Interest Rates versus Inventory

OK, OK, the new home listings predicted to start showing up in April took a bit longer than expected to materialize. This unpredictable run continues to reflect the contrary nature of today's real estate market. It was a short-lived bump in rates that seemed to have tempered the market just a bit. Now that the facebook IPO has came and went with a whimper, the stock market volatility continues to be driven in part by the uncertainty Greece, and the rest of the European Union is sowing. We should see rates continue to bump along lows with the occasional three-eighth bumps here and there. Overall, it is having a nice effect on the sector driving interest rates and we are pleasantly surprised to see rates again setting new record lows. With this continued historic drop in rates, many people are taking advantage of both record lows in housing and the cost to finance these homes.

San Clemente saw a long overdue resupply of homes as 81 homes new to the market finally made an appearance. The continuing challenge is that while it great to get these properties, 98 homes closed escrow in the month of May. Hard to keep a healthy a balance when the sales keep outpacing these new listings.


The Dana Point market does not appear to be suffering these same issues affecting San Clemente.  It is encouraging to see they had 56 new homes listed for sale while 44 homes closed escrow in the month of May.  You can see in the market report that Dana Point has maintained a nice healthy balance most of the year with the exception of January when you typically get a big boost in homes being listed for the new year.

Laguna Beach seems to be the opposite of San Clemente when it comes to the number of homes listed and sold.  As of Friday June 1st, they are leading the way among coastal cities with 241 active homes for sale.  The new listings have outpaced sales since the first of the year, even with the last three months showing some nice gains.  There were five sales with double digit discounts from list price.  In total, 26 of the 35 homes sold in May sold at a discount to the list price while 5 homes went for more than list.  There were 4 homes sold right at list price.  You can still get great deals on homes but as the market continues to slowly turn, you will see more and more homes getting multiple offers and being bid up as market demand grows.

Overall, we should see these trends continue and when the banks finally get around to working through all their short sales and foreclosures, a healthier market awaits.  When is that you ask? It is already starting to happen, we are seeing more and more value buyers recognizing the deals that are out there and they are getting back in the game.  The crash has happened and is behind us, recovery is ahead, and it is long overdue.