Homes sales ticked up in July as many buyers, lured by deep discounts and rising interest rates, decided to pounce.
CAR.org
"Right now, I would buy until I ran out of money," said Michael Oliver, a real estate investor from Ventura.
Oliver recently purchased a tract home in Oxnard that he plans to rent, and he expects to close in a few weeks on a duplex in Ventura.
Oliver might be more enthusiastic than others, but he isn't the only one jumping in the market.
Ventura County sales for existing homes last month rose 20.6 percent from a year ago and 25.6 percent from June, California Association of Realtors reported Monday.
The median was $475,000, down from $480,340, or 1.1 percent, from June and from $682,930, or 30.4 percent, from July 2007.
The median is the midpoint, where half the homes sold for more and half for less.
Nationally, sales slide
A similar trend was seen throughout the state, with home sales surging 43.4 percent last month from a year ago, while the median fell a record 40.3 percent to $350,760, CAR reported.
Nationally, existing home sales slipped 13.2 percent from July 2007, but edged up 3.1 percent from June, according to the National Association of Realtors. The median dipped to $212,400, or 7.1 percent, from the same month a year ago.
"California's sales improved significantly in July and remained above the 400,000 level for the third consecutive month," CAR President William Brown said in a news release.
"Deeply discounted, distressed sales continue to drive volume in many regions of the state," he said. "In general, greater percentage gains occurred in lower-priced areas that had been most adversely affected by the market downturn since last 2005 and that are concurrently experiencing the biggest decline in prices."
Encouraging nonetheless'
Year-to-year sales increases ranged from 6.7 percent in the San Francisco Bay Area to 176.5 percent in the Riverside/San Bernardino region, Brown said.
While a significant percentage of the homes sold are foreclosures, the uptick in sales is "encouraging nonetheless," said Gary Painter, director of research with the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
However, Painter believes prices probably won't be heading up until 2010.
"It's still a transition time," he said.
The fact that there are a lot of foreclosed properties being sold will cause the median to continue to fall, which is both good news and bad news for people, Painter said. The good news, obviously, is that as prices fall, buyers are starting to make purchases.
The percentage of households that could afford to buy entry-level homes in Ventura County surged to 48 percent in the second quarter, up from 25 percent during the same period a year ago, according to CAR.
Prices being depressed
The minimum housing income needed to purchase an entry-level home at $415,250 was $79,330. The monthly payment including taxes was estimated at $2,640.
The bad news is the glut of foreclosures is depressing the price of other properties, Painter said.
Even in more prominent areas such as Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village, short sales and foreclosures are a problem, said Bob Merritt, a yacht broker who has been trying to sell his Thousand Oaks home for the past year and a half.
"It's everywhere," he said. "I don't think there's one area that's immune to it."
In order to compete with the distressed property selling for so much less, Merritt lowered his original asking price for his 2,653-square-foot, 4-bedroom, 2.5-bath home with a pool and spa from $969,000 to $799,900. But he won't go any lower.
While the typical real estate agent will weigh comparable homes in the area when setting a price, including distressed and traditional sales, the practice is "highly unfair," Merritt said, because the distressed properties are run down and abused.
Oliver, the real estate investor, said the homes he purchases to restore are typically rentals.
He added that he wouldn't consider buying and selling a tract house because it would mean trying to compete with banks that are dumping similar properties.
"I've had good luck renting," he said.
The one house he has for sale is an ocean-view home in Ventura, for $774,950, with a new kitchen and stainless steel appliances.
"I don't really compete with foreclosures," Oliver said. "There's no foreclosed ocean-view homes."
CAR.org
"Right now, I would buy until I ran out of money," said Michael Oliver, a real estate investor from Ventura.
Oliver recently purchased a tract home in Oxnard that he plans to rent, and he expects to close in a few weeks on a duplex in Ventura.
Oliver might be more enthusiastic than others, but he isn't the only one jumping in the market.
Ventura County sales for existing homes last month rose 20.6 percent from a year ago and 25.6 percent from June, California Association of Realtors reported Monday.
The median was $475,000, down from $480,340, or 1.1 percent, from June and from $682,930, or 30.4 percent, from July 2007.
The median is the midpoint, where half the homes sold for more and half for less.
Nationally, sales slide
A similar trend was seen throughout the state, with home sales surging 43.4 percent last month from a year ago, while the median fell a record 40.3 percent to $350,760, CAR reported.
Nationally, existing home sales slipped 13.2 percent from July 2007, but edged up 3.1 percent from June, according to the National Association of Realtors. The median dipped to $212,400, or 7.1 percent, from the same month a year ago.
"California's sales improved significantly in July and remained above the 400,000 level for the third consecutive month," CAR President William Brown said in a news release.
"Deeply discounted, distressed sales continue to drive volume in many regions of the state," he said. "In general, greater percentage gains occurred in lower-priced areas that had been most adversely affected by the market downturn since last 2005 and that are concurrently experiencing the biggest decline in prices."
Encouraging nonetheless'
Year-to-year sales increases ranged from 6.7 percent in the San Francisco Bay Area to 176.5 percent in the Riverside/San Bernardino region, Brown said.
While a significant percentage of the homes sold are foreclosures, the uptick in sales is "encouraging nonetheless," said Gary Painter, director of research with the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
However, Painter believes prices probably won't be heading up until 2010.
"It's still a transition time," he said.
The fact that there are a lot of foreclosed properties being sold will cause the median to continue to fall, which is both good news and bad news for people, Painter said. The good news, obviously, is that as prices fall, buyers are starting to make purchases.
The percentage of households that could afford to buy entry-level homes in Ventura County surged to 48 percent in the second quarter, up from 25 percent during the same period a year ago, according to CAR.
Prices being depressed
The minimum housing income needed to purchase an entry-level home at $415,250 was $79,330. The monthly payment including taxes was estimated at $2,640.
The bad news is the glut of foreclosures is depressing the price of other properties, Painter said.
Even in more prominent areas such as Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village, short sales and foreclosures are a problem, said Bob Merritt, a yacht broker who has been trying to sell his Thousand Oaks home for the past year and a half.
"It's everywhere," he said. "I don't think there's one area that's immune to it."
In order to compete with the distressed property selling for so much less, Merritt lowered his original asking price for his 2,653-square-foot, 4-bedroom, 2.5-bath home with a pool and spa from $969,000 to $799,900. But he won't go any lower.
While the typical real estate agent will weigh comparable homes in the area when setting a price, including distressed and traditional sales, the practice is "highly unfair," Merritt said, because the distressed properties are run down and abused.
Oliver, the real estate investor, said the homes he purchases to restore are typically rentals.
He added that he wouldn't consider buying and selling a tract house because it would mean trying to compete with banks that are dumping similar properties.
"I've had good luck renting," he said.
The one house he has for sale is an ocean-view home in Ventura, for $774,950, with a new kitchen and stainless steel appliances.
"I don't really compete with foreclosures," Oliver said. "There's no foreclosed ocean-view homes."
