Things Might Be Better Then…..
June 21st, 2009 Categories: Weekly Real Estate Activity In Ventura County
- You thought you were safe. Those with high credit scores may be in for a shock….someone can steal your identity. The following article is worth the reading. If you do not protect yourself no one else will. http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/YourCreditRating/High-credit-scores-Be-careful.aspx
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U.S. Postal System: RIP
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Posted Jun 15 2009, 06:05 AM by Douglas McIntyre. http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/topstocks/?fpn=u%20s%20postal%20system%20rip. This articlediscusses the demise of the postal system as we know it because of broad band and other electronics medias that are now on the drawing board. It is not going to occur over night but it will happen. The Internet is about to claim another victim.
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Noted in the United Kingdom were some large supermarkets in England are now getting into the banking business. I wonder when that is going to come over to the States.
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In an article read this week…..”Appraisals Roil Real Estate Deals” (Wall Street Journal, June 9, 2009 by James Hagerty and Ruth Simons)…..the authors note that very conservative estimates on homes is making refinancing and selling extremely difficult. With banks now in charge of appraisals (per se) is akin to the fox acting as a guard in the chicken coop. Home prices (at least for the time being) will be controlled by banks and not the market. “Since the code bars loan officers, mortgage brokers and real estate agents from any role in selecting appraisers, this has encouraged lenders to outsource the selection to appraisal-management companies which take a sizable cut of the appraisal fee. As a result, appraisers are under pressure to do it faster, do it cheaper (quote from article).” And just watch what happens with multiple appraisals. Multiple appraisals will take place if the buyer elects to switch lenders because of better deal. It will be surprising to see if each appraisal comes in around the same value. To minimize this cost the Mortgage Bankers Association is looking into the possibility to make the appraisal “portable” from one lender to another. We shall see.
National Real Estate.
It appears that prices are starting to change direction….upward. Still overall the market is still trying to get legs. It is taking longer largerly due to high unemployment in some areas and the continued lack of new jobs creation.
Ventura County.
One word: SLOW. But prices are edging upward. Overall sales in Ventura County are 28% higher (comparing periods Jan. 1 thru June 20 for the years 2008 and 2009). Overall Ventura County is a seller’s market but there are areas such as Santa Rosa Valley, Ventura and Oxnard Beaches that still remain buyer markets.
The Conejo Valley and Ojai/Oak View remain neutral while the areas of Simi Valley/Moorpark, Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Santa Paula and Fillmore are seller markets. In fact there were no recorded sales in Fillmore over the last week which I find interesting (but not unusual).
Unemployment and job creation need to come into line for the real estate market to get legs. It will go up on its own but very slowly. Many people are staying put and waiting the market out. The “squeeze effect”, as I call it.
When the market gets legs, watch out.
