I had to get a comment in about the increase of younger women, “Swifties” watching the Superbowl. Wow! What a great game, a nail-biter up to the end! And the half-time show was entertaining! Of course I am an Usher fan. We watched the game at Dana Point Yacht Club, here is the sunset view.
Rates have
crept back up near their highs. The next
move down will depend primarily on the CPI figures coming out this week. If inflation
is decreasing, we should see a reduction in the Fed rate sooner than later. If not, we may be waiting for June before we
see any appreciable change.
Regardless, activity
is definitely picking up, with many coming off the sidelines when rates
started their drop at the end of last year. To quote a local Real Estate professional,
“Stop holding your breath waiting for prices to fall.” They won’t, barring a National or International
Disaster.
Baby boomers
are not selling their homes and, for the most part, are not moving. So, get into the market if you aren’t
already, any way you can, even if you have to buy an investment property and/or
combine forces with a friend or relative.
Don’t wait for your dream home or you may be priced entirely out of the market
here in California.
Insurance
Woes
In case you
have not heard, we have an insurance crisis. Insurance costs are rising dramatically for homes,
cars and more. A number of carriers have
stopped writing insurance on homes in California, or pulled out of our market altogether. This means many homeowners have had their
policies cancelled by their carriers, and find they now have to resort to the “Fair
Plan” provided by the State, with an additional “wrap” policy. These are all expensive!
Why is this
happening, may you ask? Well, fires, floods, and earthquakes. Climate change is bringing more frequent
and more serious weather events. The
number of weather-related disasters have risen dramatically in the US over the
past 20+ years. Insurance companies are
losing money, and they are for-profit enterprises.
So far, the companies
that have exited or stopped writing new policies include The Hartford; State
Farm, Allstate, Farmers, Kemper, and USAA.
Auto rates
are climbing as well,
primarily due to high costs to repair autos.
What does
this all mean? Well, it has a rather dramatic effect on home
affordability if your insurance premium is double or more than initially
expected. Lenders require insurance and it is not wise for anyone to go “bare”
without insurance, even if you don’t have a loan on your property.
We have to
remind our clients to get busy contacting agents to get insurance in order
ASAP, or it can and will slow down
closings.
However, if
you think it is bad here, take a look at Florida. There, many homeowners are being forced to
sell as they can’t afford the enormous increase of their insurance policiy. Others are paying off their mortgage and
going “bare” so they don’t have to pay giant premiums where policies have doubled
or tripled due to hurricanes.
If you
need help with insurance, reach out! We
can help!
We are looking
forward to Spring!
Karen, Katie and
Stephanie
