Menifee Real Estate Report and Trends November 2011

I know this is a little late but here you go - your Menifee Real Estate Market Report for November 2011!
I had to absorb the holidays and all that turkey before I was able to bring myself to post this. In fact, I was away for a quick weekend and the real estate market in Menifee has been quite active! Congrats to Stephanie and Rudy on their new Menifee home by the way!

I will make this trends report fairly fast but will be comparing it with my Menifee Real Estate Market Report for October 2011 to see any current adjustments. Even though I am reporting after the month, the numbers were pulled in November for this article. As always, I focus on single family homes, 3+ bedrooms, not attached, etc. Maintaining a consistent standards is the core of this article.

* Total # of Active Menifee Homes Listed - 247
* Average Menifee Home Listed Price - $223,451
* Ttl. # of Menifee Homes Sold in October - 68
* Average Menifee October Sales Price - $209,566
* Average Days on Market before sale - 78

Reading this report, it seems that some things are slowing down as we come up to the new year. This isn't unusual but it does contrast with my Temecula Real Estate Market Report that describes the very same amount of Temecula houses closing in both September and October - ie., no real reduction. In October, Menifee house sales fell from 95 units in September to only 68 units in October, a decline of 28.4% month over month. That is a pretty significant difference!

Even so, supply has also fallen from 300 active Menifee Houses in October to 247 in November, a 17.66% decrease in available inventory. That is also a significant reduction of readily available properties. Going back for a minute, we can catch that both the average Active list cost and average Sold cost have grown. The active list was $218,344 in October and is now $223,450 in November, a difference of 2.33%. The average sold cost grew from $206,600 in September to $209,566 in October, a minor 1.43% difference but still an upward one in both statistics.

It looks like we are having a contraction in the market on the supply side. We also see a shrinking in the buyer or demand side as well. I know standard and bank owned houses are moving pretty quickly if they are in respectable to excellent shape. This indicates that banking institutions are decreasing supply and the flippers are slowing a tiny bit. But the prices have held constant and slightly increased so we might have struck an interesting balance. Having said that, I do not to see closings figures down that significantly over the drop in supply. I would argue for reduced pricing but yet, currently that is not the case since supply is more limited.

This shows a couple months in decreasing sales figures for Menifee property sales. But pricing is hanging pretty well and I am really curious to see what develops in December actives and November sales in my next report. Meanwhile, I hope you all had a great Menifee Thanksgiving and are currently working on your Christmas lights!

Sincerely,

Stefan West, Broker for Menifee Real Estate and Temecula Homes!

Real Estate Activity High - For Holidays

Real Estate sales in November and December are typically level, but so far this November has seen good activity in the market.

Housing prices are stabilizing in the valley and in some areas have seen an increase. Menifee Real Estate, when compared to Temecula Real Estate, has historically lagged when prices have increased, but this holiday season we are expecting to see an increase in sales because of the record low prices. We are on Temecula's tail!

With the new addition of Best Buy and the surrounding "blue chip" businesses, Menifee has become a sought after little town. Realtors agree that Menifee is becoming an ideal place to live and an even better place to invest.

Skylar Lewis

Menifee Real Estate

Temecula Real Estate
Carpet Cleaning
Tile Cleaning

Happy Veteran's Day!!

I will get my update for Menifee up next week. But today is Veteran's day and I want to wish all the military familes out there a huge Thank You!

As a real estate guy, I get to see more of what you deal with than most. I have helped families move when a spouse is on rotation, talked with clients over skype when they are half a world away, and watched how challenging keeping a family together can be.

I also see how often you are transferred to North Carolina, Virginia, overseas, Hawaii, Arizona, etc after you are settled in here and the kids are enrolled. You put up with A LOT of things most people never think about.

So thank you very much. I am very blessed to work with many military over the last decade and it is inspiring to see great people and families at work.

Have a great Veteran's day!

Sincerely,

Stefan West
Temecula Real Estate
Menifee Real Estate

Menifee Real Estate and Trends October 2011 Report

I scream BOOOOO to you! It is late in the month of October and Halloween is in less than a week! Kids are fired up for sweets and costumes, and adults are thinking - why is Halloween on a Monday?! The holidays are coming up and we all scratch our head and start pondering, where did 2011 go?

