What A Difference A Week Makes..

Here I sit, typing away on a Friday night,  looking up all the weekly sales and listing stats for our little slice of paradise.  Keeping one eye on the big spoiler rolling down the coast.  Rain, rain, go away, we all have things to do this weekend that DO NOT include paddling down to the market, camping out under umbrellas watching the kids attempt whatever outdoor activities still remain scheduled or trying to qualify for the pole position out on the I-5 with the other racers. Don't the forecasters know my littlest Leprechaun turns eight tomorrow..?   Well, I guess it's just the price of living in paradise, before you know it things will be back to being blissfully perfect in a matter of days. Just wait..

  At the office today, a friend mentioned about some family being back in Michigan this past week, they just sat through unseasonably warm temps (80+ degrees no less) and a very rare tornado.. IN MARCH..!

The local real estate market seems to be acting similarly odd... Or at least as unpredictable.

  The inventory continues to shrink at Orange County's Southern most border.  San Clemente  currently sits at just 231 homes for sale..  That's it...  231 homes for a population that according to the 2010 Census, is over 63,500 people.  Mighty slim, especially compared to  Laguna Beach, which as of tonight, the  CRMLS © Multiple Listing Service, is showing that there are 236 homes currently for sale for their 22,723 residents (again, 2010 Census stats).  Dana Point is holding its own  for the 33,300 + inhabitants with 179 homes ready for their new owners.

With this week's jump in interest rates and the ever-thinning inventory, I can't help but think that we are close... Close to the elusive "Bottom". I am not quite ready to call it yet but if you are planning to buy a home in the next year, you should be looking now.  Don't ever forget, that for buyers, it is still your market.  For now...  Rising rates are one of the enemies we must all deal with.  You, me, the banks, the sellers... EVERYONE.  When that rubber band snaps and things finally start getting back to the new normal, we will all once again readjust to yet another economic trend.

     Reproduced with the permission of Mortgage-X.com

All you have to do is look at the chart above and you can see the slight dampening of the trend line curve..  Now look back to previous years and see what happens after they go flat.  They bounce, sometimes for a year or longer, although they do tend to soften up after a period, the important thing to realize is that we are so close to unsustainable low rates that they will have nowhere to go but back up to what used to be unheard of lows. 5%, 5.75%, 6%, do I hear 7%? You remember, right?  7% is doubtful in the next two years but who really knows beyond that?  Now is the time.  Time to strike the deal that fits your budget, your lifestyle and your 10-year plan.  Beyond that?  Even harder to tell, but for now, now is the time. Sharpen your pencils and get out there before you are reading about it in the local Patch, or even worse, your neighbor scores that trade up gem.  Leaving you wishing you had.  Go ahead....test the water..

There should be plenty this weekend.