Real Estate Information Archive

According to a closely watched index released Tuesday,  home prices have sunk by the sharpest annual rate on record in October and there are no signs the housing pain is over.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city housing index fell by a record 18 percent from October last year, the largest drop since its inception in 2000. Locally, prices were down 28 percent.   The 10-city index tumbled 19.1 percent, the biggest decline in its 21-year history.

    Both indexes have recorded year-over-year declines for 22 straight months. Prices are at levels not seen since March 2004. Prices in the 20-city index have plummeted more than 23.4 percent from their peak in July 2006. The 10-city index has fallen 25 percent since its peak in June 2006. 

 “The numbers are getting worse. And I think they will get quite a bit worse over the next two months because housing demand has plunged since the market went into turmoil,” said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight. 

   None of the 20 cities in the Case-Shiller index saw annual price gains in October – for the seventh consecutive month – and 14 of them posted record year-over-year declines. 

    Three metro areas clocked in annual declines of more than 30 percent. Phoenix home values lost almost 33 percent, while Las Vegas prices fell nearly 32 percent. San Francisco prices tumbled 31 percent yearover-year in October.

    The Los Angeles market, which includes Orange County, dropped 27.9 percent. San Diego was down 26.7 percent.  Atlanta, Seattle and Portland, Ore., all recorded their first double-digit annual declines in October. Of course, that month was one of the worst in history for U.S. stock markets, and President George W. Bush was forced to sign a $700 billion bailout plan to help quell the global financial panic.

    Since then, the Federal Reserve has slashed interest rates and helped drive down mortgage rates to historic lows.  Freddie Mac is set to release its weekly survey of mortgage rates today, and the Mortgage Bankers Association will release its weekly survey of mortgage applications. 

   So far, favorable mortgage rates have sparked a mini-refinancing boom, but the for-sale market has yet to see much of a boost.   Buyers are nervous about getting into the market when home values are sliding and unemployment is rising. 

   Last week, the government reported that sales of new homes fell in November to the slowest pace in almost 18 years, while new home prices dropped 11.5 percent to $220,400, the largest decline in eight months.

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Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.    

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.  

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Orange County continues to bleed jobs in August, state officials reported on Friday. Over the past 12 months, the county has lost 26,600 jobs, said the state Employment Development Department. Two years ago, the county added that many jobs in a year.

 Local unemployment in August edged up to 5.8 percent from 5.7 percent, the highest jobless rate since August 2004. Local unemployment was just 4.2 percent a year ago.

Economist Asmael Adibi at Chapman University said there was one slight ray of hope: The county not losing jobs as fast as it was last month. In July, jobs were disappearing at a 2.2 percent annual pace. That slowed to 1.8 percent in August.

 But don't expect a quick job turnaround, Adibi said, noting that employers are usually slow to create jobs after this kind of downturn and if anything these negative numbers will stay around for a while. Orange County's August job losses were broad-based, with financial activities continuing to take the biggest hit, down 11,700 jobs in the past year.

 The only bright spots were the government, which added 4,100 jobs over the past 12 months, and educational and health services, increasing by 3,200. Because Orange County has such a diverse economy, some niches are still thriving.

Unemployment by County

Orange : 5.8 %

San Diego: 6.4 %

Ventura: 7.1 %

Los Angeles: 8.2 %

Riverside: 9.2 %

Santa Barbara: 5.5 %

Your thoughts and feedback on this topic are greatly appreciated.  Please feel free to post your comments.

Keeping you informed about the Orange County real estate market, economy and life in the OC is what I'm committed to doing.    

For more great Orange County market insight and industry news visit Laguna Niguel Real Estate or view the Orange County Market Trends at Orange County Real Estate.  

Listen to Zen's Laguna Niguel Real Estate Podcast available 24/7.

SEARCH ORANGE COUNTY'S BEST HOMES at Orange County MLS Home Sea

I wanted to share and discuss some of the latest foreclosure statistics according to ForeclosureRadar and their latest California Foreclosure Report report issued on 1/15/2008.month-to-month 45.4 percent jump in the notices of default (NOD), the initial notice that a homeowner receives once they fail to pay their mortgage. The number of NOD in December was 32,948 compared to 22,665 in November. December auction sales increased by 4.1 percent from November, to a total of 12,783 properties with a loan value of $5.18 Billion dollars. Additionally, a total of 9,001 properties have been sold at auction in just the first eight business days of January, with daily average sales 76 percent higher than in December.

The report noted a substantial

Riverside County jumped from #6 in the state to #1, San Bernardino jumped from #13 to #8, San Diego jumped from #27 to #16th place, Orange County moved up from #37 to #31 and Los Angeles moved up from #38 to #32 right behind OC. 

This will continue to put pressure on home prices as the banks foreclosure inventories will grow in 2008.  It is important that you have a professional like myself to help you and advise you in a challenging real estate market.  Please contact me at 888-877-6062 for a FREE personal consultation and visit my website at www.ZenSellsHomes.com for more great info.