All posts by TheArcadian

Inventory

Inventory & Market Report – 4/19/08

Zip Codes: 91006, 91007market_icon.jpg

Current Market Listings as of April 19th, 2008*
Properties for Sale: 222 (-21)
Median Listing Price: $799,000 (+1.1%)

Weekly Foreclosure Update*
Properties in Foreclosure: 21 (+1)
Properties in Pre-Foreclosure: 66 (-4)
*+/- is compared to previous week’s data.

A couple of weeks ago, a reader suggested that we provide some sort of rental data. I thought it was a great idea so here’s what your money can get you in Arcadia.

$800-1,000:
A dated 700-800sf studio apartment or a small guest house.

$1,000 – 1,500:
1 bed /1 bath apartment ($1,095 example).
2 bed/ 1 bath guest house ($1,300 example).
2 bed/1 bath apartment ($1,495 example).

$1,500 – 2,500:
 2/1 single family home ($1,695 example).
2/2 large apartment ($1,795 example).
3/1 single family home ($2,000 example).
3/2.5 townhome ($2,280 example, $2,495 example).

$2,500 – 3,500
3/1.75 or 4/3 single family home. ($2,595, $2,850)
4/2 or 3/2 single family home. ($3,000, $3,300)

$3,600 – 4,500
3/2 “Executive Ranch” in The Oaks + Panoramic View. ($4,300)

These are just the listings I found on Craigslist. There will be a couple of sources we’ll be looking to in the future to find more single family home rentals.

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Property and foreclosure numbers obtained from U.S. Census, ZipRealty, Trulia, Yahoo Real Estate and Foreclosure.com. Market listings and price data obtained from DataQuick News.

Property Profiles

Single Family Home for $100k

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38 W. Forest Ave.

a08005262_0.jpg

Asking Price $100,000 ::: Sq-ft 1,685
Purchased Price $610,000 ::: Lot Size 7,500 Sq. Ft.
Purchased Date 07/8/2005 ::: Beds 3
Days on Redfin 98 ::: Baths 2
$/Sq-ft $59 ::: Year Built 1947
20% Downpayment $20,000 ::: Area Santa Anita/fwy
Income Required $25,000/yr ::: Type SFR
Est. Payment* $505/month ::: MLS# A08005262

*Estimated monthly payment assume 20% down, 30-yr fixed @ 6.50%

Am I dreaming? A single family home in Arcadia for $100,000? Yeah right. In another case of agents trying anything and everything to get homes sold, Joshua Chao of Help-U-Sell Smart Realty has listed this property for an unbelievably low price in order to get your attention.

And it worked. I clicked the link only to find out that this is really an auction with bids starting at $100,000. If you really like this property, there’s a convenient Buy it Now price of $799,000.

So let me get this straight:

So after 90+ days on the market and despite the direction this housing market is heading, the seller still wants to makes $189,000 after owning this home for under 3 years. That’s a 31% return on his original purchase price of $610,000.

Check out the transaction history. It was bought and sold for a lost during the last bubble. It looks like history is ready to repeat itself.

Sales History
Mar 14, 1989 – $260,000
Apr 10, 1992 – $225,000
July 08, 2005 – $610,000

Inventory

Inventory & Market Report – 4/12/08

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Zip Codes: 91006, 91007market_icon.jpg

Current Market Listings as of April 12th, 2008*
Properties for Sale: 243 (-12)
Median Listing Price: $790,000 (+1.4%)

Weekly Foreclosure Update*
Properties in Foreclosure: 20 (+0)
Properties in Pre-Foreclosure: 70 (+3)
*+/- is compared to previous week’s data.

Are you in a hurry to buy a home? If you are, then it looks like you are slowly becoming the minority. According to this article by Bankrate, the urgency to purchase a home is decreasing and a surge of would-be renters are expected to enter the market.

With rapidly decreasing prices and no shortage of housing crisis news from the mainstream media, the old fear of being “priced out” of the market is now nothing but a joke. People are slowly coming to the realization that banking one of their largest investments on risky financing and unsustainable appreciation may not be a very good idea at all.

From the the article:

Even 2 million foreclosures, a figure predicted by some analysts, would be a relatively small number compared with the nation’s 35 million renters, Obrinsky notes.

Meanwhile, though, “horror stories” about today’s housing markets have caused “more fear of buying” and have “turned a lot more potential buyers into long-term renters,” Verge says.

Property and foreclosure numbers obtained from U.S. Census, ZipRealty, Trulia, Yahoo Real Estate and Foreclosure.com. Market listings and price data obtained from DataQuick News.

Analysis

Who Pays for the Housing Bailout?

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How do the proposed Housing Bailouts affect taxpayers? There have been several ideas thrown out there so let’s cover a handful of them. The bailout proposals include:

  • Reduction of property taxes.
  • Assisting lenders in reducing the mortgage principal of at-risk homeowners.
  • Subsidizing the same lenders who intentionally made subprime loans.
  • Allowing homebuilders to carry losses up to 5 years back instead of the usual 2; resulting in additional tax refunds.
  • Using Federal funds to backup mortgage insurance.
  • Giving over $10 billion to distressed homeowners and mortgage companies.

