We had 138 new listings this week – the highest weekly total in four years!
The month of May tends to be the biggest month of the year for new listings, so buyers can expect plenty of new choices in the coming weeks.
Pricing of the active listings has been fairly steady this year:
| Price Range | ||
| Under-$1M | ||
| $1M-$1.5M | ||
| $1.5M-$2.0M |
The MLS stops calculating the data once the listing counts get into the high-400’s. The Over-$2M market has 486 active listings today!
Hat tip to Rob Dawg for sending in the latest sighting of the guy who was the face of the mortgage crisis. Here are two links that outline his story:
Casey’s wikipedia page His 10 mistakesWhere is he now? Yep, he’s a realtor:
Lower-income folks are leaving, and affluent people are coming – H/T Richard:
Over a million more people moved out of California from 2006 to 2016 than moved in, according to a new report, due mainly to the high cost of housing that hits lower-income people the hardest.
“A strong economy can also be dysfunctional,” noted the report, a project of Next 10 and Beacon Economics. Housing costs are much higher in California than in other states, yet wages for workers in the lower income brackets aren’t. And the state attracts more highly-educated high-earners who can afford pricey homes.
There are many reasons for the housing crunch, but the lack of new construction may be the most significant. According to the report, from 2008 to 2017, an average of 24.7 new housing permits were filed for every 100 new residents in California. That’s well below the national average of 43.1 permits per 100 people.
If this trend persists, the researchers argued, analysts forecast the state will be about 3 million homes short by 2025.
What does it mean?
California homeowners spend an average of 21.9% of their income on housing costs, the 49th worst in the nation, while renters spend 32.8%, the 48th worst. The median rent statewide in 2016 was $1,375, which is 40.2% higher than the national average. And the median home price was — wait for it — more than double that of the national average.
One coping strategy: California residents are more likely to double up. Nearly 14% of renter households had more than one person per bedroom, the highest reading for this category in the nation.
Coping can also mean leaving.
In a separate analysis, Realtor.com found that the number of people searching real estate listings in the 16 top California markets compared to people living there and searching elsewhere was more than double that of other areas — and growing.
And in those areas — counties including Santa Clara, San Mateo and Los Angeles — the growth in views of listings on Realtor.com was virtually unchanged compared to a year ago this spring, while views of listings in other U.S. areas were 15% higher.
Link to Full Article
Did you see the police officer in Sarasota who retired this week?
Link to story and videoMy grandfather might have been the first to have his retirement be publicized – here is his 15 minutes of fame on local Los Angeles NBC News in 1971. This is filmed at the house they owned in North Hollywood when I was growing up:
The worst thing to happen to my grandfather was when he was chasing a stolen vehicle and the driver made a quick turn and caught my grandfather’s leg with the back bumper. He was pulled off his motorcycle and was dragged down the street for a couple of blocks!
It’s been an old wives tale that listing agents can’t disclose to a buyer’s agent the price and terms of competing offers. I found this at the N.A.R. website:
Real estate brokers may, unless prohibited by law or regulation, “shop” offers. Therefore, REALTORS® assisting purchasers in formulating purchase offers should advise those purchasers it is possible that the existence, terms, and conditions of any offer they make may be disclosed to other purchasers by sellers or by sellers’ representatives except where such disclosure is prohibited by law or regulation.
Link to NAR websiteCompeting buyers are more likely to respond favorably if you give them a number to shoot at. Sharing the price and terms of other offers is a way to create a slow-motion auction effect, which benefits both sides. Buyers gain some transparency, and sellers get top dollar.
We keep hearing how tight the inventory has been, but it is relative to price. The Above-$1M market has had a fairly consistent supply – it’s the lower-end inventory count that has been dropping steadily:
NSDCC New Listings Between Jan 1 – April 30th
| Year | # Listings Below $1M | # Listings Above $1M | Percentage Above $1M |
| 2014 | |||
| 2015 | |||
| 2016 | |||
| 2017 | |||
| 2018 |
Now that we’ve come this far, sellers will be reluctant to go back!
