The Huntington Harbor housing market

The Huntington Harbor housing market, a component of the Orange County real estate market, saw signs of strength along with the rest of the region. According to a June 15, 2010 piece from OC Metro, Orange Countys median home price and sales numbers got a welcome boost in May, partly due to government tax credits, low mortgage rates and more activity in higher-priced areas, according to a new report from MDA DataQuick. The median home price rose to $450,000 in the county, up about 10 percent from the same time last year. The article by Kristen Schott continued to note that Sales rose 22 percent in Orange County, compared to the same time last year. Buyers snapped up 3,257 properties, compared to 2,667 in May 2009. Its the second consecutive month of yearly gains, according to MDA DataQuick. The number also increased from 2,669 in April.

The number of bankruptcies in the Orange County area may drag on the eventual recovery of Huntington Harbor real estate. According to a June 14, 2010 article from the Orange County Register, The Orange County bankruptcy filings for May have something for both pessimists and optimists. Bankruptcy filings for Orange County individuals and businesses rose 31.3% in May compared to a year earlier. And the 1,562 filings were the higher for May in at least 11 years, according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The report continued to say that The good news is that in May the number of filings in the Orange County court declined 7.1%. It was the second straight month of fewer filings after the number spiked in March. Bankruptcy activity remains very high by historical standards.

A more negative perspective on the status of the Huntington Harbor housing market was provided by economist Christopher Cagan. Cagan, who was interviewed by the Orange County Register on June 11, 2010, stated that In the short to near term, I expect a double dip. This is the logical aftermath of the sugar shot from the Federal first time buyer tax credit. It borrowed buyers from the future, and we are now going into that future.

The Scottsdale housing market

The Scottsdale housing market, part of the Phoenix area real estate market, improvement in the most recent tracking periods. According to a May 22, 2010 article in the Arizona Republic, April figures for existing-home sales in metro Phoenix reveal several promising shifts for those searching for signs of a housing market recovery. The overall number of home sales in the region continued to hover near record levels last month. The piece, composed by Catherine Reagor, went on to state that Beneath the sales figures were other encouraging numbers: Foreclosures did not dominate sales of existing homes in the Valley for the first time in more than a year. The number of investors purchasing homes from lenders dropped. More buyers purchased homes with the intent of living on them. More buyers financed their purchases with long-term mortgages. April sales included the last wave of first-time buyers who rushed to buy before a federal tax credit expired.

The increased rate of purchase for Scottsdale real estate was reflected in a higher demand for housing land. According to a June 13, 2010 article from the Arizona Republic, Homebuilders are buying land again in metropolitan Phoenix. So far this year, according to the Arizona brokerage firm Land Advisors, homebuilders here have spent $90 million on land purchases for new homes. Thats the most builders have invested in the regions land in any year since the peak of the housing boom in 2006. The piece, also written by Catherine Reagor, also reported that New land purchases are a sign the cycle is stirring to life again in a retooled housing industry. The parcels of land and the pool of builders buying them are both much smaller than before the real-estate crash. But residential lot prices are climbing as a steady stream of purchases by builders the past six months restarts the regions new-home industry.

The number of foreclosures in the Scottsdale housing market as well as the rest of the Phoenix area has been declining steadily. According to a report from Arizona State University, Foreclosures as a share of the overall Phoenix-area resale-housing market activity are declining. The latest Realty Studies report from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University explains the number of foreclosure has gone down from 40 percent of the markets recorded activity in March to 33 percent in May.

Indio real estate market

The Indio real estate market, part of the larger Coachella Valley housing market, is seeing some signs of improvement despite a lag in the regions economic recovery. According to a June 15, 2010 article from the Desert Sun, Chapman University economist Esmael Adibi, who issued his quarterly Desert Sun Economic Forecast for the Coachella Valley on June 3, offered a statewide prediction for job growth that was slightly more conservative. The piece by Debra Gruszecki went on to note that Across the state, hes predicted median price will rise 7 percent in 2010 and 4 percent in 2011. If you look at just that, it would say prices are going higher, but the mix of homes being sold are changing, he said. In the low end of the Coachella Valley housing market, Adibi said existing home prices have probably bottomed.

