California Continues Upward Price Increase -- See Comparisons

 

Current graph on Calif home price in 2024

 In spite of fluctuating rates, going down, the back up, demand is high and supply is low. Recent data provided by CAR economist Jordan Levine this last week and NAR, shows that currently 32% of home sales are all cash, back to where we were a few years ago. So 1/3 of buyers are not concerned with mortgage interest rates.  The current California home price is $788,940, and the number of single family active listings was 29,000 in January, down from 32,000 in January 2023. And, we are at the lowest level of mortgage applications in the last 30 years!

Why is buyer demand so low right now, when the U.S. unemployment rate is at 3.6%?  Is someone telling you as a buyer it's better to wait because interest rates will be coming down even lower? That is very unlikely to happen.. 

Interest rate data forecast

Typically, the gap between the 10-year Treasury yield and the 30-year fixed mortgage rate spans 1.5 to 2 percentage points. For much of 2023, that margin grew to 3 percentage points, making mortgages more expensive. - Bankrate.com

 Click on this link to use the Purchasing Power Calculator, which provides multiple comparisons for the buyer's location and financial situation :  http://www.car.org/marketdata/interactive/interestrateaffordability

We all remember the extremely low interest rates in the 3% range during Pandemic housing market, and how that coincidentally pushed prices up in bidding wars. It's still a competitive market, but as more listings come on the market in 2024, there is hope that buyers will have a better playing field.

 

Julia Huntsman, REALTOR, Broker | http://www.abodes.realestate | 562-896-2609 | California Lic. #01188996

Bay Area vs Kansas City Price Comparison

San Francisco and Kansas City home market prices!

This graphic is at the end of 2023, showing median sales prices as of the 4th quarter in the Bay Area vs Kansas City.

If anyone is thinking of relocating to Kansas City or any other area, just get in touch!

 

Julia Huntsman, REALTOR, Broker | http://www.abodes.realestate | 562-896-2609 | California Lic. #01188996

Cash Transactions May Soon Require Reporting by the Broker

"The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed a regulation on Wednesday that would require real estate professionals to report information to the agency about non-financed sales of residential real estate to legal entities, trusts and shell companies."

Cash transactions in real estate have been a suspected source of money laundering, both in the United States and Canada, where values have increased over 3-7%. Not everyone is happy about being registered, but a new database has been set up where over 100,000 business have registered, in order to gain transparency for who is buying with all cash in real estate purchases. Anonymous shell companies and trusts will have to disclose names of actual persons involved.  See more at the Wall Street  Journal.

Julia Huntsman, REALTOR, Broker | http://www.abodes.realestate | 562-896-2609 | California Lic. #01188996

The Market in Seal Beach for December 2023.

Seal Beach Market Update Dec. 2023

Seal Beach visitors notice the shops, restaurants and local neighborhood ambience.  Old Town is the center of summertime activity for beach going fun and walks on the pier. It's hometown scale is what visitors find accessible and friendly. 

Listings for single family homes in Seal Beach were down in December 2023, as were the number of closed sales, compared to one year ago, 96 sales down to 77 sales, while days on market increased from 20 days to 30 days.  The median price however, over the previous 12 months, increased by 3.7%, while average prices were down 1.2%.

To see map and or list views of current properties on the market, go to the link below, fill out the form and click on Apply.

 

Here is map view of current properties on the market in Seal Beach as of date of this post:

 

Graphic of current listings in Seal Beach

 

 

 

 

 

To find properties in Seal Beach, go to https://www.abodes.realestate/mls-property-search 

 

For more information on any properties, please call, text or email me. The more information you give me, the more I can assist you.

Julia Huntsman, REALTOR, Broker | http://www.abodes.realestate | 562-896-2609 | California Lic. #01188996