Market Updates

According to the latest TrendGraphix reports for the beach cities for the period May 13th – July 13th compared to the same period last year you will see the number of properties for sale increased in Hermosa, Redondo and El Segundo however decreased slightly in Manhattan Beach. Although months of inventory have increased since the same time last year, we’re looking at approximately 1.9 months of available inventory for most of the beach cities including El Segundo.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the housing market is stabilizing, but ongoing challenges are impeding full sales potential. “Activity is notably higher than earlier this year as proces have moderated and inventory levels have improved,” he said. “However, supply shortages still exist in parts of the country, wages are flat, and tight credit conditions are deterring a higher number of potential buyers from fully taking advantage of lower interest rates.”

Pending home sales in the West inched 0.2 percent in June to 95.7, but remains 16.7 percent below June 2013.

Please enjoy. Should your plans include real estate purchase and sales, please call or email with questions – and as always, thanks for your referrals!

* Sources: TrendGraphics, C.A.R.

There is very little doubt that the real estate market is on much firmer ground that it was five years ago. Along the California coast, it’s not merely challenging to find reasonably priced real estate – it’s nearly impossible. Home values are rapidly rising and a confluence of factors will likely continue to drive the market even higher. Pent-up demand, job growth and still-slow mortgage rates continue to put pressure on home prices. The median price of a home in Los Angeles County rose by 5.9 percent in June, compared with the same month a year ago, while the number of homes sold dipped by 7.5 percent, a real estate information service announced today. According to DataQuick, the median price of a Los Angeles County home was $450,000 last month, up from $425,000 in June 2013. A total of 6,792 homes were sold in the county, down from 7,342 during the same month the previous year. In many markets price appreciation has slipped into the more sustainable single-digit range, compared with gains exceeding 20 percent this time last year. Home values are rrising and a confluence of factors will likely continue to drive the market even higher. Consider the following:

• Prop 13 – A voter initiative passed in 1978 amid an anti-tax revolt, it caps California property tax rates at 1.25% and freezes assessed property values at the original purchase price. While no one likes higher taxes, the measure artificially constrains inventory and make prices soar because it offers older homeowners a remarkable disincentive to sell.
• Greater investment property ownership – Investors flooded the middle market after real estate hit bottom during the financial crisis, gobbling up foreclosures and short sales at bargain basement prices and converting them into rentals – further squeezing what little affordable inventory exists within these markets.
• Lack of available land – In the most desirable neighborhoods within Los Angeles land is scarce. And when there is development in such neighborhoods, it often involves tearing down a $1 million home and replacing it with one that is three times more expensive.
• Foreign buyers inflating prices – From locating a property to negotiating price to going through each exhaustive step of the mortgage process, buying a home often takes months. But for wealthy foreign buyers seeking the safe haven of US-based hard assets, and making all-cash offers to sweeten their deals, it only takes weeks.  And by frequently going above market prices in their offers, foreign buyers have helped drive up the price for everyone else.

There’s been a dramatic change in the housing market lately, and it’s almost all good news for homebuyers. Home shoppers may find there’s good reason to breathe a sigh of relief this summer.. They pointed to higher inventories, fewer bidding wars, and slowing home prices as welcoming signs for home buyers this year.What we are seeing is homebuyers who have become more disciplined than before, still pouncing on the A+ homes in the best school districts, but being more careful with the up-and-comers. As we head into summer, here are a few thoughts to consider:

In particular, home buyers this summer are finding:

1. More options: Inventories of existing-homes are 6 percent higher than year-ago levels—currently representing a 5.6-month supply at the current sales pace, according to May housing data from the National Association of REALTORS®. The higher inventory levels of homes for-sale means that buyers have more choices this summer.
2. Less competition: As inventories rise, buyers also are facing fewer bidding wars. Bidding wars are down by double-digit margins in many markets this year, according to Redfin, which conducts an annual bidding war report. In March, 63.4 percent of offers written by Redfin agents across 19 markets faced competition from other buyers, down from a bidding war peak of 73.4 percent a year prior, according to Redfin’s report.
3. Price rises are slowing: The median existing-home price for all housing types in May was $213,400—a 5.1 percent rise above May 2013, NAR reports. Home prices rose by double-digits last year. In 2013, home prices rose 11.5 percent over 2012, according to NAR. “Home buyers are benefiting from slower price growth due to the much-needed, rising inventory levels seen since the beginning of the year,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.
4. Low borrowing costs: Mortgage rates are averaging about 4.1 percent, less than half the historical average of a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which is 8.7 percent, Redfin reports. “For a $500,000 house, this is worth more than $500 a month in mortgage payments,” savings, Redfin notes on its blog.

With more millionaires and billionaires in the world than ever before, pent-up demand and increasing consumer confidence, luxury real estate sales have been surging around the world. Luxury properties are once again one of the hottest real estate market trends, as London, New York and Los Angeles report a burgeoning luxury housing market. According to Spectrem’s Millionaire Corner Affluent Market Insights report for 2014, the number of Millionaire households in the U.S. has reached a record of over 9 million. There are 132,000 households with a net worth over $25 million.