All these plans share one thing in common: The use of Federal funds to bailout risky homeowners, subprime lenders and home builders.

And where do these “funds” come from? You. The hardworking taxpayer. Instead of concentrating on affordable housing and punishing lenders for their reckless lending, politicians would rather use public funds to bailout the very parties who got us into this housing crisis.

While irresponsible home buyers and greedy lenders get a free pass, those of us who are financially responsible pay for it with taxes and overpriced homes.

Patrick.net has a great article on this bailout topic: Can you spare a few thousand dollars to pay somebody else’s mortgage?

Inventory

Inventory & Market Report – 4/5/08

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Zip Codes: 91006, 91007market_icon.jpg

Current Market Listings as of April 5th, 2008*
Properties for Sale: 255 (+21)
Median Listing Price: $775,000 (+0.5%)

Weekly Foreclosure Update*
Properties in Foreclosure: 20 (+1)
Properties in Pre-Foreclosure: 67 (+3)
*+/- is compared to previous week’s data.

A friend came up to me a few weeks ago and he was saying how Arcadia’s high-end real estate market will hold up just fine. According to him, Asians would never miss a mortgage payment or allow their homes to go into foreclosure so prices won’t be forced to drop.

So I had two questions:

1) Who ever said Asians were the only one building and living in Arcadia McMansions?
2) What makes an Asian speculator (i.e. screwed flipper) different from, say, a white, hispanic or black speculator?

When your investments are tanking, there comes to a point when it’s time to cut your losses and move on. Many people who bought during the bubble were not planning to live in their homes for 15-30 years. Ask any honest Realtor and he/she will tell you that their were no shortage of individuals lured into the housing market due to its double digit price appreciation.

So why don’t you take a minute, pour through the pre-foreclosure listings, and let me know if Asians are exempt from this tanking market.

Oh yes, speaking of foreclosures, reading this story would make me think twice about bidding on a home that the previous owner was forced out of:

Woman Accused Of Burning Home On Eve Of Foreclosure

Property and foreclosure numbers obtained from U.S. Census, ZipRealty, Trulia, Yahoo Real Estate and Foreclosure.com. Market listings and price data obtained from DataQuick News.

Misc. Post

Message from a local builder

6 Comments

I received an email from “John” last week. Thinking it was a friend, I opened the mesage and it turns out to be from John Laing Homes. My email is registered with all the builders so it wasn’t surprising that John had some comments regarding the current housing market. See for yourself and let us know your thoughts.

To buy or not to buy? Read what Time says.

Dear Arcadian,

Are you in a wait-and-see mode about buying a new home? Famed Money Manager Peter Lynch has some good advice, “Ignore the headlines.” In a recent article in Time Magazine, Lynch reaffirmed to the author his view “that homeownership should be your first investment, since an owner-occupied home is nearly always profitable.” In fact, the article points out that waiting may not be a very good decision at all.

“Let’s say you are emotionally ready to be a homeowner. You have good credit, plan to stay put five years and have been waiting for the perfect entry point. It’s time to get serious – before an inevitable rise in interest rates wipes out your advantage.”
Time Magazine, 2/14/08

“Risk always seems more acute when the headlines give you ulcers. But that’s exactly when you should think long term – and get off your thumbs.”
Time Magazine, 2/14/08

The bottom line? You find the home you love and we’ll do everything we can to help you achieve your goal.

Best Wishes,

John Laing Homes

It’s never a good sign when you’re encouraged to make a purchase by the same party that will directly profit from the transaction.

Inventory

Inventory & Market Report – 3/29/08

1 Comment

Zip Codes: 91006, 91007market_icon.jpg

Current Market Listings as of March 29th, 2008*
Properties for Sale: 234 (-11)
Median Listing Price: $775,000 (+0)

Weekly Foreclosure Update*
Properties in Foreclosure: 19 (+2)
Properties in Pre-Foreclosure: 64 (-1)
*+/- is compared to previous week’s data.

Last February’s housing numbers are reporting nothing but negative news. Let’s start on the national level:

National Housing Data
Bloomberg is reporting that “Home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas fell in January by the most on record.” After 13 straight months of falling prices, the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index has dropped 10.7% since January of this year.

California
At the state level, California fared no better as DataQuick reported that February home sales were the slowest ever on record. “Sales were up 7.1 percent from 19,145 in January and down 34.3 percent from 31,228 for February last year.”

Arcadia Housing Data
Although Arcadia is a great city to live in, it is not immune to this housing crisis we are facing. So here are the numbers:

Number of homes sold
Quarter-ending February 2008: 121
Quarter-ending February 2007: 168

Home sales in Arcadia are down 28% from last year.

Median price of homes sold
February 2008: $647,000
February 2007: $815,000

Arcadia’s median home price is down $168,000 or -20.61% from last year.

Property and foreclosure numbers obtained from U.S. Census, ZipRealty, Trulia, Yahoo Real Estate and Foreclosure.com. Market listings and price data obtained from DataQuick News.