Real Estate News for January 18th, 2006

Report pokes at housing bubble. Likelihood of price decline in region may spur move to safer fixed-rate mortgages. The East Bay, Peninsula and San Joaquin County have at least a 50 percent chance of seeing home values decline in the next two years, according to a report released Tuesday by a Walnut Creek mortgage insurance company. The quarterly report from PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. does not measure how much of a decline could occur, just the probability of it taking place based on a range of economic factors such as home prices and personal income. But the report does show a big jump in the likelihood of decreasing home prices in San Mateo County and San Joaquin County compared with last spring. The higher risk of declines could spur a move to safer fixed-rate mortgages and away from loans that rely on rising prices to build equity. Click here to read more.

Housing prices jump 18% in '05. The median price of a Santa Clarita Valley home hit the $600,000 mark in December, capping a year that marked an 18 percent surge in prices in an area that remains one of the county's "affordable" communities, a monthly real estate survey said Tuesday. The December single-family home median price represented a $5,000 or 0.8 percent increase from the month before and a 15.6 percent jump from the same period a year ago, according to the Southland Regional Association of Realtors. The median condominium price was $389,000 - a 1 percent increase from November and 17.9 percent higher from December 2004. The 2005 median price for both houses and condos held on for a fifth year of double-digit percentage gains. For single-family homes, the median was $564,600 - a 18 percent jump from 2004. The median price for condominiums was $356,242 - a 16.6 percent increase. Click here to read more.

Economic activity continues to expand. The economy chugged ahead as the new year opened with manufacturing picking up, employment improving and retail sales rising, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. The housing market, however, showed fresh signs of cooling but still was in good shape, the Fed said in its latest snapshot of business activity nationwide. The survey, based on information collected before Jan. 9 and supplied by the 12 regional Federal Reserve banks, will figure into discussions at Fed policymakers' next meeting Jan. 31. Economists expect the Fed will bump up rates by another quarter point in its continuing efforts to keep the economy and inflation on an even keel. Click here to read more.

Local Housing Prices Take Biggest Drop Since 1988. At least for now, the five-year run of double-digit increases has come to an end for San Diego’s real estate market. Home prices across the county last year climbed just a third as fast as they did the year before. While all signs point to a market slow down, you have to keep this in perspective: prices are still going up. The bulge around the middle of our seemingly ever-expanding real estate market is finally starting to shrink, and for those potential buyers who have been on the fence, experts say there’s no time like the present to purchase a property in San Diego County. At least for now, the five-year run of double-digit increases has come to an end for San Diego’s real estate market. Home prices across the county last year climbed just a third as fast as they did the year before. While all signs point to a market slow down, you have to keep this in perspective: prices are still going up. The bulge around the middle of our seemingly ever-expanding real estate market is finally starting to shrink, and for those potential buyers who have been on the fence, experts say there’s no time like the present to purchase a property in San Diego County. 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