Chuck Hurd's October Newsletter

 Below is your OCTOBER 2012 monthly update for the beautiful Big Bear Real Estate market as of 10/7/2012...
AGAIN & AGAIN CONSISTENT is what continues for Big Bear area sales. Consistent sales pending each month average over 150 to 200 every month here. If you have been thinking about purchasing or selling a home or 2nd home or investment property, call or email me to learn more. Or forward this newsletter on to someone you know who may benefit. Thanks.
Right Now there are apx 235 (THIS IS UP AGAIN!!) in escrow pending sales. Inventory for sale is down which drives prices up. Combined with the data below it seems we may have already seen the bottom of the prices .... Here are those on the local Big Bear MLS market (there are others from outside the area so just call me): *ONLY 499-RESIDENTIAL, 372-VACANT LAND,17-MOBILE HOMES, 21-CONDOS, 8-GOVERNMENT LEASE, 68-COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL OR COMMERCIAL/BUSINESS & 10-BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES FOR SALE ...
Sources: BBLMLS/SoCalMLS data only; CAR Market matters; News Genius, Case-Shiller, Kiplinger Consumer Sentiment This information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed
Location Characteristics: Big Bear Valley is composed of numerous small towns. A true four season resort with winter skiing and summer lake activities. The area is driven by weekend and holiday visitors. As many as 100,000 visitors will flock to it's beauty during the 1st snow expected around the 1st week of November or 4th of July weekend or for annual carshows or snowboarding events. It is the only year round vacation area within 2-3 hour driving distance of LA, Orange, Riverside, San Diego Counties and is swiftly earning the nickname of "the next little Aspen" The Big Bear area is made up of primarily 2nd or 3rd homeowners and varies in price from around $25,000 to 6.5 million. Few areas offer year round vacation activities combined with real property appreciation and excellent portioned rental incomes allowing the owner use and enjoyment as well as tax advantages.

August Big Bear Update!!

Current in the News!

Below is your AUGUST 2012 monthly update for the beautiful Big Bear Real Estate market as of 8/20/2012...
AGAIN & AGAIN CONSISTENT is what continues for Big Bear area sales. Consistent sales pending each month average over 150 to 200 every month here. If you have been thinking about purchasing or selling a home or 2nd home or investment property, call or email me to learn more. Or forward this newsletter on to someone you know who may benefit. Thanks.
Right Now there are apx 201 (THIS IS UP) in escrow pending sales. Inventory for sale is down which drives prices up. Combined with the data below it seems we may have already seen the bottom of the prices .... Here are those on the local Big Bear MLS market (there are others from outside the area so just call me): *605-RESIDENTIAL, 361-VACANT LAND,17-MOBILE HOMES, 19-CONDOS, 16-GOVERNMENT LEASE, 67-COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL OR COMMERCIAL/BUSINESS & 10-BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES ...
Sources: BBLMLS/SoCalMLS data only; CAR Market matters; News Genius, Case-Shiller, Kiplinger Consumer Sentiment This information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed
Location Characteristics: Big Bear Valley is composed of numerous small towns. A true four season resort with winter skiing and summer lake activities. The area is driven by weekend and holiday visitors. As many as 100,000 visitors will flock to it's beauty during the 1st snow expected around the 1st week of November or 4th of July weekend or for annual carshows or snowboarding events. It is the only year round vacation area within 2-3 hour driving distance of LA, Orange, Riverside, San Diego Counties and is swiftly earning the nickname of "the next little Aspen" The Big Bear area is made up of primarily 2nd or 3rd homeowners and varies in price from around $25,000 to 6.5 million. Few areas offer year round vacation activities combined with real property appreciation and excellent portioned rental incomes allowing the owner use and enjoyment as well as tax advantages.

Vacation Home Market
by Carla Hill "Financial Wire"


Are you in the market to buy a vacation home? If so, you're not alone.  There is a ripe and ready segment of today's market that is geared up for taking advantage of today's favorable buying conditions.
      According to the latest National Association of Realtors Investment and Vacation Home Buyers   Survey, vacation-home sales rose 7.0 percent in 2011. Investment property purchases were up a staggering 64.5 percent. Many of these were distressed properties being sold at steep discounts.      

