The World is truly freaky! Lots of bad news and lots of good news. Foreclosures are crazy, to fill my gas tank I need some of that no down financing from Countrywide. All while retails sales is higher than expected. How can that be? As always I try no to report the bad real estate news, only the good. And good realty news is good for sales!
Home prices go up in California so says FNC Inc.
Prices appreciated in 15% of ZIP codes in San Diego, 25% in Orange County, and 24% in L.A. County this from January through April.
“We are seeing signs that certain ZIP codes, typically in coastal areas, are beginning to stabilize and even appreciate from their end-of-2007 lows," said Robert Dorsey, executive vice president for Data and Analytics at FNC.
The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in April, rose 6.3 percent to 88.2 from a reading of 83.0 in March. It’s the highest index since last October.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says:
“Bargain hunters have entered the market en masse, especially in areas that have experienced double-digit price declines...Sharp price reductions are leading to a quicker discovery of price equilibrium points. The West is already seeing year-over-year gains in pending contracts.”
It is great to hear that there are some signs of stabilization in Southern California. With teh recent entertainment industry strikes we have all held back a bit. I am pleased to see there are good signs in some areas.
Posted by: Los Angeles Lofts | June 13, 2008 at 07:09 PM
Good to know that there are gillmers of hope. However, my opinion is that there are still too many homes yet to be foreclosed for the worst to be behind us. Also, until the secondary mortgage market is fully functioning again, things won't be normal.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Posted by: First Time Home Buyers Loan | June 17, 2008 at 01:05 PM