Real Estate Information

The housing and lending crisis is taking it's toll on our economy and now the jobs market. U.S. employment unexpectedly tumbled last month for the first time in more than four years, fueling worries that the U.S. economy, which already limped into 2008, might soften further or even slip into recession in coming months.

Nonfarm payrolls fell 17,000 in January, the Labor Department said Friday, the first drop since August 2003, when payrolls slid 42,000. Gains in services like health care, retail trade and leisure offset declines in other sectors including manufacturing, construction, financial services and government. The unemployment rate fell, as expected, to 4.9% from 5%.

Normally it takes 6 or more months for rate cuts to take affect on the economy so it will be interesting to see what happens in the next 6 - 9 months.

For more great market insight and industry news visit my website, newletter or more articles on my blog at www.zensellshomes.com/blog.asp .

   Foreclosure filings in California more than tripled last year to 481,392 (a figure that includes default notices, auction sales notices and bank repossessions) involving 249,513 properties, according to Irvine's RealtyTrac.

   Nationally, there were 2,203,295 filings involving 1,285,873 properties in 2007. The number of filings was up 75 percent from 2006, said RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosures and sells the information to investors and home shoppers.

   In California, 1.9 percent of households entered some stage of foreclosure last year, compared with a national rate of just over 1 percent, according to Realty Trac. 

   Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate in the U.S. in 2007, with 3.4 percent of its households entering some stage of foreclosure during the year, the company said.

   In December, about 2,946 Orange County properties entered some stage of foreclosure, or 0.29 percent of households, RealtyTrac said.

   RealtyTrac has been criticized because it counts each stage of the foreclosure process as a separate event, leading some to say it exaggerates the number of foreclosures by double- or triple-counting some homes. However, the company last year began releasing the number of unique properties involved in the filings, which has quieted criticism in some corners.

   Last week, DataQuick reported that foreclosures spiked in nearly every ZIP code in Orange County in the last three months of 2007 vs. the same period in 2006.

As of this morning the Fed Fund Cut Rates by 0.50 to decrease the basic rate to 3.00%. The reasoning behind this decision was to "Moderate growth over time." This is what was said back in Sept, Oct of 2007 and when the rate was cut 0.75 points recently.

Other good news is that they did not close the door on future rate cuts. 

Let's hope that these cuts will be incentive enough to keep the market going.  (

How americans in different financial situations wuld fare under the rebate lan proposed by House leaders and the White House.

• An individual with $2500 in earned income in 2007: Disqualified because income fell below $3000 threshold. No Rebate.
• Married couple with no children, with adjusted gross income of $100,000 in 2007: Would qualify for the full $1200 for couples. A $1200 rebate.
• A worker with one child, who earned $9000 and owed no taxed in 2007: Would qualify for the $300 rebate available to individuals who pay no taxed but earned at least $3000, plus an additinal $300 for the child. A $600 rebate.
• A couple with income of $160,000 in 2007 with two children: Would qualify for a partial rebate, reduced by $50 for every $1000 in income above the $150,000 threshold. An $1800 rebate - $1200 for the couple plus $300 per child - would go down by $500 for this family. A $1300 rebate.
• A couple with income of $200,000 and four children: Disqualified becuase their income exceeded $174,000, the phase-out limit. No rebate.
• An individual with adjusted gross income of $23,000 and no dependents would get a rebate of $600.
• A couple with adjusted gross income of $184,000 and two children would get a $100 rebate.

I hope that this clears up any confusion of how the rebate will affect you and your family. 

For the first 4 weeks of January 2008 Home sales are up 18% in Orange County compared to the previous 4 weeks in December.  Unfortunately they are down 37% compared to the first 4 weeks of January in 2007. 

As a professional working this market last January, it was extremely busy in January of 2007.  It was one our busiest months here in Orange County.  Buyers were writing a lot of offers and the year started out with a bang.  Then the Sub Prime meltdown began in February and by the end of March our market really turned down from here in Orange County.  Irvine, CA was the capital of Sub Prime lending and the wave of companies began to close and lay off workers.    

