last year’s first quarter.”

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Palm Springs real estate market

Posted on May 21, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment
Palm Springs below. One minute exposure.
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The Palm Springs real estate market, along with the rest of the Coachella Valley real estate market, seems to be edging towards recovery, although it will be gradual and difficult. According to a May 14, 2010 article in the Record Gazette, “In the year since Beaumont initiated an economic stimulus plan to spur development, there appears to be evidence that its incentives are working. While the majority of Riverside County saw the number of permits for construction of new single family homes drop 10.6 percent last year, Beaumont boasted an increase of 16.7 percent over its 2008 volume, according to statistics presented at the May 4 city council meeting.” The article by David James Heiss continued to note that “In 2009, there were 350 permits for single family residential units – the highest number of any city in the country, followed by Meifee, which issued 325, and Temecula, with 323.”

Foreclosures represented a smaller proportion of Palm Springs homes for sale, according to a May 11, 2010 article in My Valley News. This piece noted that “The number of foreclosed homes in Riverside County ending up on the auction block declined last month, but remained far above the year-ago level, a real estate tracking firm reported today. According to Bay Area-based ForeclosureRadar.com’s monthly ‘California Foreclosure Report,’ 2,398 repossessed properties in the county were sold in April, compared to 2,325 in March, a roughly 3 percent drop.” The article from Issue 19, Volume 14 of My Valley News continued to say that “Foreclosure sales statewide slid 3 percent last month but were 36 percent above the level of the year before, according to ForeclosureRadar.com. Sean O’Toole, the company’s founder, said that on a year-over-year basis, foreclosure cancellations had surged 174 percent in California.”

Another article from My Valley News, this one from May 4, 2010, pointed towards a gradual economic recovery that should help lift the Palm Springs real estate market. It said that “Riverside County will lurch toward an economic recovery, but getting there won’t be easy, and factors rooted in state and national policies are bound to get in the way, economists told the Board of Supervisors yesterday.”

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Kansas City real estate market

Posted on May 10, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment
City of Kansas City
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The Kansas City real estate market will eventually recover from its current difficulties, but it continues to face a number of serious problems. According to an April 9, 2010 article in The Kansas City Star, “Kansas City home prices on average are expected to drop an additional 6.3 percent, bottom out in mid-2011 and rebound to pre-recession levels by mid-2013, according to a new report. Though that sounds discouraging, the area fared better than many others in the Fiserv Case-Shiller review of 375 U.S. markets.” The piece, written by Kevin Collison, continued to say that “The study indicated that housing prices in some areas, notably California, Florida, Arizona, and Nevada, wouldn’t return to their pre-recession peak for more than 15 years. Some communities such as Orlando, Fla., and Sacramento, Calif., weren’t estimated to return to their previous highs until after 2039.”

The high number of foreclosures is one of the negative pressures affecting Kansas City homes for sale, as well as much of the rest of the state. According to an April 15, 2010 article in the Kansas Reporter, “Kansas, like the nation, was hit with record numbers of home foreclosures in March, one of the nation’s top trackers of filing activity reported Thursday. Foreclosure filings were recorded on 2,744 Kansas homes in March, the largest monthly total ever recorded since tracking giant RealtyTrac began reporting on foreclosure trends in January 2005…” The piece, composed by Gene Meyer, continued to say that “Those filings, which cover a range of foreclosure activity from the very first default notices to takeovers by lenders, appear to be between about 30 percent to 44 percent higher than both a month earlier and in March, 2009…More than seven in 10 of the foreclosures, or a total 1,896, were recorded in Wyandotte County in the Kansas City area.”

An April 15, 2010 article from MSN Money targeted the Kansas City area more specifically, saying that “Although new homes on the Kansas City area’s spring homes tour are brimming with potential buyers, a dark cloud has swirled up over another part of the market. Home foreclosure activity in the 15-county area stormed upward by 107.9 percent in March from the previous month and rose a thunder-clapping 174.32 percent from March 2009…”

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Orange County Real Estate

Posted on March 14, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment
Downtown Los Angeles

Orange County lies at the heart of Southern California and is often considered the region’s most notorious housing market. Orange County real estate often takes the cake for being the most expensive real estate in America. The market has experienced some rough waves of ups and downs since the financial crisis set in in America, and as 2010 has come upon us, it still shows sign of a struggle.

According to the Orange County Register, quoting the DataQuick homebuying report for the three-week period ended Feb. 16, home prices in Orange County had a median price of $485,000, up 14.1% from a year earlier, while sales volume of homes racked up 1,449 sales, up 3.1% from the previous year. Condos had a median sale price of $295,000, also up 9.3% from February of 2009, and condo sales volume was at 706, up 5.4% year-over-year.

Despite the mostly positive-sounding statistics, though these prices are higher than their year-earlier prices, the median price for Orange County homes for sale in this period was at a nine-month low. Single-family homes have been reselling for a third less than their highest prices in June 2007, with condos selling for more than a third (37%) less than their highest prices in March 2006.

Likewise, though sales volume has picked up from the same period in 2009, it still remains well below pre-crash figures. In this period, there were 2,253 residences sold. Though that figure is an improvement of 4.6% from 2009, it is still well below the activity in the previous decade: From 1997 through 2006, monthly sales averaged more than 4,300 per month.

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