Well I don't have the answer to that, however I can answer where Menifee CA real estate went in the month of October! As we get into the holiday months, we will normally see a gradual slow down commence in October. I know we saw that take place in Temecula when I wrote my October 2011 Temecula Real Estate Trend Report. That showed an 18% drop in home closes month over month! Please bear in mind that although this is my October report, the sales amounts trail by a month and are for September closes while the actives are for October. Having said that, here are the numbers:

Menifee Real Estate Properties Sold and Active Listings Update - October 2011

* Total # of Active Properties Listed - 300
* Average Active List Price - $ 218,344
* Menifee CA Properties Sold in September - 95
* Avg. September Sales Price - $ 206,602
* Avg. Sold Days on Market - 73

It appears like Menifee is still keeping a pretty steady tempo as we come into Autumn. There has been very small modifications in the Menifee real estate market. Total active listings have increased by only 14 homes from the previous month, a 5.6% increase. But the average asking price is almost lifeless even with last month. You are able to see last month's report here - Menifee CA Real Estate Report 9/2011.

Also, compared to the Temecula Valley real estate market, Menifee real estate actually just slightly fell in property closes from 99 in August to 95 in September which is a 4% decline. In terms of sold pricing we dropped only 1.36%. That is fairly marginal and Days on Market variable literally progressed to 73 days from 80 days! That is really fascinating and exhibits that these cities are not complete mirror images one another.

In my business I have witnessed a lot more purchasers hunting for Menifee real estate recently. The price levels are really good and numerous renters are feeling their best bang for the buck in Menifee. So overall, we lost only a number of closes but have remained steady. I would expect these numbers to decrease as we head into the holiday season. That is a fairly consistent trend. Although, with rates so uncommonly low, it is pushing more first time buyers into the real estate market.

On another note, yesterday President Obama extended the Making Home Affordable structure and I predict that reducing short sales a little bit as MANY more individuals who are upside down more than 125% will be able to get refinancing if their loans are with Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. That ought to influence the market as early as December 2011 however most banks will not transition until January.

I hope this Menifee Real Estate update finds you and your family healthy and looking forward to a great holiday season!

Menifee CA Real Estate Market 9/2011

Time is speeding by this year and Menifee real estate is flying along with it! As of just yesterday, the Federal Reserve has taken additional action to stimulate the economy and thus interest rates dropped even lower! I just had a client contact my lender today to do an FHA Streamline and lower their rate from 5.5% which they obtained about 1.5 years ago to an estimated 3.75%! That is an extraordinary change and the beneficial side of FHA Streamlines is they are quite simple for anybody who presently has an FHA loan - even if the property value has fallen down!! Right now, I am wishing I was FHA instead of conventional - Grrr.

Enough about loan stuff (but it is worth learning about if it applies to you), time to get to Menifee Real Estate! As always, I base my amounts on just Single Family Dwellings that are priced under $1,000,000. The highest close in Menifee in August was $394,990 as a side note! Additionally, make sure you remember that all the "Active" quantities are as of today - September 23rd, 2011. The Menifee "sold" and "closed" amounts are from August 2011. Let's begin:

Menifee Real Estate Trends Update - September 2011

* Total # of Active Houses Listed - 286
* Average Active List Price - $ 218,338
* Menifee Houses Sold in August - 99
* Avg. August Sales Price - $ 209,464
* Avg. Sold Days on Market - 80

So my most recent update was back in July. There are a few small differences when comparing Menifee property trends against July Active and June Sales. First, the complete amount of homes has changed from 260 in July to 286 in September, an increase of 10%. And the sales have decreased from 105 to 99, or approximately 5%. That is, in essence, two trends moving collectively downward which gives us the beginning of something to pay attention to.

However, the average sold price in June was $193,657 versus an average August sales price of $209,464, a growth of roughly $15,800 or 8% in selling price. That is incredibly intriguing as numerous indicators show a slow down and increased inventory but sales prices are rising. In addition, the Average Days on Market went from 69 days in June to 80 days in August. Therefore there are three signs pointing down however the big sign (price) is going up.

This needs to be watched closely because usually additional supply on the market indicates lower price. Short sales are certainly making an impact on stats and is able to mess with the numbers. I will be extremely curious to see what happens next month. I DO expect the large drop in interest rates to boost consumer activity and price point though. People can now afford far more homes since the borrowing rate is down.

