Why Sigh Unseen is Trending in Today's Market

The lack of available homes for sale is creating a tough market, and in some cases home buyers are making offers on homes they haven't even seen!

In Short:

• Buying homes sight unseen is a small but growing trend in some areas,even in the rental market. This is brought on by the advanced technology and competative market.

• Buyers might make offers without seeing a house for several reasons: They live elsewhere or  for business and even for personal reasons. The buyers may have had scheduling conflicts and couldn’t visit before bids were due or they’re investors are use to buying just based on the characteristics of the property.

• Even though some buyers are making offers without seeing the properties, they’re not going in blind. With the extensive photos and video tours, plenty of websites offer the buyers opportunities to learn about the neighborhoods, schools and research all comparable sales.

•  Those who bid sight unseen have the chance to tour the house during escrow and can still cancel the deal. Courthouse auctions that are in the final stage of the foreclosure process do not offer a chance to see properties in advance, nor is there an inspection period.
  
  

  
  

Menifee Sale of the Week! MUST SEE

 

Stunning 5 bedroom 3 bathroom home in Canyon Lake. This manicured home backs up to the golf course with a beautiful view. Gorgeous modern kitchen, with island. Large family room with fire place, decent size bedrooms. Wonderful balcony attached to Master bedroom. This is a gorgeous must see home.

For more information on this property please visit our website at www.lclrealty.com or call 951-260-0711

What's Selling in the Menifee Area!

We are already half way through the month of May which means summer is not far away. I am really looking forward to days spent at the beach and time to relax with my kids. In my article for the month I will be looking at what the Menifee realestate market is up to. I am hopeful to see our numbers on the rise! As always my stats are based on single family, detached residences, with 3+ bedroom and 2+ bathrooms.

·         Total # of Active Listings: 45

·         Average Listing Price for May: $337,154

·         # of Homes Sold in April: 67

·         Average Sold Home Price in Menifee: $252,160

·         Average Days on the Market: 63

I can see right away that we have increased the number of listing in Menifee from 40 in April to 45 now in May. That’s not a huge increase by any means but it is an improvement from last month. The price in which they are selling at had improved slightly from $311,703 to $337,154 8%. With a little more supply this month it’s makes it easier to get buyers into homes.

Now taking a look at our closes in Menifee, the number of closes has dropped from 82 in March to 67 now in April. These homes are selling for a little more than they were in March by about $12,000. We are also seeing that homes are remaining on the market a little longer than in previous months.

If you or someone you know is looking to enter into the real estate market contact my office and I would be more than happy to help assist you.

By: Stefan West - Owner/Broker of West Realty

LCL Rental of the Week

This cozy 2 bedroom 2 bathroom has been newly rehabbed. It resides on Cedar Crest in Menifee in the Senior Community. This gorgeous home has been freshly painted all around with new carpet throughout and has a lovely modern kitchen with 2 full bathrooms. The property has a large back yard with a patio and cover; wonderful for entertaining or watching the birds.

If you want to see more of this home please visit us at www.lclrealty.com  or call (961) 260-0711.

Rental and Sale Markets Rise Together

As you may all be aware, the sale and apartment markets normally compete with each other. The calculations are rather simple; if the amount of people who own homes goes up, then the amount of people who rent goes down. However, according to the economists the demand for rentals and housing sales are increasing at the same time.

Why you may wonder? Well, the number of households are growing again after years of being behind the population growth. For many years, college graduates have been moving back home or sharing a house with roommates. Now, these college graduates are starting to strike out on their own which creates a huge demand for new housing sales and rentals.

Since the housing inventory has been desperately trying to catch up to the growth in population for years; both rental and for-sale homes are in short supply. With the huge demand of housing, construction jobs should increase which would also create more jobs and household demands.

The sale market is recovering faster than what we saw last year. Prices rose more than 7 percent despite the small number of houses on the market. Low home prices and interest rates also turned the cost of owning a home into a great deal compared to the increase of costs renting a home or apartment.

At the current level of supply, renters who are trying to buy a home are having difficulties. Even though the real estate recovery is just starting to spread the number of homes that are available are the lowest since 1999, which was the year of the Internet boom. For years, we have heard about the flood of homes which is currently totally 3.4 million--but are still in foreclosure or seriously late in payments. However, banks cannot flood the housing market by trying to sell the homes all at once, even if they wanted to. "A majority of the homes are tied up in the foreclosure processes," according to Freddie Mac.

Construction on the Rise

Housing construction passed the mark of one million in March coming in at 1.036 million homes, up 7 percent. The increase was due to a 31 percent increase in apartment construction to a level of 417,000 units, the highest since January 2006. Single-family construction fell 4.8 percent from February The first quarter single-family average was up 6 percent from the fourth quarter 2012.

Housing permits were down 3.9 percent but from a high not seen since July 2008. The first quarter average was up 2.6 percent from the fourth quarter. Builders were stock piling permits in February and the inventory of unused permits decreased 9 percent in March. Single-family permits were unchanged so the change was due to a 10 percent drop in apartment permits is most likely because we are approaching the sustainable level of apartment construction.

Market Trends for Menifee April 2013

April is coming to a close and with May just around the corner we have Mother’s Day to start thinking about. Mother’s Day is a great way to celebrate all those special women in our lives. Also coming up on May 19^th in Menifee is their 2^nd annual Half Marathon and 5K. Clink on the link and it will take you to all the info. In my market trends report for the month I will be looking at Menifee’s real estate market to see if we have made any improvements from March. As always my stats are based on single family, detached residences, with 3+ bedrooms and 2+ baths.

·         Total # of Active Listings: 40

·         Average Listing Price for Menifee in April: $311,703

·         # of Homes Sold in March: 82

·         Average Sold Home Price in Menifee: $240,917

·         Average Days on the Market: 46

Unfortunately the number of active homes on the market hasn’t changed at all! With there being no new listings available, buyers are continuing to be frustrated with the low supply of inventory in the area. The listing price has dropped slightly in April to $311,703 from $324,831 in March. I am hopeful that in May we will see an improvement in the number of listing in the Menifee area.

Now moving onto what is selling in Menifee. I’m seeing an improvement for March, there were 82 homes close escrow and back in February there were only 65 that’s an increase of 26%. The average selling price for these homes has also gone up from $230,823 to $240,917. We are seeing a decrease in the amount of time that homes are remaining on the market by 11 days in March.

If you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell a home in the area please contact my office and we would be more than happy to help you in any way we can.

Have a great month!

By: Stefan West - Owner/Broker of West Realty