Wow, what a quiet Halloween, we only had six little people visit our home on Studebaker, that's almost as bad as my last Open House.

Real Estate does seem to be taking a break, but I don't think it will last long. I now expect that the action will pick up before the year end, with a lot of Buyer's trying to capitalize on the tax write-offs for 2007.

Interest rates are great, and the recent Fed reduction in rate insures that mortgage rates will remain low. I also hear a lot of encouraging activity by lenders to try and help current borrowers keep their homes, by lowering interest rates and even reducing some of their debt load on existing home loans.

I certainly hope we don't see more foreclosures in our neighborhood, as I mentioned last month, I would hope Owners could find some way to hold on until this market picks up.

There are Buyers out there, but they are naturally looking for the best deals they can get, so what we are seeing are homes selling if they are true "Doll" houses or the price is well under market.

My lender friend, Dan Wood, of Business West Mortgage Co., had this to say in his last newsletter.

"Now is the opportune time to either purchase the property you have wanted or refinance the loans that are no longer desired. With the number of homes on the market, this becomes the prime Buyer's Market that we all talk about. Large inventory of homes to choose from and more quality homes on the market creates the perfect buying situation. when the market was hot, the choices were few and the types of homes limited. The really nice homes were either sold too quickly or not on the market at all. Today is different, with many to choose from, we can select the home that fits our needs perfectly. Plus, we have the chance to purchase the home at a better price than before. If you or someone you know has been waiting for the bottom to hit, just remember that when the newspapers say it is the bottom, they are generally reporting what has already occurred. It takes several months for the data to be collected and analyzed before the information becomes available and the news reported to the consumers. We have already seen the correction in housing prices, but if you wait until you think it is the bottom, the home you want could be sold or and you are once again chasing the market. because we have strong employment base, we have not seen a large drop in prices many were wanting. If people are employed, they will continue to make purchases. Sure we want the best price, but that is a part of the negotiation process. When prices begin to rise again, it will be too late to bargain."

Dan Wood
Business West Mortgage Company
4281 Katella Avenue, Suite 206
Los Alamitos, CA 90720
(562) 493-2641

On this note, I am including my charts on neighborhood home sales in this newsletter. It is easy to see that prices have leveled for each category of home displayed.

Before I get into the discussion on prices, I have to correct an omission from last months newsletter. I gave credit to the Fire Department for their display and preparation of Hot Dogs at the "Good Neighbor Picnic", but forgot to mention all the effort, on the part of Long Beach Police Department, to staff a booth and barbecue Hamburgers for the hungry crowd well into the afternoon. Sorry about that, I hope I won't get cut off in the future?

And before I forget, I personally think that the speed sensor sign on Wardlow, is doing some good in slowing the traffic both ways in our neighborhood. I know, some people are capable of ignoring the signs, but I think the majority have a tendency to slow when they see the speed monitor pop up a speed well in excess of the limit. I have been thinking about trying to do some sort of study of cars passing the monitor, to see how many appear to slow, but as of yet haven't found the time. If anyone has a suggestion, please give me a call.

The first chart, as usual, is the Carson Park, 2-bedroom, 1-bath homes. Not too many are still around, they make a great conversion to a 3-bedroom, 2-bath home, very easily with an added 400 to 600 square feet.. The chart below clearly shows a leveling in price at the $500,000 level. There are currently six of these homes on the market in our neighborhood and nearby, priced at this level. Two are priced below, the lowest at $450,000, and one higher at $517,000.

The 3-bedroom, 1-bath is next, and shows leveling at the $525,000. Not many have sold lately, but enough to judge the trend. There are 15 of this size home currently on the market with one at $459,000 on Karen, that may be in escrow by now and another over on Palo Verde at $468,000.

Please remember the homes reported are the basic homes, without additions, the upper prices usually reflect modernization in areas of Kitchen, Bath, Heating, Roof, Windows, etc.

Addition of a second Bath and enlargement of the Master Bedroom results in the third chart displayed, the 3-bedroom, 2-bath, Carson Park homes. Here the chart is not a clear, but still places the average home in this category at about $610,000. these homes can be dramatically different, explaining the scatter in data. The low in this category is a home on Studebaker Rd at $535,000 and the high is one over on Petaluma at over 1,800 sq. ft. of living space with an asking price of $714,900.

When we get to the Rancho's the picture gets really fuzzy. The reputation and following, of Designer/Architect Cliff May, coupled with our beautiful neighborhood, has lead to extensive remodeling and upgrading, and has resulted in a wide variation in prices.

While this is true, one can see that the distribution of prices still appears to have leveled off with range in prices of as much as $100,000 above and below the median price of $700,000.

Currently on the market is a gorgeous remodel on Volk, offered at $769,900 and on the low end, an obvious bargain, is one for $589,900 on Studebaker. If I have sparked your interest, give me a call.