An update on the Actives/Pendings report - does anyone remember when it was called the Jim Ratio? One day fellow realtor Peter B. agreed with me that a 2:1 ratio of active listings to pendings were a normal market, and boom, the Jim Ratio was born. The...
I swear - I checked it 4 times and it said $437/sf every time, and the 101%! Now it says $387/sf for the 148 sales recorded so far between January 1-30 this year, which means November was an unusual pop above the normal range-bound pricing we have seen lately: I am...
New listings of short sales and REOs are lagging well behind previous years, but non-distressed listings are higher than last January: NSDCC New Listings, January 1-28th: Year Short Sales REOs Non-SSREO Totals 2010 44 15 321 380 2011 40 10 437 487 2012 35 12 327 374...
Tuesday's Case-Shiller report is going to blow the roof off the market: The housing market typically experiences a seasonal slowdown during the winter months, but this year seems to be different, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance survey. In...
Reader Matt questioned whether we are in another bubble: 2 years ago, homes were sitting at 600-650 range. Now, you can’t find a home for under 900k in Encinitas without a feeding frenzy. Bubble? The media, and the soundbite society, has trained us to apply labels to...
The lower-end market is hot enough that buyers caught up in the frenzy will react faster - and with less deliberation - causing them to overlook negatives. Can they keep their wits about them? I doubt it too, and as a result, both of these will probably sell:
The local frenzy has been rolling for months now, and we're only approaching the traditional selling season. Here is a sample from an open house last month in Carmel Valley that just closed escrow:
Myself and others have had thoughts and observations about the new year, and what is happening around town. Here are a few: 1. Prices are moving much faster than normal. 2. Prices would have dropped much faster, and bottomed earlier, without government...
For golf legend Phil Mickelson, the low 60s makes for a great score on the links — and a lousy tax rate in his home state of California. Mickelson said “drastic changes” are ahead for him due to federal and California state tax increases that have pushed his tax rate...
Real estate agent Alan Castillo recently listed a client's fixer-upper in Granada Hills for $278,250. It was only 1,600 square feet -- but it drew 128 offers, most of them in cash. The final selling price, after all of 10 days on the market? $377,872. "I was very...
