Oct
25
More old, bad news from S & P’s Case-Schiller Home Price Index
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(10/25/2011, Los Alamitos) I get frustrated on the last Tuesday of every month when S & P ‘s badly dated Case-Schiller Home Price Index is greeted breathlessly by the media, as if what happened six months ago is breaking news.
So, even though it means two real estate posts in 2 days, I’m reposting the following item from my SoCalRealEstateNews.com blog, where I put it up earlier this morning.
This will give you a more current & more local perspective on the “breaking news” you’ll be hearing all day and reading in your “news”paper tomorrow morning. And, I promise, I’ll have something about Los Al politics up later today!
This morning Standard & Poors reported their Case-Schiller National Housing Index for August was up a very modest 0.2% over July, but actually down 3.8% from August 2010. Los Angeles/Orange County prices were Read more
Oct
24
Obama announces more help for “upside down” homeowners today
Filed Under National Issues, News you can use, Real Estate | 16 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 10/24/2011) Dave E. here. I just put this summary of changes the President will be unveiling today up on my much neglected real estate blog, SoCalRealEstateNews.com, and decided to also post it here because the new program has some real potential to help homeowners who bought near the peak to regain equity. If you know someone like that, read on, & use the “share” button at the bottom to forward a link to them.
During his stop in Nevada today President Obama announced major changes to the Homeowner Affordable Refinance Program (“HARP”) designed to help more homeowners refinance to today’s lower rates even if they owe more than their home’s worth.
Here’s what we know so far:
- The program will now be available regardless of Read more
Aug
5
Real estate update: Return of the Great Recession?
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(8/5/2011, Los Alamitos) My “hobby” may be blogging, but my job for the past 30 years has been helping people sell, buy, and decide what to do about their Southern California real estate.
This morning my business partner, Blair Newman and I, sent the following article out by e-mail to our clients and friends to give our perspective on this week’s chaos in the stock market, and what it portends for local real estate.
I decided to post it here as well, since discusses issues that might concern you as well. If you’d like to be added to our bi-weekly real estate update, just use thje “contact us” button in the mast head with the subject line “Real Estate Update Please.”
Yesterday’s stock sell-off and today’s market volatility show that the sluggishness we’ve noticed in real estate is, indeed, rippling through our state, national, and global economy.
But don’t despair! In this update, we’ll inform you of what appears to be going on in the real estate trenches. More important, we’ll outline a new, conservative approach to help you, your family, & your friends weather the storm.
What’s going on?
- Two successive “stimulus” packages over the last four years failed to “jump start” our economy and may have only stretched out the Great Recession. Now the stimulus steroids are Read more
Jul
11
7 tips from England for Los Alamitos home sellers
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(7/11/11, Los Alamitos) I put this post up this morning on my real estate blog, So Cal Real Estate News. The author makes some excellent points, and with our Los Alamitos market caught in another slow-down, it seemed it might be helpful for some Los Alamitos area residents as well.
About 2 weeks ago I received an e-mail via our “contact us” link from Andrew Potter, who has a real estate blog in the UK.
Andrew thought his post “How to sell your home in a difficulty market” might be of interest to Southern California sellers.
With England’s future King and Queen “hopping the pond” to visit our gorgeous little corner of the world, I figured it’s only right to let my fellow real estate blogger do so electronically.
After I read the seven tips in Andrew’s post, I was Read more
May
31
(Almost) breaking news: National housing double dip per Case-Schiller?
Filed Under News you can use, Real Estate | 1 Comment
(Los Alamitos, 5/31/2011)There’s some interesting real estate “news” this morning, and I thought you might be interested in a post I just put up on Blair & my real estate blog, SoCalRealEstateNews.com:
(5/31/2011)According to S & P/ Case-Schiller, we’re officially in a double dip housing recession. . . at least on a nationwide basis (bold added):
Data through March 2011, released today by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller1 Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, show that the U.S. National Home Price Index declined by 4.2% in the first quarter of 2011, after having fallen 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2010.
The National Index hit a new recession low with the first quarter’s data and posted an annual decline of 5.1% versus the first quarter of 2010. Nationally, home prices are back to their mid-2002 levels.
The good news, or at least less bad, is that Case-Schiller’s Los Angeles index didn’t do nearly as bad as their national index: L.A. down 1.7% from March 2010, U.S. down 5.1%) . So we’re only 1/3 as Read more
Aug
25
What’s up (or down) with Los Alamitos real estate?
