Zip Codes: 91006, 91007

Current Market Listings as of May 10th, 2008*
Properties for Sale: 218 (+0)
Median Listing Price: $779,000 (-0.38%)

Weekly Foreclosure Update*
Properties in Foreclosure: 23 (-1)
Properties in Pre-Foreclosure: 65 (-1)
*+/- is compared to previous week’s data.

495 days and counting. That’s how long the property below has been listed on the market. It’s a newly built detached townhome and from the way it looks, this home has been standing vacant for over a year (when it was first listed).

519 S. 5th Ave. #C
Arcadia, CA 91006

Listing Price: $768,000
Beds: 3
Baths: 2.5
Sq. Ft.: 2,002
$/Sq. Ft.: $384

This property’s listing price history is equally as impressive as its time on the market.

There are 13 units in this cluster of townhomes. From what I can see, the investor/developer who built these can’t afford to sell them for under $700,000. We profiled unit #B back in April that one eventually sold for $735,000 after sitting for 400+ days on the market.

How many more months of interest will these investor(s) pay on their unsold homes? What was initially a profitable investment is turning out to be a big headache as these units continue to lose their value each week that goes by.

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.

Zip Codes: 91006, 91007

Current Market Listings as of May 3rd, 2008*
Properties for Sale: 218(-13)
Median Listing Price: $779,000 (-0.12%)

Weekly Foreclosure Update*
Properties in Foreclosure: 24 (+0)
Properties in Pre-Foreclosure: 66 (+2)
*+/- is compared to previous week’s data.

For our regular property profile posts, SavedbyGrace has a section labeled “Income Required.” It gives an estimate of how much a household should typically be earning in order to comfortably afford a mortgage. Simply put, the total home price should not be more than four times the home price.

This number establishes a base for affordability after factoring in a 20% down payment, taxes, insurance and other debt. During the last 4 years, buyers put aside these factors and just focused on the affordability of temporary monthly payments. You had no down, interest-only, 1 year teaser rates and other forms of short-term exotic financing. The problem was that these loan programs would eventually reset to the current market rate and the home buyer was no longer able to “afford” their higher payments.

Take a look at the following graph from Mr. Mortgage:

If you look on Redfin, over half the homes in Arcadia are listed for $700,000+. With the median household income estimated to be $73,992 (2006), there is a wide gap between home prices and actual affordability. You may argue that real estate in Arcadia has always carried a premium, but with a population of over 55,000 people, how many households have $150k+ for a downpayment and earn $200k a 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.

Zip Codes: 91006, 91007

Current Market Listings as of April 26th, 2008*
Properties for Sale: 231(+9)
Median Listing Price: $779,000 (-2.5%)

Weekly Foreclosure Update*
Properties in Foreclosure: 24(+3)
Properties in Pre-Foreclosure: 64 (-2)
*+/- is compared to previous week’s data.

March numbers for Arcadia have been reported. Let’s take a look at how first quarter of 2008 fared.

2008 First Quarter Sales Report

Looking at the numbers above, I would say the following Craigslist post holds more truth than humor (formatted for punctuation and spelling):

$300,000 – SAVE 20-30% more on Foreclosures and Lender Owned.

Go ahead and deal with some private party home represented by someone else looking to get into your pockets and asking for top dollar because they think it’s still 2006. Or the homeowner owes way more than the house is worth. Just wait and watch as thousands of homes currently in the foreclosure process pop up everywhere and houses that were selling for $600-800k are selling for $300-400k.

You would have to be rich and don’t care or completely clueless to even consider purchasing a home on a regular listing at this time. WAIT-WAIT-WAIT just 5-6 more months and you will save an additional 20-30% off a market that has alreadt dropped 20-25% in the last 6 months.

-313 mockingbird ln. at eddy & munster

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.

Zip Codes: 91006, 91007

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.

Zip Codes: 91006, 91007

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.

Zip Codes: 91006, 91007

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.