A feel for what Tom’s world is like:
Hello to all our eco-friendly homeowners!
Now, I am NO expert. But I have read many articles and have come to the conclusion that this is where our world is heading. People have created eco-friendly cars, the next thing are homes! Check out below to see some of my favorite ideas!
1. Living Walls – a lot of homeowners are choosing living walls or green wall systems because it purifies the air, humidifies the air, AND reduces volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Studies also show that it promotes a happier and healthier family plus improves mental and physical health.
2. Natural Lighting – this is a major selling point for any buyer. The more natural light, the better! You can either invest in large energy-efficient windows (so the warmth doesn’t escape) or you can invest in a skylight to maximize that natural sunlight!
3. Mix and Match Materials – combining old and new materials is not only eco-friendly, but it gives your home some character! A lot of homeowners are now using reclaimed and re-purposed wood, which then keeps landfills empty PLUS has your home differentiate from all your neighbors!
4. Energy Efficient Appliances – there are energy-efficient options for practically every appliance out there! It will reduce your energy consumption, which then reduces your energy bill. People are willing to pay a bit more upfront to save themselves some money in the long run.
5. Gray water – this is the relatively clean waste water that comes from showers, sinks, washing machines, and other kitchen appliances. A major trend right now is to figure out a way to reuse your gray water. This water may have some traces of dirt but it is safe enough to use for outdoor irrigation! Builders can now install pipes that channel this water outside so you can use it!
6. Solar Energy – this trend has been around but it keeps growing. Investing in solar is definitely NOT cheap, but the financial and environmental benefits can be huge in the long run.
There is so much we can do for this beautiful planet – let’s keep it going!
Happy Tuesday everyone!
KK
More news today on the surge in home pricing, with Diana happy to point out that half of the nation’s 50 largest markets are now considered overvalued, meaning home prices are at least 10 percent higher than the long-term, sustainable level.
“The dream of homeownership continues to fade away for the average prospective buyer. Lower-priced homes are appreciating much faster than higher-priced properties, making the affordability crisis progressively worse,” said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “CoreLogic’s Market Condition Indicators now indicate that half of the top 50 markets in the country are overvalued because home prices in those areas have risen so much faster than incomes. This is clearly an unsustainable condition that can only be remedied by aggressive and coordinated public/private sector actions.”
Looking ahead, the CoreLogic HPI Forecast indicates that the national home-price index is projected to continue to increase by 5.2 percent on a year-over-year basis from March 2018 to March 2019.
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The concern about overvalued areas is probably coming from the other states whose prices are substantially above the last peak. Or in other words, it’s always been crazy in California, and we’re used to it! Click on image:
While this map makes it look like California is lagging behind Texas and others, we probably had a higher peak, relatively. Most of the subprime lenders with no-doc and neg-am loans were in California, and sales and prices were very bubblicious. This time it’s different!
Link to Website
This is why electronic signatures are binding. Thanks daytrip!
Does it matter what you sign on contracts? Could you draw a picture or put an X and have it still be legally binding?
With so many facets of modern life being automated, signatures being easy to forge, and given how difficult it is to prove based on signature alone whether a given person actually signed something, using a person’s exact signature “design” for verification purposes after the fact is going the way of the Dodo.
This leads us to the question of the day – given all this, is there any rule about what exactly your signature has to look like? Can you, for example, just sign all your legal documents with a big X like they do in cartoons?
As it turns out, just like it’s possible to cash those big novelty checks because there’s no rule about what a check has to look like or be made of (just what information needs to be included), you can, in many regions of the world, sign a document in any way you wish. This is because a signature from a legal standpoint is just proof that you considered and accepted something. Or to quote the U.S.’ Uniform Commercial Code §3-401(b):
A signature may be made (i) manually or by means of a device or machine, and (ii) by the use of any name, including a trade or assumed name, or by a word, mark, or symbol executed or adopted by a person with present intention to authenticate a writing.
In other words, even if you sign a document in the U.S. and many other parts of the world with a drawing, you’re still legally bound by the terms of that document because it’s the act of signing a document that matters, not the signature itself.
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