Christies International Real Estate released its second annual Luxury Residential Property Market report, looking at the market in 10 of the world’s major markets – Cote d’Azur, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney and Toronto. Those markets were compared against each other in terms of sales price, prices per square foot, percentage of non-local and international buyers, and the number of luxury listings per population.

London was rated No. 1 based on its top sale of a property for $101.5 million, and it also had the top per square foot sales average of $4,683. New York and Los Angeles were second and third, respectively, with a significant growth in luxury sales volume. Here in Los Angeles, the mega mansion Fleur de Lys just sold for more than any other house in Los Angeles County ever: $102 million. In an all-cash sale

A recent survey of over 100 real estate experts and investment and market strategists asked panelists to predict the path of home values through 2018. Even the pessimists expect home prices to rise for the next five years. The idea that homes are a good stable investment has largely been debunked, in particular by Yale economist Robert Shiller. As usual, he is reluctant to declare that home prices had bottomed. With that said, home prices are impressively up 23% from their March 2012 lows.

On average, panelists say they expected nationwide home value appreciation of 4.5 percent this year, with a steady slowdown in appreciation rates each year through 2018. But it’s worth noting that the most pessimistic quartile of those surveyed also see prices going up. It’s a modest amount, but they see prices going up a cumulative 10.9% through 2018. That’s a 2.1% rate annualized. Based on current expectations for home value appreciation during the next five years, panelists predicted that overall U.S. home values could exceed their April 2007 peak by the first quarter of 2018

Should we be worried that almost no one sees prices falling? The good news is that all of these home price bulls don’t see prices accelerating to bubble-era rates. Throughout the recovery, large-scale investors have purchased thousands of homes nationwide, particularly lower-priced vacant and foreclosed homes, fixing them up and keeping them in their portfolios as rental properties. This investor activity helped put a floor under sales volumes during the depth of the housing recession, but also created competition for many would-be buyers and contributed to rapid price spikes in some areas.

Panelists were also asked when the Federal Reserve should end its ongoing stimulus efforts, known as “quantitative easing.” Since September 2012, the Fed has been purchasing tens of billions of dollars worth of Treasury bonds and mortgage securities each month, which has helped keep mortgage interest rates low and stimulate demand. The program is now being wound down. More than 70 percent of the experts want to see the monetary stimulus reduced to zero before the end of this year, and the current pace of tapering will get us there.

So you’ve saved up your down payment, rates are about as low as you think they’ll go, and you’re ready to start home shopping, but it’s winter – and your pals are telling you that should what till spring. Is that really true? Based on prices, mortgage rates and soaring rents, there may have never been a better time in real estate history to purchase a home than right now. Here are five reasons purchasers should consider buying before the spring market arrives:

Supply Of Homes For Sale Is Shrinking

With inventory declining, there will be fewer homes on the market, finding a home of your dreams may become more difficult going forward. There are buyers in more and more markets surprised that there is no longer a large assortment of houses to choose from. Sellers willing to keep their house on the market in winter may be more flexible in negotiating the terms of an offer; extending the time to close or agreeing to other concessions.

Home Prices Are Increasing

Home prices have been on the rise for the last couple years, and prices are projected to appreciate by over 25% from now to 2018. First time home buyers will probably pay more both in price and interest rate if they wait until the spring. Even if you are a move-up buyer, it will wind-up costing you more in net dollars as the home you will buy will appreciate at approximately the same rate as the house you are in now.

Interest Rates Are Projected to Rise

The Mortgage Bankers Association, the National Association of Realtors, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have all projected that the 30-year mortgage interest rate will be over 5% by the spring. That is an increase of almost one full point over current rates.

Owning a Home Helps Create Family Wealth

Whether you are rent or you own the home you are living in, you are paying a mortgage. Either you are paying your mortgage or your landlord’s. The Fed, in a recent study, revealed that the net worth of the average homeowner is 30 times greater than that of a renter.

Buy Low, Sell High

We would all agree that, when investing, we want to buy at the lowest price possible and hope to sell at the highest price. Housing can create family wealth as long as we follow this simple principle. Today, real estate is selling ‘low’ compared to where it will be in the coming years. It’s time to buy

Hybrid ARMs continued to be the most popular loan product offered by lenders and chosen by ARM borrowers according to Freddie Mac’s 30th Annual Adjustable-Rate Mortgage (ARM) Survey of prime loan offerings, which was conducted January 6 to January 10,

Homebuyers have preferred fixed-rate mortgages the past few years because of the low interest rates and the certainty of the monthly principal and interest payment. As longer-term rates rise, ARMs with their lower initial interest rates will become more appealing to loan applicants. Hybrid ARMs are particularly attractive because they have an initial extended fixed-rate period of 3 to 10 years — and then adjust annually thereafter. Nearly all of the ARM lenders participating in the survey offered a hybrid. The 5/1 hybrid (a five-year fixed-rate initial period before the rate resets annually) was by far the most common, followed by the 3/1, 7/1 and 10/1. Far less common were ARMs where the re-pricing frequency was fixed for the life of loan, such as a one-year adjustable, a 3/3 ARM (which adjusts once every three years), or a 5/5 ARM (which adjusts every fifth year).

