March 8th, 2010 | 
Author: California Real Estate
The California Real Estate market is one of the fastest paced and vibrant in the world. Nowhere else is property traded so fiercely and competitively and at such high stakes as in this state.
A recent report on the number of house sales in California which was released in December of 2007 showed that more than 25000 condo units and housesboth brand new and resalechanged hands in that month. As impressive as that figure is it was in fact virtually unchanged from the house sales figure in November and is actually down more than 40 from November of 2006 when house sales registered at 43400. Records show that there has been a steady decline in house sales over the past 27 months and that Decembers sales were the lowest for that particular month ever since records were first kept in 1988.
Median prices for houses also went down almost 3or to just over 400000 in Decemberfrom about 412000 in November. This price represents an almost 15 decline from December of 2006 when the median price of houses was about 472000. The peak in median house prices was reached in the period of March to May last year when the price of houses averaged around 484000.
This drop in median house prices can be explained mostly by the slow sales of high priced properties which in itself is the direct result of instability in the credit industry. 17500 homes purchased in California in December 2007 were bought with conforming loans amounting to 417000 which is a huge decline of almost 30 from December of 2006 when the number of houses bought with the same loan amounted to almost 25000. With regard to jumbo loans 4600 houses in California were purchased for more than 417000 in this manner which is a decline of a whopping 70 from December 2006 when houses purchased number more than 15000.
Other signs show that the real estate market in the state continues to move in different directions. Property foreclosures are at an all time high we will discuss this in further detail later on in this article and both adjustablerate mortgage and multiple mortgage financing has declined drastically. At the same time down payment values as well as flipping rates have remained fairly constant and buying activity by owners who do not occupy the properties in question is on the rise.
In Southern California the extremely low level of house sales in December 2007 has caused many in the real estate industrysellers buyers and lending institutions includedto watch the market closely. While the number of new houses sold in Riverside Los Angeles San Diego San Bernardino Orange County and Ventura went up .5 from the previous monthabout 13200 from slightly more than 13100 in Novemberthis still represented a steep 45 decline from the same period the previous year when houses sold numbered slightly more than 24200.
One real estate industry analyst has declined to make any forecasts or predications about which way the market will go in the next few months saying that the present instable condition of the market has made it impossible to predict which way things will go. Many experts agree however that the real estate market will stabilize soon and that a clearer picture will emerge. Until then both buyers and sellers are keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings.
We mentioned earlier that foreclosure activity is on the rise and indeed during the last quarter of 2007 mortgage default notices were at its highest level in 15 years. Much of this increase in foreclosed properties goes hand in hand with depreciation of home values. Many homeowners have suddenly found themselves in a position wherein they owe more on the mortgage than what the property is actually worth on the market. A large number of those who have been forced into foreclosure may have felt the pressure of high mortgage rates the loss of income or even the need to move to another state.
One factor that can explain this phenomenon is the decline in median house prices from a high of 484000 in March of 2007 to just slightly above 400000 in the latter part of the year. Although this decline was perhaps partially caused by the shift in the type of houses that were sold this would have undoubtedly still had a significant role to play in the increase of the number of homeowners who were forced to default on their mortgage loans.
About the writer: Carlsbad California real estate for sale. Find new townhomes and live work lofts just steps from the beach in the vibrant coastal city of Carlsbad north San Diego County.
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