Filed Under News you can use, Real Estate | 1 Comment
(8/25/2010, by Dave Emerson) (Blogging may be my hobby, but real estate is my job and has been for 30 years–when I obtained my license at the age of 9 ;) . Today I’ll straighten out some misconceptions about July’s drop in home sales, and discus what’s going on right here in Los Alamitos real estate, and what ‘s probably ahead.)
Last night I found myself shouting at the TV, and this time it wasn’t at Angels “hitters” or “relief” pitchers, but at Diane Sawyer, as she reported on home sales 27% drop from June to July, “despite all the government’s efforts at stimulus.”
Arrrgggg!! Just keyboarding her words makes me seethe!
DIANE, JULY’S PRECIPITOUS DROP WAS BECAUSE OF the government’s stimulus efforts!! And, BTW, sweetheart, the “drop in sales” you’re reporting didn’t actually happen in July, but in April. And in Los Alamitos I don’t believe it Read more
Aug
6
Los Alamitos Real Estate News: Distressed sales swamping market?
Filed Under Real Estate | 4 Comments
- Rare “standard sale” Greenbrook just went into escrow
(8/6/2009, Los Alamitos, by Dave Emerson) Today I’m taking a break from the political discussion to update another always hot topic: What’s happening with local real estate. I hope to get that long awaited recall post up tomorrow or Saturday, and you’re welcome to carry on or join the very interesting discussion on the recall or other issues related to last Monday’s Council meeting, but for today I’m focusing on our housing market for a change.
As you’re probably aware, the first wave of foreclosures hit lower priced “starter neighborhoods in Southern California much harder than it hit Los Alamitos, let alone Rossmoor. That was largely because very few “sub prime” or no down loans were made in our community during the recent sub prime boom, because most Los Al buyers were Read more
Apr
30
Need to appeal your Los Al prop tax today? Easy 1 minute test:
Filed Under News you can use, Real Estate | 2 Comments
It's your money!
(by Dave Emerson) Yesterday I gave you detailed information about filing to get your Los Alamitos Property Tax reduced.
Since informal appeals for the 2009-2010 tax year must be postmarked today, here’s the instant version:
3 Quick steps to find out if you should file:
Apr
29
OC deadline tomorrow for huge property tax savings: Here’s how to file
Filed Under News you can use, Real Estate | 4 Comments
(Los Alamitos, by Dave Emerson) If you purchased a home in Los Alamitos (or anywhere else in Orange County) between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007, you’re probably running out of time to save on your 2009 – 2010 property tax bill.
That’s because “informal appeals” of OC property tax assessments must be postmarked tomorrow at the latest.
Fortunately, the links below will enable you or your friends to determine how much you’re likely to save, and to complete the entire process in about ten minutes.
Whether or not you really need to appeal is another hot question, with Orange County Assessor Webster Guillory claiming that Read more
Feb
20
Los Alamitos Real Estate update
Filed Under News you can use, Real Estate | 9 Comments
President Obama greets Arizona high school students after announcing his housing plan Wednesday
(by Dave Emerson) We’re going to take a brief look away from politics to another topic almost everyone’s interested in: The ongoing real estate crisis in our fair town, state, and nation.
DataQuick’s January Median Prices for 90720
DataQuick’s numbers are broken down by zip code, which lumps Rossmoor and Los Alamitos together. The median price (a tricky number) for sales of single family homes & condos that closed last month in 90720 was $555,000, down almost a third (32.3%) from January 2008.
Sadly, only 6 homes and condos closed escrow in the whole zip code last month, which was down 25% from the 8 homes closed in January 2008, which wasn’t that great either. What’s that work out to–about 1 closing for every real estate office in town? Guess that’s why most of us local Realtors work a broad area.
Medians are easily skewed by market shifts, so this doesn’t mean your home went down 32% last year. Part of the decline is a result of more starter homes and condos being foreclosed and sold, while larger, more expensive “move up” homes sit unsold. As the normal move-up buyers have been losing equity, there’s been a real dearth of move-up buyers for our towns more expensive homes.
Details on the President’s newest mortgage relief plan:
Details continue to emerge on the President’s newest plan directed at helping those in trouble with their mortgage. One of the better summaries I’ve seen so far was in an e-mail I received from James Liptack, President of the California Realtors’ Association: Read more