      In comparison to the total  sales, vacation-homes were 11 percent of all transactions for 2011, up a healthy 10 percent in 2010.      

      NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said investors with cash took advantage of market conditions in 2011.  "During the past year investors have been swooping into the market to take       advantage of bargain home prices," he said. "Rising rental income easily beat cash sitting in banks as an added inducement. In addition, 41 percent of investment buyers purchased more than one property."      

      These investment buyers are pulling out the cash as they look into buying these rental properties.  Forty-nine percent of investment buyers paid cash in 2011. Forty-two  percent of vacation-home buyers did the same.      

      "Clearly we're looking at investors with financial resources who see real estate as a good       investment and who aren't hesitant to use cash," Yun said. "Of buyers who financed their purchase with a mortgage, large downpayments were typical.  The median downpayment for both investment- and vacation-home buyers in  2011 was 27 percent."      

      What types of buyers are scooping up today's vacation homes? The NAR survey said lifestyle factors  are the leading motivator. These homes are more likely found in suburban and rural areas.  
   
      The median vacation-home  price was down 19.1 percent from 2010 to $121,300. The NAR reports, "The typical vacation-home buyer was 50 years old, had a median household income of $88,600 and purchased a property that was a median distance of  305 miles from the primary residence; 35 percent of vacation homes were within 100 miles and 37 percent were more than 500 miles. Buyers plan to  own their recreational property for a median of 10 years."      

      Additionally, 16 percent of  vacation buyers bought the property for a family member (such as a child going attending school), friend, or relative to use.      

      Regionally, 42 percent of  vacation home were purchased in the South, 30 percent in the West, 15 percent in the Northeast, and 12 percent in the Midwest.

This is for you !
So.... those of you...(including me)...that have been waiting for the best buys...its at bottom and rebounding... So... are you going to wait till prices go up to buy? Until rates go up to buy? ... Not me! We are looking to buy ... now!
For instance....in Big Bear... less than 5% on the market now are foreclosures. You must act now before the deals are gone!
Chuck

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Home Prices Show Strongest Gain in 6 Years: NAR
05/22/2012 By: Mark Lieberman, Five Star Institute Economist 
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Existing-home sales rose to 4.62 million (seasonally adjusted annualized rate) in April from a downwardly revised March rate of 4.47 million, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Tuesday. Economists had forecast the April sales pace would be 4.66 million.

The median price of an existing home climbed 10.1 percent to $177,400 from $161,100 in April 2011, the strongest year-to-year gain since January 2006. The median price in April reached its highest level since July 2010 when it was $182,100.
The inventory of homes for sale in April rose to 2.54 million, the highest level since last November, bringing the months’ supply of homes on the market to 6.6.
The 10.0 percent yearly gain in the sales rate was the strongest since October when sales were up 14.0 percent year-over-year.

Distressed homes – foreclosures and short sales sold at deep discounts – accounted for 28 percent of April sales (17 percent were foreclosures and 11 percent were short sales), down from 29 percent in March and 37 percent in April 2011, the NAR said. Foreclosures sold for an average discount of 21 percent below market value in April (compared with an average discount of 19 percent in March), while short sales were discounted 14 percent in April compared with 16 percent in March.
The months’ supply of existing homes for sale remains well below the July 2010 cyclical peak of 12.4 which had been the highest level since 1982. Inventories as tracked by the NAR are 20.3 percent below their year ago level. However, anecdotal evidence suggests there is still a large “shadow” inventory of homes available for sale, especially bank-owned properties.
Regionally, existing-home sales rose in April in every region of the country led by a 5.1 percent month-to-month increase in the Northeast where sales were up19.2 percent over April 2011. Sales rose 4.4 percent over March in the West (a 7.3 percent year-year gain), 3.5 percent in the South (6.5 percent year-year) and 1.0 percent in the Midwest (14.4 percent year over year).
The median price of an existing home rose month-to-month and year-to-year in all four regions. At $256,600, the median price of an existing home reached its highest level since August 2010. The median price of an existing home in the South rose to $153,400, the highest level since July 2010 and the median price of an existing home in the West rose to $221,700, also the highest since July 2010.
The year-to-year price gain in the West, 15.9 percent, was the strongest since November 2005. The year-to-year price increase in the Northeast was the first since last June.

