What's going on here???!!!?

Question

I here so much talk right now about how home values in CA have gone down.Then I here that it is only the home sales that have gone down.How do I find current info on the real estate market besides talking to an agent?I am thinking of selling my home but I want to know how the market is doing in CA at this time. Can anyone fill me in?

Answer 1

Its very hard to find exact information on your city unless you are really watching the neighborhoods and have your hands in the game.

Real estate news is crazy and sometimes the media will say it's declining- nationalizing real estate. People hear things and regurgitate information and probably don't know what they're talking about. Unless it's someone who is actually WORKING in that industry- they're probably misinformed. Real estate is a local industry and the people who have the best knowledge of it are full-time realtors and good appraisers. They will know which cities are holding value and which are declining.

Realtor.org is a good site to dig and find stats.
Rismedia.com another good real estate news site
Inman news

I know a few agents in california and could point you to someone who knows what they're talking about but I can't help you personally since I'm in Las Vegas, where it's pretty much down at the bottom.

I can tell you this, if your market is low you might want to sell and take a 5% loss and move up- when you buy at someone elses 5% loss, you will end up ahead since the new home will be a higher price. Plus if you can find someone looking to dump their home you might be able to find a huge equity position 100K under market.

Answer 2

RE: Values/Sales. The value of a home is priceless. However, in terms of PRICE, it is determined by a variety of factors: 1. the buyer's desire to have the home, 2. the seller's desire to sell the home, 3. the type of financing the buyer has, 4. the level of participation the seller is willing to give in financing the buyer.

Prices have gone down in CA because few buyers can qualify to finance the price of home they have in mind to purchase. With the increased number of defaulted mortgages, lenders have created stricter guidlines for today's borrowers. Hence, sellers have been willing to reduce their prices in order to secure a buyer. When sellers begin to lower their price to the price that a buyer can afford/or will pay, then a trend in comparables can be analyzed for that neighborhood to determine a home's price.

Prices on Realtor.com only can indicate 'active' sales meaning homes that have not opened escrow or homes that have not received a solid offer for purchase.

Appraisers & lenders want to see 'closed' sales to determine the allowable amount to finance a home. Closed sales are sales that have actually transferred ownership within 6-12 months and are an indicator of what the MARKET is paying for a particular house in a neighborhood.

If you are willing to do your own research via county assessor records 6 months from today, determine a 1 mile radius from your home to assess which properties to include in your analysis, factor in the number of days it took to actually transfer ownership by sifting through county records, then you can figure out how the market is doing in your "area." You would have done the pricing on your home yourself, but the data may be dated by the time you complete your analysis and the price you set may no longer be accurate.

You can get SOLD comparables online, but often times the data is also old (sometimes 2-3 years) and the area is not specific to your neighborhood.

The best resource is really a Realtor, most preferably someone who was referred to you by a mutual friend or someone that you know. A loan officer can probably also offer you comparables for your home, but the analysis would not be as 'in depth' as if it was provided by a Realtor.

Answer 3

Your best bet is to contact a qualified real estate agent. Those are the folks who have 'the pulse' on your market conditions. Fortunately for me, I live in Wisconsin, where real estate values are barely declining.

However, it's obvious that parts of California have experienced some drastic value declines. Find a trustworthy agent and start working with him/her. Remember, you have NO obligation to any of these agents until you sign a contract. Look around until you find one with whom you feel a genuine comfort and trust level.

Answer 4

You can check prices in Ca. by going to some well known real estate company on the internet and look at the houses for yourself. century21.com or remax.com and it will give you a place to enter the zip code or state you want to look in.

Answer 5

Most states have a limited MLS that you can look thru to get an idea of what's for sale around you.. try century 21 or prudential for free no hassle searches of their listings.

or search "california MLS" and see if you can find that.

Hope that helps.

Answer 6

Call real estate commissioner.