Boker's Blog

“Glass Half Empty” Perspective

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER REAL ESTATE SECTION 11/20/2011
Jeff Collins
“DISTRESSED LISTINGS”
37% of all O.C homes listed are in distress (3,488). 90 of the listed distressed homes are priced over $1 million…3% of all distressed listings.

LOS ANGELES TIMES BUSINESS SECTION 11/30/2011
Alejandro Lazo
“HOME PRICES SLIP, ENDING A POSITIVE RUN”
Home prices in the nation’s largest cities fell in September. Only Washington, New York and Portland had gains in September.

“Glass Half Full” Perspective

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER REAL ESTATE SECTION 12/4/2011
Jeff Collins
“14 PERCENT FEWER O.C HOMES ARE UNDERWATER THAN 2 YEARS AGO”
Georgia has pushed California out of the “top 5” among the nation’s most “underwater” states

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER REAL ESTATE SECTION 11/29/2011
Jonathan Lansner
“SELLERS PULL HOMES OFF MARKET”
It looks like many Orange County homesellers will take the winter off. The inventory experienced its biggest drop in 5 years. A 4.2 % drop in inventory in the past 2 weeks and a 22 percent in a year. You may have to wind the clocks back to 2006 to find the last time the inventory dropped by 4 percent at the end of November. The drop in inventory is due to a combination of stronger demand and more homeowners throwing in towel with the realization that this is cyclically the slowest time of the year to sell.

LOS ANGELES TIMES BUSINESS SECTION 11/29/2011
Jeffry Bartash
“NEW-HOMES SALES EDGE UP IN OCTOBER”
Purchases of new homes rose to an annual rate of 307,000 up 4,000 from the previous month. New-home sales were 8.9% higher compared with a year earlier.

LOS ANGELES TIMES BUSINESS SECTION 11/22/2011
Alejandro Lazo
“HOME RESALES RISE IN OCTOBER”
More people closed deals on home purchases in October than economist expected, driving down the number of homes available for sale to an eight-month supply. Existing-home sales rose 1.4% from the previous month and 13.5 % from October 2010.

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER REAL ESTATE SECTION 11/20/2011
Jeff Collins
“AFFORDABILITY”
1 in 3 households can afford a O.C. house. Home affordability rates remain high, but it still takes a six-figure income to buy a median-priced house in Orange County.