The New Housing Policy – Will It Repair the Housing Market?
Recently a friend and colleague, Robert Hahn, encouraged the readers of his own blog to submit posts for his upcoming 'Carnival of Housing Policy', hoping to collect thoughtful discussion around the potential changes in housing policy. I've been somewhat reluctant to participate so I'll start wit…
Read more...Back in the Saddle
I launched this blog in May of 2008 in an effort to bring information to present and future clients that was the truest representation of what I could provide about the Orange County real estate market. The constant drone of the Realtor community - "It's a great time to buy" was making me fe…
Read more...Microscope on the Market – Laguna Niguel
So many of the media numbers focus on Orange County performance, but real estate performance can vary dramatically within our large county, and particularly at various price points. Today's Microscope on the Market focuses on the Laguna Niguel real estate market. Homes Under $500,000 # of Sales Short Sales Bank Owned Equity Sellers Active 119 63.9% 5% 31.1% In Escrow 71 53.5% 29.6% 16.9% Closed* 18 27.8% 38.9% 33.3% In the under $500,000 mark…
Read more...State of the OC Market
Recently Jonathon Lansner posted a podcast that he did with Steven Thomas of Altera Real Estate. Great information whether you are a buyer or seller in Orange County. Mr. Thomas posts his Market Time Report every two weeks and continues to be an excellent resource for analysis on Orange County real estate. If you are sizing up a purchase or sale, looking for an opinion on 'the bottom', this is worth 13 minutes.…
Read more...2008 Housing Review and 2009 Predictions
Steven Thomas, President of Altera Real Estate recently released his latest Orange County Housing Report and it is definitely worth taking the time to review if you are curious about how the 2008 housing market finished and the possible outlook for 2009. It's a very comprehensive summary. I would encourage you to review the charts for Active Listings and Pending Sales. I love the way that it visually lays out the '05, '06, '07, and '08 numbers for comparison. One thing worth noting is th…
Read more...Have We Hit Bottom?
Yesterday, the Orange County Register had an article entitled 'O.C. Homebuying Slump Ends After 33 Months'. I love that title and I hope that it's true. I have some concerns: The coming election will likely slow buying activity. Based on past real estate years it's likely to be a bit slow with buyers taking a 'wait and see' approach. We also are moving into the seasonally slow period of the market. Consumer confidence is still a big issue. With prices having gone down for so many m…
Read more...Not Much ‘Relief’ in this Housing Bill
The President signed the Housing Bill last week. I've been reluctant to talk too much about it until I had a chance to understand some of the particulars. I've learned a lot in the last week about it and consumer beware be aware. There is a lot of hype and I'm not sure much help here. The…
Read more...Orange County Sales – 1 in 4 Have Been In Foreclosure
'Foreclosure frequency in O.C. looks pretty good vs. the rest of the state, where 40% of second-quarter sales had previously been through a foreclosure (And it was 73.3% in Merced!)', according to Jonathon Lansneron his Orange County Real Estate Blog. He also stated that Orange County didn't look …
Read more...My Dad Always Said, “Buy on Bad News…” Why Now Might Really Be the Time
My Dad was a stockbroker and has always said, "Buy on bad news, sell on good news." Over the years he's made great money with that strategy. As soon as everyone wants to buy - he's out. I'm not sure the philosophy ought to be much different in the housing market. Yet the fear, the challenge…
Read more...Why Short Sales are Killing the OC Real Estate Market
A few years ago many of us, including a lot of Realtors, didn't know what a Short Sale was. To be clear, a Short Sale is when the value of the property is lower than the encumberances (loans against the property) and the necessary costs of sale. In short (no pun intended), the loans against the…
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Linsey Planeta
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