December 2009 Menifee Real Estate Update

Ho, ho, ho - Merry Christmas to Menifee! I love this time of year and also can actually bring good tidings to the Menifee real estate community. Things are changing! Truthfully, we have been in a constant state of change and upcoming 2010 doesn't look the alter that.

First, we are seeing huge amounts of sales. I didn't pull stats ups but let me see what I can do on the fly..gimme a second....entering password....wow that actually took longer than expected. Right now there are 487 homes advertised for sale in Menifee that are either active or pending. More than half or 286 to be exact are pending, leaving only 201 actives.

I know that sounds like a lot, but only 31 of those 201 are actually Menifee bank-owned homes. And only one of those homes has been on the market for more than 30 days - one. What does that mean? It means that just about every bank owned home on the market is now getting multiple offers and usually going over asking price. The other actives are long-term or mishandled Menifee short sales that may or may not actually be available. Yes, there are A LOT of agents that mishandled short sales.

When I say these Menifee homes may not be available, I mean that often agents leave short sales in an active status even though they already have one or more offers. Because short sales can take awhile, they often confuse the market. With 58% of the market pending and only 15% of the available market being bank-owned homes, we have a real tight supply for buyers right now which is driving UP prices quite a bit. Bottomline - being an agent and finding clients a home can be a challenge right now.

Menifee foreclosure homes are going very fast! Buyers with VA and FHA loans who need closing costs are having the most trouble. That's the downside. The upside is values are rising and interest rates are at an all time low. On top of that, they just extended AND expanded the home buyer incentive opening it up to even more buyers.

More buyers + tight supply of homes + low interest rates + extended home buyers incentive + annoying banks (had to toss that one in there) = increasing property values!

Do you realize that if you buy a $200,000 home in Menifee right now with an FHA loan you will get about a 5% interest rate? Also, with the tax incentive you will get back between $6,500 - $8,000 from the government. FHA loans are 3.5% down so $200,000 x 3.5% = $7,000. You will actually buy a home for nothing down, get an amazing tax write off, and lock in a long term interest rate - no interest only or 5 year arm stuff here. If you even consider an ARM loan in this market, I want you to immediately call my loan guy Mark Woelky at 951-536-2288 and tell him to kick you!

So the news is merry and the Menifee real estate market is stablizing and moving upward. I can't find homes for my buyers for the prices of two months ago. If you are considering buying a home, now is the time to strike!

Merry Christmas Menifee! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas this year! And thanks Steve for hosting and maintaining such a wonderful blog!

Sincerely,

Stefan West, Broker
West Realty
Menifee CA Real Estate, Temecula CA Real Estate




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