California Home Sales INCREASE!

Looking for a little good news? How about this…California homes sales actually INCREASED by nearly 50% from this time last year! That is a dramatic increase and points smart Realtors to where the best opportunities are in this real estate market.

(hint: REO Listings)

An estimated 36,215 new and existing homes and condos sold in California last month, a 23.9% month-on-month increase from February and 47.4% year-on-year increase from March 08, according to a report published Thursday by San Diego-based MDA DataQuick Information Systems. March marked the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year sales inclines.

Sales prices continue to slip in the Golden State, however, with March posting a median sales price of $233,000 — 0.4% below February’s median and 37.7% below the year-ago median seen in March 08. DataQuick attributed the drop to the work of depreciation in concert with shifts in the types of homes sold toward foreclosure properties. Real estate-owned (REO) properties accounted for 57.4% of monthly sales in March, up from 35.5% in March ‘08.

California home buyers in March committed to an average mortgage payment of $958, 44% below the average payment entered in March ‘08, 63.1% below the latest bubble’s June 2006 peak and the lowest average monthly payment, adjusted for inflation, reported in DataQuick’s statistics, which track information back to 1988.

“Indicators of market distress continue to move in different directions,” say DataQuick researchers. “Foreclosure activity is nearing its 2008 peak, while financing with adjustable-rate mortgages is at an all-time low, as is financing with multiple mortgages.”

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A continued increase in Bay Area home sales and continued decrease in median sales price indicates stabilization forces at work, while a “significant” slowing of the pace of median sale price declines suggests the nine-county market might be near its bottom, DataQuick found. A total of 6,325 new and resale houses and condos sold in the Bay Area in March, at a median sales price of $290,000.

“For now, the extent to which prices have fallen in the upscale markets is more difficult to gauge because many of those areas are essentially in hibernation, with scant sales,” said DataQuick president John Walsh in a press statement.

March sales in the area average 9,025 with a high of 12,645 in March ‘04, the information provider said. March ‘09 marked the third-slowest March on record with DataQuick.

“More than any other region, the Bay Area is waiting for so-called jumbo loans to come back on line,” adds Walsh. “Even with prices off their peaks, most home purchases in the upper half of the market still require a mortgage for more than $417,000, which are far more difficult to come by. We think there’s a good chance those larger loans will become more available during the second or third quarter.”

Source: HousingWire.com

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SO, over 50% of all home sales in Southern California were Foreclosures.

Anyone enrolled in the Agent REO Secrets coaching program will find this new information to be very good news indeed. The simple (staggering) fact is that the Agents who are listing and selling REOs are making a fortune.

Please understand, we aren’t celebrating the fact that so many people are losing their homes. Matter of fact we want you to learn how to help people keep their homes. Learn how to do loan modifications. Watch this free video now how to start your own loan modification business.

Here is the article from the OC Register…..

Foreclosed homes made up 55% of resale transactions in Southern California – 44% in Orange County and nearly seven out of every 10 sales in the Inland Empire – driving down prices to levels not seen since the spring of 2003, market-tracker MDA DataQuick reported today.

Last month’s price was roughly a buy-three-get-two-free sale for Southern California homes: The median price of a Southern California was $285,000, down 44% — or almost half off — from the value for similar homes at the market peak 18 months ago. That is, a single median-priced home cost $505,000 in June 2007. Last month, you could buy two median priced homes for $570,000, or just $65,000 more.

“Bargains and bargain hunters have kept this market alive,” the DataQuick press release quoted company President John Walsh as saying.

November sales outpaced last year for a fifth straight month, up nearly 27% regionwide. That’s a decent showing considering that there were fewer business days last month than in a typical November. The average number of transactions per day, for example, was just 1% lower than the daily average in October, which had the highest number of sales for any month this year so far.

The median price for areas with the highest sale numbers was under $260,000, with about half of those sales using government-insured FHA financing, DataQuick reported. November sales tended to drop in coastal zones, where the median price was over $500,000 and financing was harder to

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This is from todays Business Week….

Ah, remember when Southern California stood for sunshine, the Beach Boys and eternally rising housing prices? No more.

According to research firm MDA DataQuick, the median home price fell a record breaking 35% in November versus the same month in 2007. The median price paid for all homes combined last month was $285,000, down 5% from October. Last month’s median was the lowest since it was $298,000 in April 2003, which was the last time the median was below $300,000. November’s median stood 43.6 percent below the peak $505,000 median reached in spring and summer of last year.

The median price has eroded consistently over the past 16 months as price depreciation swept the region, discounted foreclosures ballooned in inland markets and sales stagnated in higher-end neighborhoods. The latter have suffered from, among other things, a difficult financing environment for large mortgages.

“Bargains and bargain hunters have kept this market alive through some of the bleakest financial news in memory. There’s this renewed sense that you can score a ‘deal’ – something that had been missing for many years. Last month’s Southland sales weren’t great, given they were the second-lowest for any November in 16 years. But they could have been a lot worse,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

Foreclosures have accounted for about half of all Southland resales during the past three months. In November, they reached 55%.

Realtors, you must learn how to list and sell REOs. Become and REO Listing Agent Now. Download your Free Agent REO Secrets Guide Book.

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Great news if you are a REO Listing Agent…Sales UP 65% with 50% being REOs!

Article from LA Times……

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