According to statisticians, home prices have continued to rise and foreclosures have continued to slow in the neighborhoods of Southern California’s West Side. La Jolla based data trackers “DataQuick” have proclaimed that Southern California homes rose 23.4% on average from March 2012 to March 2013 from $280,000 to $345,000. That is the highest average home price Southern California has seen in over five years. With loan rates still declining, and demand increasingly rising, this trend should only continue in a positive direction. In fact, the home average is almost back to where it was at the onset of the recession back in 2008.
Its remarkable how much the market has recovered in such a short period of time. People who purchased at the height of the market can start to breath a sigh of relief, as they have at this point been able to recoup most of their investment. In due time if these trends continue, many will be able to sell for profit, an impossible prospect just six months ago.
For those of us working and investing in the high-end real estate markets of Southern California’s more exclusive communities, there has been a spike in activity as well whereas in the past few years, activity in the higher priced markets has been sluggish at best.
Another very encouraging trend reported by “DataQuick” is that foreclosures now account for 13.9% of sales, down from 31.9% a year ago. Last month, the foreclosure share was the lowest it has been since 13.6 percent in September 2007. During the Great Recession, the foreclosure sales share peaked at 56.7 percent in February 2009. Things are finally headed back to normalcy as the market continues to heat up due to very low inventory and increasingly higher buyer demand.
An increase in property value would throughout Southern California would seemingly mean that now is a great time to sell, and indeed it is. But in addition, now is also an incredible time to buy due to some of the lowest interest rates we have ever seen.The benchmark 30-year mortgage rate dropped recently to an average of 3.35%, its lowest rate in four months and within a whisper of its record low of 3.31% . The 15-year fixed mortgage, popular with homeowners refinancing loans, set a record low falling from 2.61% to 2.56%.
The low rates have been engineered as a stimulus to the economy by the Federal Reserve which is holding steady on the rock-bottom rates by continuing its “quantitative easing” program of buying $85 billion of Treasury and mortgage-backed securities each month.
To sum things up, the real estate market is healthier than it has been in very long time. Whether looking to buy or sell, feel encouraged that there is a transaction out there that will allow you to achieve your real estate goals in an economically sound manner. No investment is ever guaranteed, but the market speaks true and right now it is safe to say that no investment will prove safer than real estate. So get out there and get preapproved and find a conscientious agent to help guide you in the right direction. Good Luck!