Banks are definitely doing more ARMs because they’re selling the consumer what they’re asking for, which is a lower monthly payment. In early January 2014, the interest rate savings for the 5/1 hybrid ARM with a 30-year term — the most common ARM offered in today’s market — compared to the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage amounted to about 1.36 percentage points. For a $250,000 loan, the monthly principal and interest payment on a 5/1 hybrid would be about $194 less than on the 30-year fixed-rate loan over the first five years of the loan.

Many borrowers with adjustable-rate mortgages were among the first to default during the downturn. When their rates adjusted after an initial teaser period, they were unable to refinance and got stuck owing sharply higher payments. This time around will be different, lenders say, because underwriting standards are tougher for hybrid ARMs, so borrowers will be less likely to get squeezed when interest rates reset. Moreover, regulators have all but banned the interest-only and balloon payment features that made ARMs ticking time bombs during the financial crisis.

For many, it makes a lot of sense to take a shorter-term mortgage, If the borrower is in a situation where they’re not going to be in that home for more than seven years, it would be incorrect for them to take the fixed rate when the ARM is giving them a benefit of lower monthly payments.

Manhattan Beach real estate market update. A look back at 2013 a year in review new construction, sales and inventory in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and North Redondo Beach. Market insight is the essential ingredient in all of the services we offer. We answer the question “How is the market?” By monitoring Manhattan Beach real estate market trends, and statistics we make projections to help you make critical decisions. This report demonstrates the comparison of new construction, rate of sales compared to current real estate inventory, which is known as the Market Action Index. The current market would still be defined as a sellers market. We present a deep dive into the current real estate market analysis for Manhattan beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach neighborhoods. This video update is for the 90266 zip code. Learn about the real estate market trends for median list price, asking price per square foot, average days on market. Get the market knowledge you need to make the best real estate decision. Find Manhattan Beach real estate market statistics including home values, listing prices, number of homes for sale and many other measurements. Please make sure to subscribe to our real estate market reports for Manhattan Beach homes for sale in 90266. Presented by Dunham Stewart

The biggest drivers behind the continued expansion of luxury home sales: Low mortgage rates, rising consumer confidence, cash buyers, and international buyers. International buyers are fueling some purchases, with an estimate of up to 20% of buyers in L.A. being from overseas. Many of them are paying full cash, speeding up closings and eliminating the need for appraisals. This year we are on pace to exceed the the all time high of 697 home sales over $5 million in California set last year in 2012, many of which were all-cash deals. However, with low mortgage rates, some luxury home buyers are financing their home purchases. Jumbo loans are traditionally associated with higher interest rates– about 0.25 percentage points more — than they do for conforming loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. But over the past couple of months, the tables have turned. “Never in my memory have jumbos been such a bargain,” said Peter Grabel, a loan officer at Luxury Mortgage Corp. For example, some buyers who traditionally would pay cash are instead securing sub 3 percent interest rates and 10-year loan terms. One big reason jumbo rates are so low is because lenders want to attract wealthy clients and hang on to them, said Malcolm Hollensteiner, head of consumer lending for TD Bank. Once clients sign up for a mortgage, the bank can “cross sell them other products, like brokerage services,” he said. As for pricing, it won’t be long before the U.S. sees a $200 million listing — the record now is believed to be $190 million for a property in Greenwich, Conn. — but that many of these ultra-high-end properties are priced that way merely as a suggestion, or to invite only a certain caliber of buyers to the table. Most ultra-high-priced homes end up selling for 50% to 60% of the original list price. We are also seeing an increase in pocket listings, or listings that aren’t publicly put into the multiple-listing service, both as a way to keep a seller’s name confidential and to up the exclusivity factor.

Home price increases will end up at 6.7 percent year-over-year before slowing to roughly 4.3 percent next year, on average, and eventually falling to 3.4 percent by 2018, a panel of more than 100 forecasters concluded. The Home Price Expectations Survey was conducted from Oct. 21, 2013 through Oct. 31, 2013 by Pulsenomics LLC on behalf of Zillow, Inc.The survey of 108 economists, real estate experts and investment and market strategists said appreciation is expected to remain strong through the remainder of this year, but the pace of home value growth is predicted to slow considerably. Based on current expectations for home value appreciation over the next five years, panelists predicted that overall U.S. home values could exceed their May 2007 peak by the first quarter of 2018. “Rising mortgage rates, diminished investor demand and slowly rising inventory are all contributing to a modest cooling off of the housing market, which is both expected and welcome after months of unsustainable, breakneck appreciation,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. By comparison, the CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indexes, though they reached 10.1 percent year-over-year in the second quarter over 2012, are expected slow to an average of 5.4 percent across all U.S. markets by the end of this year. CoreLogic Case-Shiller projected that price appreciation will decelerate through the second half of 2013 and into the beginning of 2014.