The increase in the median price of an Indio or Orange County home for sale was also mentioned in a May 29, 2010 report from KPSP News. This article found that If youre trying to sell a home or condo in the valley there is some good news. Compared to the same time period last year home prices are up quite a bit. The piece, composed by Jackie Pedroza, went on to say that According to a report just released from the Palm Springs Regional Association of Realtors, the median home price in the Coachella Valley rose 31% in April, compared to the same time last year. The median price jumped from $150-thousand dollars to more than $190-thousand dollarsCurrently across the valley, there are around 5 thousand active listings for homes or condos. Of those 40 percent are priced at or below 300-thousand dollars.

The Indio housing market should eventually benefit from a gradual reduction in job losses. According to a June 6, 2010 article in the Desert Sun, For the first time since 2007, the Desert Suns quarterly index of leading Coachella Valley economic indicators shot up 9 points from some of the lowest marks in its history to 95.5. Hitting 100 is the tipping point for job growth.

The Soquel housing market

The Soquel housing market, a subsidiary of the larger Santa Clara County housing market, is showing some signs of strength during the first half of 2010. According to a May 31, 2010 article from the Mercury News, The local housing market continues to show improvement in sales and value of homes, though overall home sales in the nine-county Bay Area and the state as a whole, showed mixed results during the month of April, according to [the] latest real estate sales and price reports. The piece, composed by Rose Meily, went on to state that MDA DataQuick reports sales for all new and resale homes and condos in Santa Clara County rose 3.1 percent in April compared with the same period last year. A total of 1,656 homes sold in April, up from 1,606 homes sold in April 2009. The median home price for all homes jumped 20.7 percent from $405,000 in April of 2009 to $489,000 this year.

Soquel real estate may soon face higher demand as the Silicon Valley market also begins to recover. According to a June 10, 2010 article from Housing Watch, The housing market in Californias Silicon Valley is beginning to rebound. And while it certainly isnt as hot and heavy as it was in the dot-com boom with multiple offers as the sky, local real estate agents say competition is starting again among homebuyers, especially on the lower end of the market. The piece, composed by Aaron Crowe, went on to state that Nearly half of the homes sold in Santa Clara County, Calif., in May sold for more than their asking prices, according to a San Jose Mercury News story.

The overall economic situation facing the Soquel housing market also improved in the month of April. According to a May 21, 2010 article from the Mercury News, Silicon Valleys troubled job market turned a corner in April with a sharp drop in unemployment in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, driven in part by an increase in tech hiring. The Silicon Valley economy is growing again, said Stephen Levey of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. The numbers are small, but the direction has definitely changed.

San Carlos real estate market

The San Carlos real estate market, a subsidiary of the larger Bay Area housing market, showed signs of a gradual recovery despite extremely low home sales. According to a June 10, 2010 article in the Contra Costa Times, In the Bay Area which RealtyTrac.com defines as Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties a total of 2,230 homeowners received a notice of default, down 38.9 percent from a year ago and a 17.5 percent drop from April. The piece, composed by Eve Mitchell, went on to state that Some 1,434 homes became bank-owned properties, a 36.1 percent increase from a year ago and a 1.6 percent drop from April. As far as the increase in bank-owned properties, Blomquist said that many of those are the result of borrowers failed to qualify for a permanent loan modification.

The average purchase price of a San Carlos home for sale, along with properties across the Bay Area, rallied strongly in the month of April. According to a May 26, 2010 article from the San Francisco Chronicle, The San Francisco area had the strongest quarterly performance among metropolitan regions in a closely watched home price index released Tuesday, although other areas and national numbers showed some weakening. The piece, written by Carolyn Said, went on to say that The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index showed the San Francisco area which it defines as the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin, Alameda and Contra Costa up 16.2 percent in the first quarter, compared with the same quarter in 2009. Other California areas also showed recovery, with San Diego up 10.8 percent and Los Angeles up 6 percent.

