Here is some real estate sales data I found published on Housing-Kaboom, for June 2008. These numbers were calculated by DataQuick...

Community	Homes Sold	June 2008	June 2007	% Change
Hemet	161	$177,000	$288.750	-38.70%
Homeland	2	$167,750	$435,000	-61.44%
Lake Elsinore	119	$245,000	$385,000	-36.36%
Menifee	109	$268,000	$392,000	-31.63%
Murrieta	296	$289,000	$440,000	-34.32%
Nuevo	9	$238,500	$547,000	-56.40%
Perris	134	215,000	$370,000	-41.89%
Sun City	88	252,500	$328,250	-23.08%
Temecula	239	$319,000	$450,000	-29.11%
Wildomar	45	$294,000	$440,000	-33.18%
Winchester	84	$305,000	$423,250	-27.94%

Probably most notable is Perris, taking a drop of nearly 42% on 134 sales. Ouch!

You can view numbers for other communities throughout the Inland Empire on Housing-Kaboom...

http://housing-kaboom.blogspot.com/2008/07/june-sales-by-city.html

Labels: Menifee-Real-Estate-Market, Property-Values

Tomorrow brings around a once in 4 year event - mainly February 29th, better known as leap year. In my household this means my newly crowned 4 year old will be chortling for birthday presents while his little brother attempts to steal at least one new toy to play with. What has this to do with Menifee real estate? - Honestly, not much except....

Tomorrow also brings the end of February and the warm up to the buying season in Menifee CA real estate, or so we all hope. The economic news has not been fantastic BUT the news and political awareness of it is driving key changes that could really start to take effect this spring and summer.

For instance, this week alone I have received more calls from first time home buyers than I have over the previous 2 months. Wall Street saw some headlines about finally reaching bottom and the Fed is still planning on further reducing rates. This is all vital news for Menifee real estate as well as Murrieta and Temecula.

Due to the increase in real estate activity we are experiencing, I plan to bring on a couple additional agents in my company.

The key challenge remains the banks. They are very tight right now and absolutely devastating the market with pricing drops necessary to move Menifee foreclosure properties. But I will say that investors are out and aggressively looking. If I didn't have a huge, expensive birthday party this Saturday (ok, its not that expensive - I am a conservative soul), I would be out working this entire weekend straight with buyers.

One new thing I have seen in Menifee real estate is investors approaching me on Short Sale properties with the intention of buying it and perhaps even renting directly back to the sellers for a couple years lease option. This is dependent of course on the investor feeling good about the seller's viability to pay a lower payment consistently. And the seller doing the necessary credit repair, but the end result is the seller stays in the home and the investor can make a decent profit when they sell it back in a 2-3 years.

The seller is happy because they get the property at a lower price in the future without having to move their family. However, it isn't as turn-key as it sounds since a lot of seller see what is out there and perhaps want to find new Menifee homes in the near future that are now within their reach financially with some credit work done.

To sum things up, the Menifee real estate market remains very challenging right now but I am directly seeing much more buyer activity. We are reaching a peak point where the banks really need to lighten up on real estate but need to start lending again as well. As we move into Spring and then Summer I hope to see a solid reduction in properties on the market. Below are some sales figures picking up from my last post.

December 2007 Sales - 46
January 2008 Sales - 34

Have a great leap year everyone and let's hope Spring and Summer start reducing the amount of properties on the market.

Labels: Menifee-Real-Estate-Market

The North County Times reports today that home values in Riverside County have hit a four year low, averaging $331,500, it's lowest level since July 2004....

Prices continued to plummet across Southern California, with Riverside County's median sale falling to $331,500, its lowest level since July 2004, according to the monthly report by DataQuick Information Systems.

I just looked at my home's value on Zillow.com, and it pretty much reflects the same trend.

The article went on to quote Gene Wunderlich, a Realtor in Wildomar, that we're going to see more depreciation. I tend to agree.

I'm not a real estate expert, but everything I've read so far about our economy says that 2008 is going to just as bad as 2007. It doesn't look like the economy is going to get better until 2009.

Countryside Marketplace is supposed to open its first stores in September 2008. That should help create more demand for Menifee homes. But any demand that gets created here will be swallowed up by new home builders.

Labels: Menifee-Real-Estate-Market

Happy Holidays to all the wonderful people of Menifee!