Based upon the current sales and inventory of 15,245 it would take 12.51 months for buyers to gobble up all homes for sale at the current pace vs. 15 months four weeks earlier.  This is still way above the 6.16 months a year ago. The latest inventory count (15,245) is 28% higher than a year ago as of today.

For more great market insight and industry news view my newsletter, visit my website at http://www.zensellshomes.com/or read more of my blogging at www.zensellshomes.com/blog.asp 

New home sales hit a 12 year low in December and sales were down 4.7%.  This is the 8th straight quarter of declines in new home sales.  New home prices were down 10.4% year over year from 2006 to 2007.  This just shows that we are still in the housing correction and prices are still headed lower.  This is why it is important that you hire a strong realtor to negotiate a great price for you as a buyer.  If you are a homeowner needing to sell you must hire a realtor with an agressive marketing plan and strategy to position your home to sell quickly as home prices continue to fall.

For more great market insight and industry news visit my website at http://www.zensellshomes.com/ or my blog at www.zensellshomes.com/blog.asp.

Laguna Niguel active listings of existing homes as of January 26, 2008 is at 467.  This is down 20% from the peak of last year of 586 which was at the end of September 2007 but it is also up 9.1% from last January.  The trend will be for this number to grow into the end of the summer.  With the number of home sales trending down due to market conditions it will be interesting to see if we will exceed the last years peek of 586. In comparison to January of 2007, we only had 428 homes on the market a year ago.

Seller's need to be realistic and must realize that they must have their homes in top condition, priced strategically and hire an experienced Realtor with and agressive marketing plan to get their home sold in today's market.

For more great market insight and industry news visit my website at http://www.zensellshomes.com/or my blog at www.zensellshomes.com/blog.asp  

After an unexpected .75 rate drop on Tuesday January 22nd the FED meets next week again (the end of January).  They are expected by Wall Street to cut rates again to help our slowing economy and troubled housing market.  How much will they cut and how will it effect mortgage rates is the question.  The FED's behind the curve now and is trying to make up for it.  Wall Street is betting on another .50 basis points but we will have to wait and see. No matter what happens our housing market and economy still needs interest rates lower.  This will help out borrowers so they can refinance at a lower rate and make it more attractive for buyers to buy a home who have been afraid to put their toes in the water. 

I'd love to here your thoughts on a Huge financial news week coming up that will drive interest rates, the stock market and the housing market.  I can't wait to see what happens!  

For more great market insight and industry news check out my newsletter or my blog.

Good News:  Home Inventories fell 7.4% in December. 

Bad News:  Home Sales drop to lowest levels in 25 years for Single Family Homes and Median Home Prices fell in 2007 for the first time since 1988. 

Existing-home sales fell 2.2% to a 4.89 million annual rate in December, according to the National Association of Realtors. The median home price also declined to $208,400 in December, down 6% from $221,600 in December 2006. Inventories of homes fell 7.4% at the end of last month to 3.91 million available for sale, which represented a 9.6-month supply at the current sales pace. Sales of single-family existing homes fell by 13% in 2007, the biggest drop in 25 years.

For more great real estate news and market updates read more of my blogs and my newsletter at www.ZenSellsHomes.com.

While the world stock markets were getting murdered across the globe in fear of a possible US led recession the FED stepped in this morning and made an unexpected .75 basis rate cute this morning.  This was the first inter-meeting rate cut since 9/11 and the first .75 basis cut since 1984. 

The US stock market/DOW opened almost 500 points lower this morning and rallied back to only 150 points down within one hour after the open.  The FED cut helped save the stock market today but will it save housing?  My opinion, is this will definitely help all of us and the housing market.  We still have a liquidity crisis and a flood of foreclosures so there will continue to be pressures on the housing market but this will help.