Long Beach, California

October 22, 2009

Real Estate News: Beyond the Headlines from C.A.R.

The California Association of Realtors has just released their latest Beyond the Headlines report to keep California home buyers and sellers up to date on recent developments in the real estate market.  The Beyond the Headlines report provides articles published in the past week of great interest to real estate market watchers.

This week features articles from prominent sources including Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Press Enterprise, and San Francisco Chronicle

Whether you are a buyer or seller of real estate, and irrespective of your timeframe, be it today, next week, next month, or many months into the future, you need to understand the trends taking place in the real estate market and understand the powerful influences on the market.

The Beyond the Headlines publication makes it easy by gathering highly relevant and timely articles and presenting them in one easy to read format.

Access the California Real Estate Weekly Update for October 22, 2009

I’m sure you’ll benefit from reading the articles provided every week, so without further ado let me identify the topic covered in the latest newsletter.

This week, the following real estate related articles appear:

Credit account dispute could stall mortgage application – Los Angeles Times

Digging yourself out of a mortgage mess – The Wall Street Journal

Campaign targets mortgage modification scams – Los Angeles Times

Refinancing lifeline fails to reach most “underwater” homeowners – Washington Post

Housing bottom behind us, experts say – San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Home buyer race to use tax credit – Press Enterprise

Short sales become easier to navigate – San Francisco Chronicle

Fewer McMansions on the horizon – The Wall Street Journal

Home prices rise in most major cities in August – Los Angeles Times

Inland foreclosure rate decreases,-  but his sixth-highest in U.S. – Press Enterprise

To access all of the articles, open a convenient PDF file using the following link:

Access the California Real Estate Weekly Update for October 22, 2009

As the summer comes to an end, it marks a period of increased real estate activity and an increase in prices.  To some extent I attribute these increased to normal seasonal trends.  The situation improved somewhat and some buyers got off the fence.  In some cases, competition heated up into a buyer frenzy with multiple offers coming in.  I’ve been a bit surprised by that.

My take on the situation is that no fundamentals have changed.  The housing market is driven by jobs and the economy.  I can’t see much reason to justify more than a minor up-tick in home prices right now.  But apparently many people have forgotten all about the “housing bubble” and are out trying to scoop up great deals.  In their excitement, if they enter bidding wars they are most certainly defeating their own purpose.

This may be the right time to buy for some people due to low interest rates.  After all, payments are the main driver of affordability, not price.  So for now, low interest rates are helping to support prices.

Time will tell how long interest rates stay low.  They are being manipulated to keep them low now, but at some point the helping hand of the government may run out of money.  We will see.

My advice to buyers is to shop around.  Don’t go crazy and get into an auction atmosphere of competing bids.