The  May newsletter covers a recent REO “speed dating” caravan and local pendings (homes going into escrow) trends.

The local company that tracks foreclosures in Ventura County is
www.ForeclosureListService.com. On a daily basis, they track the filings from the Recorders office and publish that data. We get our data from them. Read the rest of this article »

What IS a short pay?

A short pay simply means you owe more on your home or property than what it’s worth. Many people who purchased a home in the past several years (with little or no down payment) now find themselves “upside down” in their homes, and maybe the financing on that purchase money loan (or loans) has (or will) reset to substantially higher payments. Read the rest of this article »

Here are the April sold statistics for properties that closed escrow in April, and they show some interesting differences between Ventura, Camarillo and Oxnard. Comparing differences with March stats, Camarillo and Oxnard are still showing price declines, but Ventura’s sold prices have jumped.

Because there can be variances that affect the list prices and sold prices, we tend to focus on the more “generic” price per square foot when we analyze where the market is going.

The drag on Oxnard, and to a lesser extent Camarillo, are the numerous “short-pays” and foreclosure properties (REO – real estate owned) that are putting the big hurt on regular sellers.

As painful as the market is for existing property owners, the overall effect is a cleansing of a marketplace that was way off kilter. We are seeing a flood of entry level, first time homebuyers coming into the market – and investors, who are making numerous “low ball” offers on properties hoping to score big in this down turn.

It’ll be fun to see how we progress through spring and into summer!

A 90 minute, fast paced, informative and fun workshop covering stuff you wanted to know and were afraid to ask!  Call Leslie at 659-2000 for all the details!

Just pulled the April pending sales (properties that have gone into escrow – a leading indicator of home sales) and are seeing exceptionally strong activity in Oxnard, very strong activity in Ventura, but Camarillo’s April showing is still about the same as last year. Camarillo, for some reason, is a laggard compared to Oxnard and Ventura.

Real estate is a local thing – unfortunately, the general media has been beating into us that home sales are down or flat, and many believe it, but these are the REAL numbers for Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo!