Coldwell Banker 10 Day Sales Event is On!

Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC is promoting a sales event during which participating sellers who have listed their homes for sale through a company agent will drop their asking price by up to 10 percent.

Borrowing a page from the marketing plans of home builders and auto dealers, the "10-Day Sales Event" will run from Oct. 10 through Oct. 19.

"Our research and discussions with our brokers and sales associates shows that in many markets sellers remain reluctant to list their homes at the proper prices necessary to attract buyers," said Jim Gillespie, Coldwell Banker president and CEO, in a statement.

"It's our hope that the Coldwell Banker 10-Day Sales Event will move buyers off the sidelines and into the market. We are embarking on this initiative -- which has never been done before on a national basis -- because we believe it is critical for Coldwell Banker, as an industry leader, to help serve the needs of those individuals listing homes with a Coldwell Banker broker and to help move the U.S. real estate market in the right direction."

The announcement referenced a company survey of 3,379 Coldwell Banker real estate professionals -- 56 percent of respondents said that the listing prices in their market areas "remain above where they need to be to attract qualified buyers."

article from www.inman.com

Government Bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Here is a link to a report from the Wall St. Journal about how the US Gov't has come to the rescue of Fannie and Freddie. 

http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/09/08/government-bails-out-fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac/

This is good news for home buyers and sellers. Upon this announcement mortgage rates dropped approximately one-half of a percentage point. The effect of this drop in rates will most likely be increased activity and sales resulting in a reduction of housing inventory. 

Important Buyer Information

Here are two short articles from http://www.realtrends.com/ email newsletter that I thought buyers would find useful:

Top economists say housing doom is overblown

(WASHINGTON) – The Washington Post reports that a team of housing economists
believe "predictions of further large housing price declines are greatly
overblown." The Post gathered some of the nation's top
economists to study the housing crisis. They concluded that in reality only four
states – Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada – have had home price declines
of more than 4 percent in the past year. The economists
said the home price index compiled by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise
Oversight was the most comprehensive of the various
indexes. The Post said, "Our analysis reveals,
unsurprisingly, that foreclosures and home prices have negative effects on each
other over time, but this does not imply a vicious cycle of collapsing prices.
Our models predict that as foreclosures continue to climb in many states, house
prices will remain flat or decline in those states — but will not
collapse.

When to get the biggest discount in a home sale (SEATTLE) -
The online brokerage Redfin has released a study showing when buyers have the
highest opportunity to buy a home at the lowest price. According to Redfin,
heavily discounted homes are: -- 83 percent more likely to have been on the
market for 90-plus days. -- 73 percent more likely to be marketed as
fixer-uppers. -- 20 percent less likely to feature a substantial remodel. -- 28
percent more likely to have already been price-reduced. -- 52 percent more
likely to have been seller-owned for 20 years or more. -- 9 percent more likely
to be a short sale or bank-owned.

What's Going On with the Central Coast Real Estate Market?

Along with the graphs that show the sales trends over the last few years, here is a brief synopsis of what's happening here on the Central Coast and in San Luis Obispo:

For Cayucos

There are currently 61 listings including single family, condos and PUD's. Least expensive is a 648 sq. ft. house for $359,000 and the most expensive is a 697 acre ranch for $6.6 million. The median price is $875,000. There are currently 4 homes in escrow and 22 have sold over the past 6 months with a median selling price of $860,000. The average days on the market is 104.

For Morro Bay

There are currently 131 listings starting at $299,000 for a small condo and going up to $3.7 million for a home on 116 acres. The median price is $649,000. 12 homes are in escrow at this time and 60 have sold in the past 6 months with a median selling price of $522,500. The average days on the market is 119.

For Los Osos

There are currently 73 homes on the market starting at $185,000 for a small condo and going up to $2.7 million for a view home over 5500 sq. ft. Median price is $579,000. 16 homes are in escrow and 55 have sold in the past 6 months with a median selling price of $470,000. The average days on the market is 121.

For San Luis Obispo

There are 230 active listings starting at $282,400 for a small condo and going up to $12 million for a ranch house and 7 rentals on 530 acres of land. Median list price is $624,500. 37 homes are in escrow and 172 have sold in the past 6 months with a median selling price of $571,950. The average days on the market is 86.

More Attractive Rates May Help Buyers

Here is an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal regarding lower interest rates for “jumbo conforming” loans.


http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2008/06/19/more-attractive-interest-rates-may-help-first-time-buyers/


It seems that these rate changes would really provide a boost to the real estate industry if the deadline to apply for these rates is extended past December 31, 2008.

Current Market Statistics

Here is some statiscal information on the current real estate market for Cayucos and Morro Bay as of today 5/20/08:

Cayucos

• 59 - active listings
• 7 - pending sale
• 18 - sold in the past 6 months
• Average list price - $1,319,207
• Average selling price - $1,276,611
• Average days on the market - 164

Morro Bay

• 119 active listings
• 15 - pending sale
• 47 - sold in the past 6 months
• Average list price -$765,605
• Average selling price - $571,726
• Avereage days on the market - 132

As always, please feel free to call me at 805-471-5568 with any questions.

Seven Simple Reasons to Buy Now

Here are seven simple reasons why this is the best time to buy a home in years.....

Fact #1: Some six million Americans are expected to buy a home this year. Six million people in the game make up a pretty big game. That's a level of sales equal to the one we experienced in 1998 by all accounts, a pretty good year.

Fact #2: There is still over $23 trillion of value in U.S. housing stock. Home ownership continues to be the basis of our wealth in this country.

Fact #3: The housing market cannot help but grow. Our country's tremendous wealth, liquidity, and entrepreneurship will continue to drive our economy. 70-100 million people will be added to our market in the next 40 years.

Fact #4: Real estate is cyclical. The biggest fear in good times is that the fair weather won't last forever because it doesn't. But the reality of a cyclical real estate market also provides its brightest hope in bad times..foul weather won't last forever either. What's happening today is a market correction, severe in some places, but it's not the end of the world. As shown by Fact #1, people are still buying and selling homes. The markets will stabilize.

Fact #5: 2008 is the best year to buy a home in 35 years. 1973 was the last time mortgage rates were this low in a buyer's market. We had rates this low in 2001 and 2002, but those were strong seller's markets with little inventory. The last two big buyer's markets, in the early '80s and early '90s had much higher rates. Low rates and good inventory make 2008 the best year to buy in decades!

Fact #6: First-time buyers have a real advantage in today's market. First-time buyers can buy at a reduced price without having to sell at one too. Higher limits on lower cost conforming loans also help first-time buyers purchase more home for their money. Today's starter‚ homes can be pretty impressive.

Fact #7: First-time buyers lose money while they wait on the sidelines. First, renters typically pay more state and federal income taxes than homeowners with a mortgage deduction. Renters are also losing the wealth they could be accumulating as they pay down their mortgage and as their home increases in value over time (as it surely will). Lastly, renters who wait to buy will lose money if interest rates increase by the time they finally act. Higher payments from higher interest rates represent money buyers could have kept if they had bought earlier. Conversely, if they were willing to spend that amount of money earlier, they could have bought more homes.

The above information was brought to you by Centex Homes.