Real Estate News for Tuesday, April 18th, 2006

Southland Builders Optimistic on Market: Outlook for home sales in the West contrasts with that in the U.S. overall, a survey shows. The latest housing forecast: Sunny in California and the West, and gloomy just about everywhere else. A survey this month by the National Assn. of Home Builders and Wells Fargo & Co. found that optimism among builders of single-family homes across the country fell to its lowest level since November 2001, because rising mortgage rates and rapid price increases have finally slowed demand. Today builders are having a harder time keeping up with demand in part because government regulations act as curbs on overbuilding. "We are not providing the amount of housing that the demographics and the growing population are demanding — that's why" regional builders remain positive about the housing market, Moss said. Click here to read more.

SoCal Home Prices Edge Over $500,000. Southern California's median home price edged over the $500,000 level for March despite deteriorating sales, according to a real estate report released today. It was the first time the regional figure had crossed $500,000, though some counties had reached that level before. The median sales price for all residential properties in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties jumped 14.1% from the same month last year to $501,000, according to the research firm DataQuick Information Systems. Sales, however, dropped more than 9.7% on a year-over-year basis to 29,509 new and existing homes. San Bernardino County led the region with a 23.2% spike in the median sales price to $367,000. San Diego County, which has experienced a pronounced slow down in sales activity, came in last with an increase of 5.7% to $504,000. Orange County, the Southland's most expensive market, posted a 10.3% increase in the median sales price to $623,000. The median price rose 14% in Ventura County to $610,000. The Los Angeles County median sales price, which was reported last week, climbed 15% to $506,000. "We still expect the annual increase in median to go down into the single digits sometime this summer," said DataQuick President Marshall Prentice in a statement. "San Diego County is still the market furthest along in this cycle. Price increases there have been below ten percent the last eleven months." Click here to read more.

Mortgage rates at highest in nearly 4 yrs. Rates on 30-year mortgages climbed this week to their highest point in nearly four years, a development that could put a further crimp in housing activity. Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported Thursday that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.49 percent for the week ending April 13. That was up from 6.43 percent last week and was the highest since mid-July of 2002. Mortgage rates rose as Wall Street investors fretted that an improving jobs climate could drive up wages and thus inflation, analysts said. Those fears were fanned by a government report last week showing the unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 percent in March. Click here to read more.

SoCal home sales slowed in March, but prices hit new high. Sales of homes in six Southern California counties slowed for the fourth consecutive month in March, compared to last year, even as the median home price edged past the half-million dollar mark for the region, a real estate research firm said Tuesday. The median price of a home in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties was $501,000 last month, up 14.1 percent from March 2005, when it was $439,000, and up 4.4 percent from February, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems. Four counties - Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange and Ventura - had median prices above $500,000, with Los Angeles County crossing the threshold for the first time. The biggest annual percentage increase during the month occurred in San Bernardino County, where median priced homes rose 23.2 percent to $367,000. San Diego County saw the smallest uptick in prices at 5.7 percent, DataQuick said. Annual price increases have held in the mid-teens since April 2005. Click here to read more.

Real estate legacy launched after '06 quake. Part 2: Coldwell Banker managers say company preserves founders' focus. Today, Coldwell Banker is the largest real estate franchisor, with about 126,000 sales associates working in about 3,800 offices and 29 nations. That compares to 2,453 offices and 55,195 sales associates in 1995. In August the real estate brand will celebrate its 100th anniversary. The history of the company is tied to a great catastrophe. It all began with an eye-opening jolt at 5:12 a.m. on April 18, 1906, 100 years ago today, and followed with a horribly violent minute-long quake that triggered dozens of fires. The fires raged for days and left San Francisco in ruins. The toll was severe. The disaster killed an estimated 3,000 people in the San Francisco Bay Area, left about 225,000 of San Francisco's 400,000 residents homeless and leveled 28,000 buildings, according to a compilation of reports by the U.S. Geological Survey. The fires burned an area spanning 4.7 square miles. The economic loss: $400 million in 1906 dollars. In those days, the average three-bedroom home cost $2,400. With major disasters there often follows a period of chaos and lawlessness, confusion and turmoil. There are villains and heroes, wrongdoers and do-gooders, opportunists and entrepreneurs. In this trying time, Coldwell built a business, a brand and a reputation that has stood the test of time and steered the course of the real estate industry. Click here to read more.

Strong jobs market can't keep US housing from cooling. Prices could flat-line quickly even without an economic shock - and there are signs it is already happening. Traditionally, home price corrections have occurred when there's been a combination of a high supply of homes and a contracting labor market. At least, that's been the case over the past 21 years, in 63 U.S. markets that experienced price declines of 10% or more, noted Richard DeKaser, chief economist for financial holding company National City Corp. (NCC). Fast forward to 2006, however, and there are growing signs of weakness, with the most overheated regional housing markets of the past five years cooling even though the labor market remains firm. The unemployment rate is currently at 4.7%, a level economists say represents full employment. Hot Markets Cool The Most: In markets like Florida and California, which benefited disproportionately from the housing boom over the last five years relative to other parts of the country, the softening is more apparent. Click here to read more.

National Foreclosures Decrease 13 Percent in March According to RealtyTrac(TM) U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. Foreclosures Up 63 Percent From March 2005. Colorado, Georgia, Indiana Post Highest Foreclosure Rates. California reported 11,073 properties entering some stage of foreclosure in March, the second most of any state, and the state's foreclosure rate registered slightly above the national average thanks to a 22 percent increase from the previous month. 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