It has been a busy month for all of us and this is my first chance to post in a bit. While the Menifee real estate market has been tough, there are a lot of things to be grateful for. I am grateful for my two wonderful boys, my fantastic wife, and have been blessed with incredible clients over the years! So Merry Xmas if any of you happen to read this!

Whenever I do an update of any sort, I try to show a market trend via some actually meaniful "end result" real estate statistics and then cross check that with my personal level of business. Usually, my business level is more indictive of the market then the statistics since they follow the cycle.

Statistically, in Menifee real estate there have been the following closes in the 4th Quarter:

Oct. 2007 - 34
Nov. 2007 - 45
Dec. 2007 - 30 (so far through the 28th)

I imagine that we will end up closing 35-40+ homes in December since there are over 50 deals currently pending. There is a lot of pressure on Menifee bank owned homes to close by year end, although many will spill over into the new year.

So the level of production has been pretty consistent from that statistic. However, my business has been climbing aggressively over the last month. Many of the Menifee bank owned homes are dropping to all time lows, pricing them on the same level as rentals. If you can rent or buy, people tend to buy.

So, there is quite a bit of activity going on right now, believe it or not. There is also a hot zone in pricing. For instance, the $250k price point in Murrieta and Temecula real estate is interesting. When a property hits that level and is even remotely decent (1300+ square feet, 3 bed, 2 bath, etc) it goes in a matter of days, usually with multiple offers coming in.

The banks are behind many aspects of this Menifee real estate market. From failed loans to foreclosure properties to generating eligible buyers. Now that the banks have gotten more aggressive with house pricing, things are starting pick up.

However, in contrast to attractive pricing, the banks are making it harder and harder for Menifee real estate buyers to qualify. I just had a buyer ready to go, in escrow and the bank changed the program days before his close, ruining the deal and making us start all over.

In many respects the Menifee real estate market is in the hands of the banks. They control a majority of properties (and thus pricing) on the market in terms of Menifee foreclosures and short sales. So when they lower prices it redefines the market. And by restricting more and more buyers, they control both the supply and demand. The average homeowner is going to be a spectator for a while unless they are in a short sale or foreclosure situation.

Many of you have heard the Federal Reserve is working on different methods to get things improved. The main one is the lowering of interest rates which has helped. Another is them pouring more money into the system to give banks more to work with. However, until the banks are willing to loosen up it is simply a hose turned on full but kinked by the bank's foot shutting down the flow.

I think that things will be tighter in terms of lending for the next couple months and pricing will go a tad lower as the banks completely liquidate holdings. The new legistlation will help reduce future Menifee foreclosures and once the banks lighten up on Menifee real estate they can start relaxing a little more in lending. In many ways, they are continuing to shoot themselves in the foot and will figure that out sooner than later.

The Menifee real estate market will probably begin to see more properties moved as the price lowers enough that people can qualify for loans and buy instead of rent. Depending on the banks, we could start to see pricing holding water in the Spring.

So going into the new year, I believe we are nearing a bottom from what my own business is seeing. I deal with dozens of clients each month and there are certain patterns that seem to click. I think Menifee real estate has a little way to go but we are finally getting there. I don't like the price drops but I do like seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

I hope this information is useful to you. If you know anyone that is considering buying, please have them speak with a broker knowledgible in the Menifee real estate market. There are some great opportunities right now. And please, if they are considering buying from a builder, they absolutely must talk with a experienced broker first! There are way too many mistakes being made on this front lately!

Happy Holidays and New Year - May 2008 bring you and your family the very best!

Sincerely,

Stefan West
Diversified Realty, Broker
951-894-6199

Labels: Menifee-Foreclosures, Menifee-Real-Estate-Market, Menifee-Shortsales

Last week I went to a Title company get together where they host agents, provide food, update on stuff, and overall work to get our business. What I learned there is what I would like to share and thereby give people reading this blog an inside peak at my business.

The biggest thing I learned is that business is VERY slow. Now I realize that it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out, however, I didn't realize how slow. First, I was told for all of the something like 5500 registered agents in our South Riverside community, only 182 deals were closed in August. Now that is a serious shocker, especially since I closed 100 of them myself --- just kidding!

