There is a lot of press in the last week about signs of recovery for the national real estate market.  On a local level in San Diego, the signs have been showing themselves for the last few months in a variety of ways:

 Home prices declined 1% from February to March where it declined 2.1% from […]

Fannie Mae recently released statistics showing the difficult nature of a Short Sale transaction and how that relates to Foreclosure statistics.
In 2008, Fannie Mae found that for every one short sale that closed, eight homes went into foreclosure.  This speaks to the difficult nature of the Short Sale process and the […]

The Commerce Department released info today that Housing Starts were up 22% in February.  So what does that really mean?

It was the highest % gain in 19 years and the first gain in 8 months (New SFR up 1.1%, 5 units or more up 80%)
The housing starts in January were at an all time low
Housing […]

There are so many people trying to predict the Real Estate market today, that many forget that each market in the US behaves differently and there is a broad diversity in each local market.  San Diego and Vegas are very different in their behavior.
In other words, the newspaper says “real estate prices plunge”.  That is […]

The stats from Q4 2008 are in from the Mortgage Bankers Association, and the news is record setting.  In Q4 of 2008:

7.88 percent of all mortgages on one to four unit residential properties were at least one payment late
3.3 percent of all loans were in foreclosure
That’s a record setting 11.18 percent combined rate

If you look […]

 Everywhere people are watching the stock market and the economy and scratching their heads.  So what does all of this mean to you and real estate in California?  If you are right side up and in a position to hold, do.  If you are upside down and can hold, do
If you are upside down and […]

Well, that was the headline published by the National Association of Realtors yesterday.  So what does this mean:

It is a national statistic
The numbers vary region by region

Here are some of the stats:

The sale rate for resale homes dropped 5.9% in January to a 12 year low
The inventory of homes dropped 2.7% in January

HOWEVER, in the […]

Dear readers,
For both agents and people seeking advice real estate on the web, let’s be conscious about the difference between our opinions and facts.
If we cite our opinion, say so.  “My opinion is the real estate will to do A”.
If we cite the opinion of another or the opinion of an expert, say so.  “Dr. […]

Dear readers,
When you are looking at buying Real Estate today, they whole question boils down to one thing…what is my motivation.
Below are some reasons to buy:

Prices are more affordable than ever.  How long do you plan on staying in the home?
More first time buyers are purchasing to take advantage of tax benefits
Many homes to choose […]

As prices and interest rates fall, the Affordability Index goes up.  The Affordability Index = The percent of households that can afford to buy an entry level home.
Right now 59% of California households can afford an entry level home.  This is up from 33% a year ago according to the California Association of Realtor statistics.  […]