That ends your installment for this month. I apologize for having to skip August 2011. I was on vacation for a week and that, plus the market moving so fast, truly had me sprinting the rest of the month! If you ever have any inquiries or would like to know something specific, just shoot out an e-mail or take a look at my internet site and I will be pleased to help!

Sincerely,

Stefan West, Menifee Real Estate Broker
951-894-6199
www.stefanwest.com

Menifee CA Real Estate Report July 2011

As we roll into July of 2011, Menifee valley homes sales continue to be at a rapid tempo! Summer is always a chaotic time as people make their move around school schedules amongst other items.

In total, the Menifee real estate market is definitely rising upward but that may just be the summer time impact. Nevertheless, we are seeing increased activity which is a excellent thing! In all of these reviews, I focus on homes that are detached, single household residences priced below $1,000,000. I like consistent numbers so you, the homebuyer, are seeing the exact same standards each and every time. Let us go straight to the amounts:

Menifee Real Estate Analysis Update - July 2011

* Total # of Active Homes Listed - 260
* Average Active List Price - $ 221,861
* Menifee Properties Sold in June - 105
* Avg. June Sales Price - $ 193,688
* Avg. Sold Days on Market - 69

Now let us compare these Menifee real estate numbers against last month. To start off there has been little change in the amount of active properties listed at the time. It has gone straight down from 278 to 260. That would indicate growing demand but the quantity change is tiny. Also, the typical active list price for Menifee houses was $229,700 in June and has dropped to $221,861, a decrease of 3.4%.

Next up although is Menifee real estate sales and there we see an increase from 75 properties sold in May 2011 to 105 homes sold in June 2011, a solid increase of 30 houses of 40% more sales! That is an important move. As for the average sales cost, we see a decrease from $206,180 in May to a lower $193,680 in June. That signifies a fall of $12,500 or 6% in actual closed sales prices for Menifee houses.

So overall, we have some confusing signals. To close it up, we have drastically growing sales but reduced prices of both active and sold houses. The days on market help clean this up as it shrunk from 81 days in May to only 69 days in June. Everything points to much more aggressive pricing but also far more buyers making the purchase selection. It also exhibits that the $200,000 price point is a target area for several buyers.

I am interested to see how this Menifee real estate pattern will change with the figures for closes in July. I will put that review up mid-month or so in August so stay tuned!

Sincerely,

Stefan West, Broker
Temecula Real Estate
Murrieta Real Estate

Menifee Real Estate Update - June 2011

Another gorgeous day in Menifee! This and the fall are truly my favorite time of year. Soon I will be starting my update posts with, "Holy Cow - How to Cook an Egg on Sidewalk!" Ok, I am exaggerating but I truly enjoy showing and selling Menifee real estate when the weather is so fantastic.

I know you aren't reading this because you want to hear about the weather. You want to know what is going on with Menifee Real Estate and how it affects you weather you are buying or selling a Menifee Home. Hopefully, this statisical information can be helpful to you for whichever side of the transaction you may be on.

As I stated in my previous update, I cover specific stats that focus on total active homes on the market, how many sold the month prior, and the price and average time it took. These stats are based on 3+, 2+ bedroom, detached homes priced under $1,000,000. Now on to the data...

Menifee CA Real Estate - June 2011 Update - As of 6/2/11

• Total Active Homes Listed - 278 Homes
  
• Average "Active" List Price - $229,744
  
• Menifee Homes Sold in May - 75 Homes
  
• Average Sold Home Price - $206,186
  
• Average Days on Market - 81 days

Let's start with Menifee home sales for May. When comparing against last month's update, we see that sales went from 82 in April to 75 homes in May. We also see that the active average price point has decreased but only by $645. Also the active market itself has hardly changed with 280 in May to 278 in June.

But we did see something interesting - it could be a fluke (only consistency will tell). The average price of Menifee real estate sold nudged upward from $201k to $206k. It is a minor increase but we also see that the days on market shrank as well from 93 days in April to 81 days in May. Those are both interesting demand side indicators to keep an eye on.

Things will pick up during the Spring and Summer of course. Menifee is always a pretty active market when compared domestically and things are heating up (pun intended) as schools are letting out and people are making the annual Summer move plans. I look foward to a busy summer and will keep posting market stats so you can see how we are doing!

And to all our Military personnel - I hope you men and woman had a great Memorial Day weekend. My family, my clients, and all of us in Menifee and the surrounding communities appreciate and applaud your duty on our behalf! Stay safe and God Bless!

Sincerely,

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