Home sales in Southern California were the slowest in 20 years for September despite low interest rates, according to real estate research firm DataQuick Information Systems. Potential buyers have continued to hold out for lower prices.
Reuters reporter Daisuke Wakabayash analyzed the impact that the recent wildfires near the San Diego area had on the real estate market. He concluded that the many of the homeowners and others will rebuild the 2,000 homes that were destroyed and that there is no mass exodus from the area.
“Many people fear that residents will want to move away but it’s quite the contrary,” stated a spokesman of a real estate brokerage in reference to the effects on the market.
A total of 17,867 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. This number is down 27.4 percent from 24,614 for the same period one year earlier, according to DataQuick Information Systems. However, the median price paid for a home inched up, helped by an increase in sales in high-end markets.
How does that compare with the San Francisco Bay Area real estate market? I collected home sales statistics from a number of different MLS (multiple listing service) databases to analyze what is happening to a few different areas in the Bay Area and Southern California. The cities are randomly selected. The results are pretty shocking. Home sales in many of the Bay Area cities are significantly down, with some down 67% from a year ago. The only exception to this widespread problem is Palo Alto, where the number of properties sold is almost the same as last year.
Well, what does this mean? The people who need to sell their houses are going to have a tough time. For example, some new home builders are sitting on a lot of inventory in California, and have to give out significant discounts to attract buyers. To me, this is the best time to buy. From my experience in real estate investment, this is the kind of market where you can find some really good deals out there.
If you have some money to invest that you don’t need for the next few years, it seems to me you can get some great returns on investment investing in the real estate now. I just starting to look to buy right now myself! One great place on the net to search for homes for sale in California is the Movoto real estate website.
