Real estate gets less affordable in California, Realtor group reports. Affordability rating falls 5 percent in November compared to year earlier. The percentage of households in California able to afford a median-priced home stood at 14 percent in November, a drop from 19 percent reported in November 2004, according to a report released this week by the California Association of Realtors trade group. The minimum household income needed to purchase a median-priced home at $548,400 in California in November was $133,390, based on an average effective mortgage interest rate of 6.26 percent and assuming a 20 percent down payment, the trade group reported. At 24 percent, the High Desert region was the most affordable CAR region in the state, followed by the Sacramento region at 19 percent. The Northern Wine Country, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara regions were the least affordable in the state at 7 percent. 
Median home prices fell about 2.9 percent in Santa Barbara County area in November 2005 compared to November 2004, CAR reported, from $668,750 in November 2004 to $650,000, but prices increased in all of the other areas covered in the report. CAR's December 2005 sales and median price report for the state and regions within the state will be released on Wednesday, Jan. 25. The California Association of Realtors is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States, with about 185,000 members. Click here to read more.
Land for real estate construction harder to find. Industry conditions favor big home builders, survey says. Good land is increasingly hard to find, big home builders will grow bigger, and consolidation will continue in the home-building industry, according to a report released this week by McGraw-Hill Construction and Deloitte & Touche LLP's real estate industry group. The report, based on a survey conducted by McGraw-Hill Construction's Industry Analytics and Alliances division, also found that high-end kitchen materials, tile flooring and wood flooring are a fast-growing trend in new-home construction. Modular homes and steel-framed homes are falling out of favor among builders, the survey also revealed. Financial-reporting software, and the use of high-tech tools for purchasing and project management are among the most valuable applications of technology for the industry, according to the survey. Outsourcing for mortgage origination, hardware, software, sales and marketing services – in that order – are popular among builders. Land costs ranged from 24 percent to 28 percent of the total project costs among starter, move-up and luxury homes, survey respondents said, compared to about 33 percent of the total cost in the states of Florida and California. The average build time for a single-family house was three to six months, according to 64 percent of the survey respondents, while 22 percent said the average build time was six to 12 months. Click here to read more.Housing Bargains, at a Price. Rural Modoc County has California's cheapest real estate. But its remoteness and lack of jobs make 'affordability' a relative concept. In California's most remote corner, the air is crisp, the sweeping plains and towering peaks inspire awe, and the median home price just crested $100,000 for the first time. Modoc is California's only county where the median price of a home has stayed so low for so long. It is the least expensive nook in one of America's priciest states, a place where home buyers live out the pluses — and many of the minuses — of that elusive concept, "affordability." In Los Angeles County, $100,000 will just about cover the traditional 20% down payment for a median-priced house — certainly not the whole building, yard and garage. In Orange County, it's about 80% of a down payment, and in Marin County, the most expensive housing market in the state, it's less than two-thirds of what's needed. Compare that to the county seat of rural Modoc, where a snug blue house on downtown's Court Street — complete with two bedrooms and a bath — was recently listed at $84,000, and one unimpressed local real estate agent complained that it was overpriced. Click here to read.
U.S. residential bubble risk limited. The risk of a housing bubble in the U.S. market is highly localized as supply is still catching up with demand in most of the country, U.S. real estate magnate Sam Zell said on Thursday. "There will be a softer real estate market in some areas as a result, but I keep telling people there is no bubble," Zell told Reuters after an economic conference in Chicago where his headquarters is located. "The fact remains that even with the gains of the past five years, American residential real estate prices in relative terms are among the cheapest in the world," he said. Zell said a few areas in the U.S. market are suffering from oversupply, but he did not specify which ones. House prices on average have surged more than 55 percent over the past five years, according to federal government data. In some locations, the price gains have been more dramatic, such as California, which has notched price increases of nearly 113 percent over that period. Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada and Washington, D.C., have all seen prices jump more than 90 percent in five years. "The residential market is going to level out for a while after years of huge gains, but that does not mean there is a bubble," Zell said. He said U.S. commercial real estate is currently suffering from oversupply that has pushed down prices, but that the market would improve as demand rises to match supply. Click here to read more.
Valley realtors: Future is bright. While growth may slow, market is still expanding. Even as new statewide data show Coachella Valley homes to be increasingly unaffordable for local households, residents and real estate agents are beginning 2006 with a healthy mix of optimism and realism about the region's housing market. At their own packed gathering in Palm Desert Thursday, members of the California Desert Association of Realtors reaffirmed their own optimism - reflecting the views of experts over the past several months - that the valley should continue to see a "soft landing" in its housing market in 2006. While the region has been decidedly a sellers' market for the past two years, experts contend the valley is gradually shifting into more of an equilibrium mode between buyers and sellers. Even as unsold resale inventory continues to rise steadily - surpassing 5,600 in December - prices are on the upswing. In November, the valley's median sales price for homes hit a record $400,000, according to research firm DataQuick Information Systems. The prognosis from many experts continues to be generally positive, even as new data released Thursday by the California Association of Realtors indicated that only 10 percent of valley households could afford the median-priced home in November 2005, down from 14 percent a year earlier. Click here to read more.
~Tina Jan~
Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters
1655 E. Sixth St.
Beaumont, CA 92223
Work: 951-845-5520 Ext. 105
Fax: 951-845-4916
Cell: 909-446-2666
Toll-Free: 1-877-TINAJAN
tina.jan@coldwellbanker.com
www.tinajan.com
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for commenting!