Low Interest Rates Keep Housing Market GoingLast Updated 5/16/2019 Recently lowered interested rates have boosted California’s housing market this past month, with home sales staying level after a strong February and March. According to the California Association of Realtors, the median home price jumped from $534,140 in February to $564,820 last month, a 5.9 perc {...} Read full article |
Red Flags Could Affect Housing MarketLast Updated 3/27/2019 An alarming report by the Federal Reserve indicates American citizens collectively owe about $13.54 trillion in debt and that for the past four years individual debt has been rising. Compared during the height of the great recession in 2008, individual Americans collectively were $12.7 trillion doll {...} Read full article |
Listings Balloon as Sales SlowLast Updated 11/27/2018 For the past seven years, the California market has seen tremendous gains. As mortgage rates have risen, the housing boom appears to be fading. Sales have slowed, while inventory has grown and listing prices have begun to drop. According to Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics, the current s {...} Read full article |
Existing Home Sales StallLast Updated 9/21/2018 Sales of existing single-family homes have fallen for four straight consecutive months according to the newest figures from the California Association of Realtors. In the Southern California region, an eight percent drop in home sales compared to this time last year shows the once hot sales market {...} Read full article |
Homeownership Burden IncreasingLast Updated 7/3/2018 Rising housing and living costs have reached all-time highs in many Counties throughout California, which is bringing new attention to the struggle and burdens of home ownership. If you pay more than 30 percent of your gross income, meaning the income you earn before taxes, you are considered “hou {...} Read full article |
Owner Occupied Homes at Record LowLast Updated 4/15/2018 High prices have forced a growing percentage of families to postpone buying a house. California now has a record-low homeownership rate, and foreign buyers and investors are the likely driving force of higher prices. In 2006, about 10 percent of single-family homes were purchased in cash. During {...} Read full article |
Tax changes could hurt affordabilityLast Updated 1/15/2018 The tax bill President Trump signed into law last month may bring changes to California’s real estate market. Because California is one of the most expensive housing markets in the country, changes to interest deductions and the doubling of the standard deduction are seen as having a negative impac {...} Read full article |
Affordability at lowest level since crashLast Updated 11/6/2017 Tight housing inventory across the state has driven home prices higher and reduced the purchasing power for potential buyers. The percentage of home buyers who could afford the median-priced, existing single-family home has fallen to 28 percent, a 10 year low. Affordability hit its peak during the {...} Read full article |
The brewing California housing crisisLast Updated 8/29/2017 New California economic reports show that we are currently head deep in a new housing crisis. Homeownership, once part of the American dream, is at its lowest rate since World War II. Roughly half of the state’s homeowners are struggling to afford their mortgage and 70 percent of lower income Cali {...} Read full article |
Peak summer markets and increasing interest ratesLast Updated 7/12/2017 According to the newest market data from Realtor.com, 40% of the busiest housing markets this summer are in California. With a housing shortage and limited numbers of homes for sale, prices have continued to increase. With home prices rising, middle and lower income buyers are struggling to find a {...} Read full article |
Are we in another real estate bubble?Last Updated 5/24/2017 Five years after housing prices bottomed out, cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco have seen housing values reach the records set in 2007. Home values have recovered from the recession in wealthier areas, including near the coast or on hillsides. The median home price in LA County has hit {...} Read full article |
What the new hike in rates means for homeownersLast Updated 3/22/2017 The Federal Reserve voted 9-1 last week to increase the key short-term rate by a quarter of a percent. Mortgage rates, credit cards and home equity loans are expected to be impacted. Higher mortgage rates have the potential to lower the demand for home purchases, which can the cause housing values {...} Read full article |
Distressed Sales DropLast Updated 2/7/2017
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The 2016 Home Sales Report, released by ATTOM Data Solutions, shows that 16.2 percent of property sales across the nation in 2016 were short sales or bank owned foreclosure auctions. Trending down from 18.8 percent of {...}