Down real estate market??... NO WAY!! (Woodland: hardwood floors, renting, mortgage)

[Jonah1979]

Originally Posted by streetscenes

There is definetly signs of a pick up in activity in this market. Especially in the established neighborhood that are in close proximity to the job markets. This is the areas like Alhambra, Pasadena, Koreatown, etc. Further out you go the harder things get.

A piece of antectodal evidence, a family member who has been looking for a starter house in the Alhambra/Monterey Park area found a small 2BR/1BA house in Alhambra. House is in good shape and in a very nice, established tract of homes built in the 30's and 40's. House was priced agressively at $460,000 and had multiple bids within 1 week and the house will sell for just over the list price.

There are lots of people out there in the same boat. They have money for downpayments, good jobs and good credit. These folks are getting into the market in increasing numbers looking for properties that they could not have afforded just 2 or 3 years ago.

$460k for 2/1 in Alhambra? No thanks...

[EscapeCalifornia]

You see houses "selling" because someone else beat you to the punch and got their offer accepted before yours. What we don't know is how many of those deals never go through. Either they're upside down and the bank won't approve a short sale, the buyer's financing doesn't come through, they can't get it appraised for the offer price, etc.

[Charles]

I noticed this in the LA Times this morning. It's a little tool to show zip code change in median prices since last year. I tried my old zip code 91362 Thousand Oaks (down 21%) and Seal Beach (90740) (up 2%).

Look for the little box on this web page. By the way, the article that contains the box is very interesting too:

Southern California housing market still under siege - Los Angeles Times

FULL COVERAGE: SOUTHLAND HOUSING MARKET - Los Angeles Times

(use Bugmenot.com - login with these free web passwords to bypass compulsory registration if you need a login or password)

[karkyco]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

looking at houses that are now falling in my price range in in riverside county i agree with the first poster. the realtors ive spoken with are starting low(around 200k) to get attention and then after a week or two of bidding they're selling good homes for 50-100k more than the initial asking price.

Sure, but they are still 50% off the peak prices in Riverside and San Bernadino counties. And remember that Riverside, San Bernadino, and the other far less desirable areas inland and in the ghettos are ahead of the curve, because they ran up later than LA/OC but far faster and at very high rates, and collapsed far quicker than the better parts of LA and Orange Counties. These are the subprime, low income borrowers who have been shaken out over the last 1.5 years in the inland counties and ghettos.

LA county is "only" down 23% year over year for May, the entire southland overall "only" down 27%. But San Bernadino and Riverside Counties are down over 40% year over year (and much more from the peak prices and "values").

The people buying right now, the "investors", well, good luck to them. They never learned about catching a falling knife. If they hold VERY long term and can rent at above break even, they may be all right. But in LA County, particularly the better parts, hold onto your asses because we ain't seen nothing yet.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by CESpeed

They announced on the news this morning that the median price of a house is down from $525,000 to $350,000.

Don't forget what the word "median" means.

[SoCal Bottom Rider]

Dont get too excited. The people buying now are the ones that have been priced out the last 3 years. Of course 100k off a 500k home from last year looks good. But same home sold for 350k 2 years ago. Deal huh?

Lets see:
1. Record foreclosures all over southern california
2. Cali budget shortfall of 17 billion, big cuts to govt spending (jobs) coming
3. ALready losing jobs.
4. prices are dropping at their fastest rates right now in southern cali...
5. Price/rent still higher than the norm, and don't count on rents not dropping, given economic conditions...

Is it the bottom? a better question, is why would it be?

[MisterMark]

Originally Posted by Panks

OK, I admit I'm feeling frustrated because I've tried to bid on 8 houses in 2 months!

5 of them got an offer THE DAY before I saw it and tried to put in an offer. 2 of them were on the market over 220 days, but the second I looked at it...BOOM

The point of this post is to say except for the 2 listings that were very old, all the other houses I wanted sold in LESS THAN A WEEK!! It got to where I pressured my agent to show me the house the day it came on the market!

So, as far as I can tell, the market (at least in LA) is hopping!

What are you guys seeing out there?

You're being very short-sighted by ignoring the statistics and making generalizations based upon your own experience as an individual.

[Panks]

umm ok MisterMark, I'll hold out..you tell me when we've hit bottom and its a good time to buy!

I got a call from my realtor today that one of the houses I lost out on a few weeks ago (1 was one of 4 offers) is ready to accept my offer (the first people didn't qualify or pulled out..I don't know which) which is good news except that I bid on another house last week that is bank owned and a good price...not incredibly low..but good because its a nice neighborhood. I was one of 3 offers the agent submitted and she said they would get back to us this Monday but they didn't. I heard today there are TEN offers on it and the bank refuses to give an answer so the agent thinks they are planning to counter all 10 of us!

I know that renting a place will cost me 18,000 per year and since I plan to stay in it long term, it makes sense to me to buy even if prices fall another 10%. I know what the competition is like now so I'm sure it will be even worse then.

[BRinSM]

would you be interested in sharing what area you're looking to buy in, what size homes you are looking for and what price you are shooting for? inquiring minds would like to know. thanks

[Panks]

Sure but just fyi I have an agent..

I've been looking mostly at Woodland Hills and West Hills because the lots are bigger. 3/2 single family up to 500k..all of which is easy to find..except for the fact that I want a cul-de-sac and a big yard! That makes it very hard.

The house that I wrote about that was just offered to me yesterday (I had been the 2nd runner-up)....that turned out to be 2 doors down from a pedophile! There are 2 other offers on it so I'm sure it'll sell soon. Back to the drawing board...