Interest rates are staying low, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to simply throw a reasonable offer out on a well priced home, and not expect competition. Things are very busy here on the ground. If you haven’t seriously started your home search yet (assuming your renting or other), you probably know someone who has. That wasn’t true about a year ago, when home sales really started to slow, especially as we entered the “busy” Summer months, which is when the mortgage market really started to take a hit, and being approved for a loan, all of a sudden, became work.
What was a buyer’s market, still is a buyer’s market. Prices have continued to lower to affordable levels for many, but that will likely moderate over the coming months assuming this pick up in home sales continues. What I’m seeing on the ground, definitely points to the very beginnings of a turn around. For example, the amount of homes in Santa Clarita that went INTO escrow in January 08, was 195. It’s important to know how many homes are going under contract in a given month. It gives you a great indication as to how many sales may finalize in the coming month, or two. And it also gives us an idea what buyer sentiment is really like. Are they scared and hiding? Or are they out there braving the news in the media, and making an offer on a newly affordable dream home? Lets contrast January’s 195 homes that went into escrow figure, and compare that to February’s, which was 278 homes that entered escrow. Thats a 42.6 percent increase! Granted sales do pick up after the holidays are over, but in 2007 there was a huge stagnation and drop off in new escrows after February, we seem to be bucking that trend on paper, and with what I’m seeing on the ground. It looks like we’re on pace to have about 322 homes enter escrow in March – thats another 16 percent increase on top of February! Feb 07 to March 07 had a decrease in this number. Some people have wondered why I’m so busy…I think those numbers just quoted tell the story in a way that’s easy to understand.
The Santa Clarita real estate market is unique and different to other areas of Southern California. Sure it mirrors certain aspects of other areas – we’ve had foreclosure too, but due to the way our community has been developed and planned, and the excellent management of the valley overall, Santa Clarita will always be an area with higher demand for those who need to live in Los Angeles County.
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