Real Estate News for Wednesday, November 29th, 2006

Sales of homes cool in October. Experts say local housing market hasn't bottomed out yet. California's residential real estate market cooled dramatically in October with prices falling below the year-ago level in a majority of major markets and sales posting the weakest total for the month in 18 years. Last month, statewide sales of previously owned homes fell 28.7 percent and the median price rose 2 percent. But it declined in 14 of the 20 major markets tracked by the Los Angeles-based group. And in seven markets, including Orange and San Diego counties, the median price has fallen below its year-ago point for three consecutive months. If sales proceeded at October's pace all year, 443,320 properties would change hands. That's the smallest annualized rate for the month since 478,770 projected sales in October 1988. Sales have now been at their current level for three months. "The market is still in a decline. Most people don't look for it to really bottom out until late 2007," said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. Source.

Agassi, Graf sell their Tiburon estate for $20 million. Retired tennis stars Andre Agassi and wife, Steffi Graf, have agreed to unload their 13,000-square-foot Tiburon estate for $20 million - $3 million less than they paid for it five years ago. The residential sale amount is the second-highest in Marin history. The first was when Agassi purchased it in 2001 for $23 million. Agassi's original asking price was $24.5 million. The couple - who live primarily in Las Vegas - are selling their home to Marin resident Stuart Peterson, the head of Arts Capital Management, a California hedge fund that invested in the Web video site YouTube before it was purchased this year by Google. Source.

Going it alone. More single women buying their own home. Percentage of female home buyers reaches record high of 22 percent. From July 2005 to June 2006, unattached women made up 22 percent of all home buyers--a record high. During the same time period in 1995, 14 percent of home purchases were made by single women. Cultural and societal progress have contributed to the growth of female investment. In the 1970s "women had a hard time getting a credit card much less a mortgage," said NAR spokesman Walter Molony. "They were not being taken seriously by the lending community." But higher education and workplace advancements among women have led more of them to enter the real-estate market. "The biggest change in household composition over time has been in women buyers," Molony said. The percentage of female homeowners reached double digits during the 1990s when the Federal Housing Administration allowed women to count child support as income. "It made a real difference for single mothers," Molony said. "That accounted, presumably, for the increases we saw in the 1990s." Financial education has also given women the confidence to purchase a home on their own. According to the NAR report, women are also buying property at a faster rate than single men, who made up 9 percent of all home sales. This could be because "women kind of have a nesting instinct and understand the value of housing as an investment," Molony suggested. "Men, when they're young and single, aren't." Source.

~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

Real Estate News for Thursday, November 16th, 2006

Housing market drag on state until 2008? The downturn in the housing industry will continue to depress the state's economy for most of next year before stabilizing in 2008, the Legislature's top budget analyst predicted Wednesday. Legislative Budget Analyst Elizabeth Hill forecast that residential construction will fall by 4.4 percent in 2006 and by an additional 13 percent in 2007. Then the analyst said it should stabilize with about 175,000 permits issued annually through 2012. The real estate industry, which includes developers, contractors, real estate brokers, title companies and financial institutions, make up 15 percent to 20 percent of the state's private sector economy. The slowdown in this industry was the largest single factor in a sharp decline in personal income growth, resulting in a drop in withholding tax payments from over ten percent in the first half of 2006 to less than five percent in the third quarter. Source.

Study: Home sellers making big money. Experts say profits especially big for those who hold on to houses for years. Nearly half of homeowners in Riverside County who sold their residences last month more than doubled their money, a new study shows. Home sellers across the county came away with a $178,000 "median" profit, meaning half of them earned more and half earned less, according to statistics compiled by economist Christopher Cagan, who heads the real estate research arm for Santa Ana-based title company First American Corp. Median dollar gains from home sales ranged from $178,000 in Riverside County to $331,500 in Orange County, according to Cagan's analysis. The median profit earned in San Bernardino County was $203,500, while homeowners saw profits of $331,500 in Orange County and $266,000 in Los Angeles County. In San Diego County, where the median profit was $243,000, home sellers earned about 91 percent profit. In the Coachella Valley and elsewhere across Southern California, those who've remained in their homes three or more years appear to have reaped some of the biggest financial rewards. It also allowed them to avoid a tax hit on significant equity gains they may have netted, real estate agents said. Median profit figures are based on sales of existing homes occurring from Sept. 27 through Oct. 26 in the five counties. Cagan's analysis didn't take into account homeowner expenses for everything from landscaping upgrades to repairs or agent commissions. Source.

OC Market Plays Waiting Game. "The waiting game" was a common theme reverberating throughout yesterday's third annual RealShare Orange County conference, held at the Hyatt Regency Irvine. With roughly five million sf of office product set to hit the market over the next 24 months, developers and tenants alike are waiting to see who will blink first. And with good reason--Orange County's been here before. The early 90s saw many deep pockets emptied as supply outpaced demand. A shared mindset said "never again." John Parker, chairman of Parker Properties, said it can be difficult to avoid a dip once the machinery gets going. "After the last cycle, lenders said they would not let this happen again, but they're pushing money at us," he noted. Insiders debated whether history is set to repeat itself, asking if the market is gearing for a precipitous fall. The general consensus favored cautious optimism, echoing the familiar refrain "no, but… ." Source.

~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

Real Estate News for Wednesday, November 1st, 2006

FTC complaint filed against Zillow. The Federal Trade Commission confirmed Tuesday that a consumer group filed a complaint against a leading Web-based real estate appraiser, saying it was "intentionally misleading consumers and real estate professionals" and could be violating civil rights and consumer protection laws. According to the complaint, the coalition conducted an audit and found that Zillow's estimates fell within 10 percent of the actual appraised value less than one-third of the time. The coalition's complaint states that "deceptive and inaccurate valuations undervalue entire communities." It said that over-valuations were "prevalent in predominantly white areas" while "under-valuations were more frequent" in predominantly African-American and Latino communities. The FTC did not confirm whether it would investigate Zillow.com. Source.

Bankers object to mortgage license plan. A state mortgage brokers association wants uniform standards instead of the current dual qualifying system. The California Mortgage Bankers Association objected to another group's proposal that loan officers working for banks and mortgage companies meet the same license requirements as independent mortgage brokers. Currently, independent mortgage brokers must take college courses, pass a test and undergo a criminal background check to get a license from the state Department of Real Estate. But employees of lenders can work under the auspices of their company's license from the state Department of Corporations. Last week, the California Association of Mortgage Brokers issued a package of consumer-protection measures, including a proposal calling for uniform licensing for all loan officers. Source.

Can the economy survive the housing bust? Real estate downturns have a way of leading to recessions and stock market slumps. So far the damage has been limited, but the numbers keep getting worse, says Fortune's Jon Birger. An important chart is the National Association of Home Builders' Housing Market index - a monthly measure of builder confidence - against the Standard & Poor's 500 stock market index, with a one-year lag. It turns out that the mood of builders is a terrific stock market bellwether: The correlation between current builder confidence and future stock market returns over the past ten years is downright unnerving. Over the past year, the NAHB housing index plummeted 54 percent. Were stocks to follow suit, the S&P - 1400 in late October - would be trading below 700 this time next year. All the economic activity generated by home sales - new mortgages, realtor fees, outlays to painters and handymen, the inevitable shopping trips to Home Depot and Best Buy - played a huge part in digging the economy out of a recession in 2001 and 2002. Given the importance of home sales on the way up, it may be shortsighted to minimize their importance on the way down. Source.

~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