The Two Sides of the Real Estate Market Of Coachella Valley

As optimists continue to look for any signs of hope for the economy and real estate market, foreclosure problems have only stayed on track over the first of the year in California. Coachella Valley alone has recorded a remarkable 68 percent rise in activity compared to the same time just a year ago.

From January through June there have been a total of 391,611 California properties receive a foreclosure filing and over 12,000 notices of default, auction sales or bank repossessions in the valley. Any hope that the market had begun to turn around has dwindled with the release of these astonishing numbers.

Chief executive officer of RealtyTrac James Saccacio has said that a lot of the increased activity is due to unemployment-related foreclosures. While the real estate market continues to struggle, so to does the job market with hundreds of thousands of people jobless.Although Valley foreclosures are far higher than the rest of the sate of California, this does not mean things are happy go-lucky throughout. However, the valley has seen a fairly consistent flow of activity over the past year.

Many real estate professionals are waiting for properties in higher-income brackets to begin marketing and selling because of stock portfolio and job losses of almost 50 percent. While things are supposed to be looking up, the only number that is going up is the number of houses in foreclosure and those that are bank-owned.The only thing that has turned around for the real estate market is buyers. With so many tremendous deals to choose from, there has been a rise in sales. While there are a number of foreclosures on the market, normal sales have begun to see quite a bit of activity as well. One home in north Palm Springs even sold for $100,000 over its asking price with 24 offers coming in.

What people are finding is when a home is well priced, it is going to sell rather quickly. There are more and more cash buyers every day. Believe it or not, homes are more affordable today than they were dating all the way back to 1988 when this kind of data was first tracked.There is no question the incredible prices there are to choose from has enticed people to buy who otherwise would have not even begun looking. Overall, inventory on the Multiple Listing Service has decreased as more and more buyers are purchasing homes.

The numbers do not lie when it comes to the real estate market. While more and more homes continue to go into foreclosure, the buyer’s market is finally beginning to propel. I guess for now you have to take the good with the bad.

Sun City Shadow Hills Continues To Flourish During Difficult Times

There is no denying the fact that the economy is struggling and many housing markets continue to plummet.  Despite the bleak feel throughout the country, one Indio housing development seems to be doing just fine.

Del Webb’s Sun City Shadow Hills has been flourishing since the start of the year with more than 90 homes being sold.  This is a bit unheard of in today’s economy, but every day it continues to grow.  According to national home industry analyst Handley Wood Market Intelligence, this area has even been considered one of the top developments in Southern California.

All people can do is sit, wait and hope in the tough times today.  All around the country prices continue to drop and many housing markets are struggling to sell anything.  This housing development provides hope that there are good times ahead.  With the consistent sells going on in Sun City Shadow Hills, there have been more foot traffic and sales tax dollars thus assisting city services.

While it is never easy to say what creates home buyers to flock to a particular region, some credit the success of Del Webb’s Sun City Shadow Hills to the active lifestyle that is available in the community and the reputation Del Webb has built up.

Currently there are 2,600 homes in this community.  Out of the 91 homes that have been sold this year, 20 are in the newest addition to the neighborhood known as Sun City Shadow Hills Phase III.  There are some areas like Phoenix that have overbuilt and are paying the price for it.  However, it seems to have paid off for this community.

There is plenty to come for the newest addition as it is planned to have 900 homes when all completed.  Some of the active lifestyle features that will be built include a recreation center that will have an outdoor pool and a spa, and an 18-hole golf course.  These are the types of features that attract homebuyers making it easy to understand the success they have had.

All it takes is for a few homebuyers to migrate into an area and be satisfied.  In doing so, word gets around and soon there are hundreds of people looking into the area to see what it is all about.  If you are looking to retire, Sun City Shadow Hills has been mentioned in the “Where to Retire” magazine as one of the top 20 to choose from.  This is just one of the many things this area has going for it during difficult times.

Home Sales Continue To Rise In California

Any sign that the economy is beginning to get back on the right track is encouraging and that is just what is coming from the state of California. For the 11th consecutive month, home sales in California rose. From the month of April to May there was a 3 percent rise, which contributed to the more than 22 percent rise from the same time last year.

In California alone data has shown the total number of homes that have been sold in California totaled at 39,051 in May. With these totals, the number of houses sold has increases for 11 consecutive months as sales of $500,000 plus homes have also begun to make a comeback.

Not only are home sales continuing to increase, but the median home price is starting to go up as well. There was a 4 percent increase from April to May with the median home price in May set at $230,000 in California. While this is signs of improvement, the downside is that this year’s median price in May was still down more than 32 percent from May 2008.

Everyone knew it would be a process to get through the hectic economy and real estate market. Although no one anticipated it to get this bad or take this long, little signs are beginning to show through the dark and gloomy cloud of the recession.

Southern California had a total of 20,775 new and resale houses and condos that closed escrow in various areas including San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Venture and Riverside. This number was up slightly from April and was up drastically by 22.2. percent from a year ago.

There was some encouragement over winter as the number of homes lost to foreclosure declined. However, this was followed up by incredibly low prices on homes in the spring. With these bargain prices, sales have begun to rise a bit in the mid-to high-end markets.

Homes in six Southern California counties increased as much as 1 percent just from April to May. This was a huge deal as it was the first month-to-month increase in close to two years. In addition, homes that were more than $500,000 also rose by nearly 2 percent.

Despite all of these impressive and encouraging numbers, one thing remains; the housing market is still greatly struggling. All of the numbers continue to be far lower than they were just a year ago. The only hope is that the steady increase will continue month after month as the economy begins to work back into shape.

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