Just completed a wonderful Virtual Tour for the Big Bear Marina. What a great opportunity to buy a business in Big Bear!!!

www.tourfactory.com/863229 

Mother's Day is just around the corner.....The weather in Big Bear is absolutely beautiful...
So my question to you,.....do you just want a wife? or do you want a HAPPY wife!
Join us in Big Bear, let us show you around and find you a perfect cabin for your one true love...
Your Wife!

Happy Mother's Day..

Chuck Hurd and the Real Estate Office of Big Bear!

Home prices close to bottoming, to rise in 2013 Reuters – Thu, Apr 12, 2012

And yet another article indicating a rise in Real Estate prices immediately expected!
What are you waiting for ? Prices to go up ?...or interest rates to go up ?
Buy Real Estate now... and have no regrets later!
Chuck Hurd, Real Estate Broker
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Home prices close to bottoming, to rise in 2013
Reuters – Thu, Apr 12, 2012
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The relentless decline in home prices is nearing an end and prices should rise for the first time in seven years in 2013, according a Reuters poll of economists.
The median forecast of 24 economists polled by Reuters was for the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index to end the year unchanged. That was the same finding back in January for this house price gauge, which covers 20 cities.
"We are expecting a gradual improvement coming to the market, said Yelena Shulyatyeva, an economist at BNP Paribas in New York.
The survey forecast the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index rising 2.0 percent next year, up from 1.5 percent in the January survey.
The housing market's collapse pushed the economy into its longest and deepest recession since the 1930s. Historically, housing has led the economy out of recession, but it has been the weakest link in the recovery that started in mid-2009.
While residential construction accounts for a mere 2.3 percent of gross domestic product, home prices have an oversized reach in the economy, influencing a wide range of consumption decisions by households.
House prices have so far fallen about 32 percent from their peak at the end of 2005, and an estimated 11 million Americans now owe more on their homes than they are worth.
A resulting tide of foreclosures has held back the housing market's recovery.
The survey predicted about 1.5 million foreclosed properties could come on to the market this year. While there is no comparison for this figure, most analysts believe the foreclosure wave has either peaked or is close to topping out.
Given that foreclosures and the accompanying fear of further price declines are the main obstacles to any housing market recovery, few analysts say that further purchases of mortgage backed securities by the Federal Reserve will help.
Fed officials meet on April 24 and 25 to debate whether further steps are needed to drive borrowing costs lower to spur stronger economic growth.
Mortgage rates are already near record lows and house affordability is the best in history.
"The problem with the housing market is not necessarily that mortgages are expensive," said Millan Mulraine, a senior macro Strategist at TD Securities in New York.
"It's more the expectation that prices may continue to fall and cause a lot of potential buyers to sit on the sidelines to wait for more attractive entry points. I don't think there is lot more mileage to be achieved from MBS purchases."
Further MBS purchases by the U.S. central bank, however, could help keep mortgage rates low as the economy's recovery gains momentum.
The survey forecast the 30-year mortgage rate averaging 4.00 percent in 2012, down from 4.15 percent in the January poll.
Although job growth slowed in March, the labor market is expected to continue strengthening this year.
That should help to lift home sales. Sales of previously owned homes are expected to register an annualized 4.70 million unit annual pace in both the second and third quarters of this year before topping at 4.80 million units in the fourth quarter.
That compares to a rate of 4.60 million units and 4.70 million units in the second and third quarter respectively in the January survey.
"This gradual healing is encouraging, but we must tread carefully as the housing market is still far from a robust recovery," Michelle Meyer, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; polling by Snehasish Das and Aakanksha Bhat; Editing by John Stonestreet)