Market conditions are favorable throughout the NSDCC. Here are stats on the individual areas:
| Area | |||||
| Cardiff | |||||
| Carlsbad NW | |||||
| Carlsbad SE | |||||
| Carlsbad NE | |||||
| Carlsbad SW | |||||
| Del Mar | |||||
| Encinitas | |||||
| La Jolla | |||||
| RSF | |||||
| Solana Bch | |||||
| Carmel Vly | |||||
| All Above |
It used to be that 6 months of inventory was considered normal. Can we say the new normal is more like 3.0? Areas that are performing very well are 2.0? Those on fire are 1.0?
http://www.realtor.com/news/real-estate-news/home-prices-rising/
An excerpt:
“Prices are increasing faster than we expected them to because of the continual shortage of new homes coming onto the market,” says Senior Economist Joseph Kirchner of realtor.com. “People that had been holding back on buying a home … now have good, steady jobs and are less worried about losing their jobs and hence are going into the housing market.”
If the shortage of homes continues, prices could rise 7% to 8% Y-O-Y in 2017, he says. Ouch. That means buyers on a budget “will be able to afford one less bedroom [or need to] accept a house with a longer commute,” Kirchner says.
The first quarter of 2017 marked the strongest quarterly sales pace in a decade, according to the report.
“Prospective buyers poured into the market,” NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. “Those able to successfully buy most likely had to outbid others—especially for those in the starter-home market.”
Prices went up in 85% of those metros, which are highly populated areas made up of one or more city cores surrounded by suburban and rural communities. That’s down slightly from 89% in the previous quarter, but 30 metros did see double-digit price hikes in the first three months of 2017.
“Several metro areas with the healthiest job gains in recent years continue to see a large upswing in buyer demand but lack the commensurate ramp up in new home construction,” Yun said. “This is why many of these areas— in particular several parts of the South and West—are seeing unhealthy price appreciation that far exceeds incomes.”
Four of the five most expensive markets were in California. Silicon Valley’s San Jose took the lead, as the median existing single-family home came with a $1,070,000 price tag. The metro was followed by San Francisco, at $1,815,000; Anaheim, CA, at $750,000; Honolulu, at $746,00; and San Diego, at $564,000 (up 5% Y-O-Y, but lower than each of the last three quarters).
Overall, the West was also the most expensive housing region. The median price for an existing single-family home was $342,500 in the first quarter of the year. That’s up 8.4% year over year.
The onslaught of new-fangled ways to sell homes is getting bogged down in their own zeal – there are so many choices now, which way do you go? You have the sexy off-market package driven by celebrity realtors above, or the typical new-age mobile app at a discount below:
Find Home from Reali on Vimeo.
The Winners?
The scarcity of sales should drive more agents out of the business, and the those agents who remain will be increasingly focused on putting their own buyers and sellers together.
We have the listing agents who hold listings off-market in order to find their own buyer, but there are also agents who will do ‘sold before processing’ with an outside agent. This happens quite frequently.
If a listing agent isn’t going to round-trip the commission, and instead let a second agent represent the buyer – why wouldn’t you do what is best for your own client (the seller), and expose it to all agents via the MLS?
An old veteran agent told me that he hoped he would sell his new listing before MLS input, and he did – and an outside agent represented the buyer. The house had been vacant for years so there wasn’t an occupant who held up the showings – all he had to do was install a lockbox, take a few photos with his phone, and spend 15-30 minutes doing the MLS input.
He did input the listing onto the MLS after he found the buyer, so was it the installing of the lockbox and taking a few photos too much of a burden?
Why wouldn’t he do what is best for his seller?
He must either be flat out lazy, or he wanted everyone on the MLS to see that he was the latest to breach his fiduciary duty. It is like a badge of honor!
The realtor business is slowly eroding right before our eyes.
Another fantastic week! In spite of Mother’s Day, we still had 80 new pendings – this has to be the hottest three-week stretch we have had since 2013.
There can be a lull around graduation season, but we might blow right through it this year. Keep the new listings coming!
| Week | ||
| Feb 6 | ||
| Feb 13 | ||
| Feb 20 | ||
| Feb 27 | ||
| Mar 6 | ||
| Mar 13 | ||
| Mar 20 | ||
| Mar 27 | ||
| Apr 3 | ||
| Apr 10 | ||
| Apr 17 | ||
| Apr 24 | ||
| May 1 | ||
| May 8 | ||
| May 15 |
Can we also note that Zillow said the best time to list your San Diego home is in the first two weeks of April – HERE I said it was in May!
Click on the ‘Read More’ link below for the NSDCC active-inventory data:
The idea of an agent representing both buyer and seller in the same transaction gets a lot of play among realtors and consumers alike.
The do-gooder agents will tell you to get your own realtor, instead of relying on the listing agent to be your agent too. Most of their arguments are centered around the listing agent being more loyal to the seller, so obviously the buyers will get screwed.
But have you noticed how often you see a low sale (which stand out these days because they are so rare) being a result of the listing agent representing both parties? The buyer and agent conspire to write a low offer, and somehow the agent convinces the seller that it’s the best they can do.
It usually a long-time listing, where sellers are giving up hope – and they let down their defenses because of the lack of offers.
Before sellers take a lowball offer, especially written by the listing agent, they should insist on lowering the price to the midpoint to see if there are any other takers out there.
Usually if a listing has languished for more than a month or two, buyers give up on it, rather than making a lower offer. A decent price reduction could get it back on their radar, and give the house a chance to sell for fair-market value.
For those wondering how the market could sustain momentum, consider that twice as many parents are planning to help their children purchase a home than have already contributed.
They want to leave a legacy, and besides, you can’t take it with you!
A quarter of Californians who are 55 and older haven’t moved since the 1970s?
Get used to seeing older homes needing a full upgrade coming to market over the next 5-20 years. We are overdue!
It’s one thing to offer above the list price, but would you waive all contingencies too?
I think a judge would be reluctant to have a buyer lose a deposit. Listing agents who might keep a deposit should do a pre-listing home inspection, and give a copy to anyone making an offer with no contingencies, just in case.
Homes are selling fast in Seattle, spending about 25 days on the market, down from 65 in March 2012. It can be hard to find parking at open houses and some are so crowded that it’s hard to move around to see the home.
Sellers are seeing some of the biggest price gains in almost a decade, and they know they’re in the driver’s seat.
“You put a house on the market you will have 100 people through the open house on the weekend and maybe 15-20 offers,” said Patti Hill, a real estate agent who has worked in the Seattle market for more than 17 years.
To win a home, buyers are putting in aggressive offers.
“Some of them are kind of scary because they’re waiving contingencies that puts earnest money in jeopardy if something happens,” said Hill. It’s common for Seattle buyers to waive inspections and appraisals and go above list price.
When Harris and his partner found their soon-to-be new home, they did everything they could to come up with the winning bid. They waived all contingencies, went above the asking price and had an escalation clause.
“Buyers are totally at the mercy of whatever the sellers wants,” he said. “If you want the house, you do whatever it takes.”
The pair also talked to the listing agent to find out about any special circumstances about the owner and incorporated that into a personalized letter and also offered a 30-day rent-back-to-owner for free.
Their winning bid was $425,000 — $60,000 over the asking price and above their original budget.
Are you looking for an experienced agent to help you buy or sell a home?
Contact Jim the Realtor!
CA DRE #01527365, CA DRE #00873197
