Hi Everyone!
I love quotes from movies, books, people, history, and even making up my own. Every now and then we remember quotes when the appropriate moments come along. Two recent moments reminded me of the movies Poltergeist 1 & 2. The first was waking up the day after school let out with an ominous...They’re here!” The second was on August 15th when school started again…”They’re back!” I know Poltergeist is creepy and not for everyone, but the sheer joy of kids going BACK to school is mind-blowing. I flat out giggled when dropping the kids off that first day of school and I definitely wasn’t alone!
Now you may be asking what this has to do with real estate. Besides your real estate expert being a VERY happy camper, there is actually a correlation between school and real estate sales. Believe it or not, our market hit a huge slowdown once school let out and the market was flooded with new listings. This led to slowing sales, market-wide price drops, and a whole lot of frustrated sellers and their realtors.
With school back in session, many sellers removed their homes from the market, thus shrinking supply. Family trips and vacations are over and people are back to the grind which includes looking to buy homes. Also, with so many price reductions over the last two months, we are seeing new buyers come into the market now that it is more fairly priced and interest rates have held steady.
At this point, we have had seven straight months of annual declines in pending sales from last year. For the rest of the year we will be transitioning to a traditional market of 3-5% year over year appreciation. We will likely see a bump in sales for October but it won’t be a landslide. That shipped sailed in March-May. We will also see an increase in cash-out refinances as people are investing in pools, debt consolidation, etc. If you or someone you know is considering doing a refinance, PLEASE call me. Let’s make sure you get the best rate and terms. I work with some of the best lenders in the business, so let me help!
I want to wrap up with a specific request to you. If you know anyone who may be buying or selling, please give them my card or contact info. This market is aggressive and hiring an experienced broker is now more important than ever. Please do not hesitate to call me with ANY questions about real estate here in California or any state in the US. I can help anywhere in the US. I love my job and live for this stuff!
Sincerely,
Stefan West, aka Mr. Murrieta
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."