Real Estate News for Thursday, February 1st, 2007

Emmitt Smith: Cowboy, dancer, real estate tycoon. Emmitt Smith has covered a lot of real estate on the football field and the dance floor. Now he's developing it, says Fortune's Roy Johnson. Last year Smith made his first move toward becoming a developer. He teamed with another Cowboy legend, Roger Staubach, the founder and CEO of Staubach Co., to form Smith/Cypress Partners LP, a real estate development enterprise specializing in transforming underutilized parcels in densely populated areas into commercially viable properties anchored by national retail giants. Click here to read more.



Is the valley real estate market returning to normal? Yes, experts say. Bolstered by a strong December that saw home sales hit their highest mark in six months, Coachella Valley real estate professionals are seeing signs of improvement and hoping for a rebound in 2007. In the past six weeks or so, those in the key real estate industry say they’ve seen buyer and seller activity increasing and falling in line with the valley’s more traditional, seasonal pace. That comes after the cadence went topsy-turvy during recent real estate boom years, especially in 2004 and 2005. A report issued Monday shows home sales tumbled 27 percent in the valley in December compared with year-ago figures. But there were several positives:
~Sales in December increased about 22 percent vs. November 2006 when 717 homes sold.
~The 874 homes sold in December was the highest mark since June, according to La Jolla-based real estate research firm DataQuick Information Systems.
~The December median home price posted a 4 percent increase to $406,000.
~That put the median home price at its highest mark since May, when it hit $412,000.
~Compared to the corresponding month in 2005, the valley’s overall median home price increased 11 of 12 months in 2006. The only exception being a 0.9 percent median price decline in November. Click here to read more.

What's up with the Redlands real estate market? According to Steve Smith, a licensed real estate appraiser with years of professional experience, Redlands real estate can be expected to fall in price by 25 to 50 percent over the next three to five years. This scary prognostication is based primarily on one fact: The affordability index in the Inland Empire is only 18 percent. Moreover, Smith cites the low number of high-paying jobs in the area as being a limiting factor. He states, "No jobs, No market." According to the Lusk Center for Real Estate, part of USC's Marshall School of Business, many residential sellers are refusing to compete with homebuilders. Some homebuilders are lowering prices, while most homeowners are waiting to list their houses. The director of the center said that we will see significant price decreases "only if something negative happens to the job market." They aren't making any more land. Land close to the largest retail market in the world - Southern California - is in increasingly short supply. Even if the prices drop now, they will not stay down for long. The pursuit of the American dream is pushing people to Banning, Beaumont, Indio and even further. Prices will ultimately increase - however, they will probably increase at a slower rate than they did over the last five years. 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