REAL ESTATE MARKET
The housing market continues to slow as more homes come on
market and prices fall, while rates level off and
drop somewhat, averaging around the 5% mark give or take. The average home price across the state and in Los Angeles County is $863K...and a whopping $1.25 million in Orange County—which marks a 15% increase over
the last twelve months.
OPPORTUNITY
Pending sales are down 40% from a year ago, and mortgage
applications across the country are at a low of well over 20 years. Some buyers are purportedly walking away. This does create a great opportunity for
buyers who were stymied over the last year making multiple offers without success. So long as they can qualify with higher
rates, there is much more opportunity to negotiate and even offer less than
list price, which was unthinkable a year ago.
Or, negotiate a big seller credit to closing costs or buy down the interest rate!
WEDDED BLISS
We expect to see a total of 2.5 million weddings across the
country in 2022, which is a national record.
COVID caused many weddings to be postponed and they are all catching up
now. This should provide more demand
for housing as the newly married couples set up house. New home construction has slowed quite a bit,
and new home sales are way off. Builders
are cutting prices, and offering big incentives to buy down interest rates to
help their buyers qualify.
We love working with first-timers to help them plan their
entry into he housing market and will show them how much they can increase their
net worth with home ownership vs. renting.
REVERSE FINANCING
Reverse Loans continue to pick up steam as baby boomers realize
how much equity they have in their homes, and are reluctant to move, knowing prices
are higher across the country. These programs
now go down to age 55 in some cases, and loan amounts go higher up to
multi-millions, depending on property value and program selected.
SUMMER FUN
We have been enjoying the summer days and warm evenings, and
hope your summer is going smoothly. The
tales of airline delays and cancellations have taken a bit of the blush off
summer air travel. We plan to take a
drive up the state to visit relatives, camp out a couple days in the Sierra foothills,
and tour the central coast. (maybe a
little wine tasting included!) Luckily gas prices seem to be coming down a bit.
Be safe and have fun!