Sales in the San Carlos and Bay Area real estate markets, however, neared a record low in April. According to a May 20, 2010 report from the Press-Democrat, Bay Area home sales in April reached their second-lowest level in the past 15 years, according to a report released Thursday. Last month 7,003 homes were sold in the Bay Area, according to MDA DataQuick of San Diego. That was down slightly from March and from April 2009, but nearly 25 percent lower than the historic average of 9,278 sales for April.

Yorba Linda real estate market

The Yorba Linda real estate market, a predominately residential sector of the Orange County housing market, seems poised to continue a recovery despite slumping home sales in Southern California overall. According to a May 18, 2010 article from OCLNN, Orange County saw stronger gains in home sales and price compared to all other Southern California counties during April. The median home price in Orange County jumped 13.2 percent since April 2009, to $430,000, according to DataQuick, a San Diego-based real estate information service. The piece, composed by Mike Reicher, continued to say that Also, the number of sales hiked 11.6 percent to 2,669 sales of new and resale homes during April. And while its another positive sign that the housing market [is] recovering, the median price in April is slightly lower than it was in March – $432,000 and is well below the 2007 peak of $645,000.

This recovery for Yorba Linda homes for sale will likely continue into the next year, according to a Chapman University study. According to a June 3, 2010 report from the Orange County Register, Chapman U. professors are out with their semiannual economic forecast for Orange County! Heres what they said about home prices: After price losses for Orange County single-family homes by their math thats tied to resale medians of 0.9% in 2007; 23.2% in 2008; and 12.3% in 2009O.C. prices will rise 6% in 2010 and 5.3% in 2011.” The piece by Jon Lansner went on to say that Homebuyer earning the median family income and buying a median-priced single-family home in 2009 needed to spend 30.5% of income to pay for the interest, principal and property taxes vs. 51.3% in 2007. Future affordability will be lower as higher mortgage rates will overwhelm weak projected increases in median family income.

The trends of the Yorba Linda housing market were partially reflected in the slightly weaker Southern California market. According to a May 24, 2010 press release from the California Association of Realtors, Home sales decreased 8.1 percent in April in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home rose 21 percent, the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) reported today.

La Jolla real estate market

The La Jolla real estate market, part of the larger San Diego housing market, showed signs of improvement along with the rest of the region. According to a June 1, 2010 article from the San Diego Union-Tribune, Although vacancies are rising and rents are dropping, San Diegos commercial real estate markets may be nearing the bottom. Rather than facing a calamitous wave of foreclosures as tenants disappear, the latest figures from the CoStar Groups local office show that tenants arent moving out as much as last year. The piece, composed by Roger Showley, went on to note that The key indicator in the industry net absorption, the increase in the amount of net leased space is still negative but the decline is not nearly as steep as a year ago. For the first quarter of the year, CoStar said absorption in office buildings, industrial space and retail locations dropped by 304,100 square feet, a big improvement on the nearly 1.8 million square feet lost a year earlier.

La Jolla homes for sale became less affordable in the month of April, mostly a product of a higher median price. According to a May 20, 2010 article from the San Diego Union Tribune, San Diego housing grew slightly less affordable in the first quarter of the year as more higher-priced homes entered the market, the National Association of Home Builders reported Thursday. The piece, also composed by Roger Showley, continued to state that The NAHBs Housing Opportunity Index for San Diego dropped to 46.7 from 48.1 in the fourth quarter and 58.8 in the first quarter of last year. The numbers represent the percentage of homes sold that were affordable to households earning the median income, $75,500 for a family of four in San Diego.

The number of foreclosures in the La Jolla area declined in the month of May, according to a June 10, 2010 article from the San Diego Union-Tribune. The piece, also written by Roger Showley, stated that San Diego County foreclosure filings were down 29.6 percent from last year and 1.9 percent from April, RealtyTrac reported today. The Irvine-based company reported 5,386 default notices, foreclosures and other actions in May.