I realize that many of those 5500 agents may have been gone a long time already or are only part time and won't realize success in this career at this time. But while I was mingling around, I talked to two other major agents that I know there and they are going to be lucky to make a third of what they did last year.

I also learned that several title companies and escrow companies have launched recent cuts. The overall feel is that the Real Estate industry is stridently trimming the fat and getting lean and mean. The new agents and the part timers are gone. The happy, go lucky internet crowd are gone. And the loose referrals to unknown agents are gone.

The only agents or brokers that seem to be doing well are going back to the basics and are the hardcore fulltimers like myself that understand the market, the service we offer, and the importance of long term thinking.

Another tidbit I picked up was that people are trying to avoid short sales which I actually go after. I thought that was a odd but more and more agents are unaware how they work or just feel they are too much trouble, which many times they can be. However, short sales are something the right buyer should go after since they often offer the very best deals available on the market.

The end sum of my blog today - Sellers, things are tightening up and deals are few and far between. The homes that are selling are ones that make a fantastic first impression and show a willingness to negotiate. Buyers - what a time to make a purchase. And if you want to work a really good deal right now, investigate short sales since they seem to be a black sheep yet in my opinion often offer you an amazing deal that many times beats foreclosures hands down.

Short sale properties are often being actively maintained, the seller is relaxed on price point, and is a segment many people ignore. If you don't know what one is, now is a great time to learn as we turn in the traditional slow season.

Speaking of slow season, I will offer some positive news for sellers. I am actually busier now than I was this summer. It seems like more properties are reaching a point where they are going off the market and thereby reducing supply which is still very high. I am working with more buyers right now than I have in several months. With the reduction in loan rates hopefully to continue, AND the passing of the debt forgiveness policy (fingers crossed) things seem to be working towards a more balanced market.

Sincerely,

Stefan West
Diversified Realty
951-894-6199
Temecula to Menifee Homes

Labels: Menifee-Real-Estate-Market

LOS ANGELES (Oct. 10) – Home prices throughout most of California will post modest declines next year while sales of existing homes will stabilize from the precipitous decrease experienced in 2007, according to the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) "2008 California Housing Market Forecast" released today.

The forecast will be presented this afternoon during the CALIFORNIA REALTOR® EXPO 2007 (http://www.realtorexpo.org/), running from Oct. 9-11 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. The trade show attracts nearly 12,000 attendees and is the largest state real estate trade show in the nation.

The median home price in California will decline 4 percent to $553,000 in 2008 compared with a projected median of $576,000 this year, while sales for 2008 are projected to decrease 9 percent to 334,500 units, compared with 367,500 units (projected) in 2007.

"Tighter credit standards, affordability concerns, and a continued standoff between buyers and sellers will contribute to continued weakness in the market going into next year," said C.A.R. President Colleen Badagliacco. "Now is not the time for homeowners to 'test the waters' - only serious sellers should put their homes on the market in what will continue to be a challenging sales environment."

Read more of the story at http://www.car.org/index.php?id=Mzc4OTg=

Labels: Menifee-Real-Estate-Market

Economists predict that next year will be tough, but say some metro areas will hold up nicely and the future may not be as gloomy as some fear.

Americans are increasingly nervous about the real estate market in 2007. They have good reason to be. But the news isn't all bad: Interest rates will remain at historically low levels, homebuyers will see more opportunities, and, best of all, for those planning for the long term, 2009 could be primed for a comeback.

To gauge what the next 12 months might look like, though, BusinessWeek.com asked economists at leading real estate research firms to provide their outlooks for the housing market in 2007. The less-than-festive consensus: Home prices will continue to fall in some markets, and the rate of price appreciation will slow in most places. Declines in homes sales, which directly influence price trends, will set the stage for another year of price decreases in 2008. Foreclosures will continue to increase. For those struggling to hold onto their homes, their net worth will shrink as these homes lose value. Long-term mortgage rates will rise. Housing starts will see double-digit depreciation, the sharpest decline since 1991, the worst year for housing starts on record.

To read more about this go to http://realestate.msn.com/Buying/Article_busweek.aspx?cp-documentid=1699105

HOLLY KAY
BROKER ASSOCIATE
SUNSET REAL ESTATE AND MORTGAGE
951-757-9632

Labels: Menifee-Real-Estate-Market