We work in the Real Estate market and the headlines make even my head spin. Many of the stories can be spun in different directions and the trend seems to pull out the negative facts for a catchy title that gets clicks. The facts are often buried in the story.
Certainly the last quarter wasn’t as positive as many watching the leading indicators for real estate would have liked, however what isn’t mentioned is that November and December are typically slow months for home sales, well, of course – the holidays! We noticed this in our sales offices too with visits from new homeowners down, but guess what – new homeowners are out looking again in the new year and visits have doubled at most of our communities.
And, then there is the fact that real estate is local. Many of the biggest stories are about the nation as a whole. It is important to remember that two cities that are relatively close together can have differing sale rates based on the uniqueness that each city offers.
While it is good to see what is going on with the nation as a whole, it is important to at least get a little more local and understand what is happening in your own neighborhood, California, and the broader national real estate market.
What’s the market like at SummerHill Homes’ Communities?
Sales releases are in high demand from new homebuyers looking to SummerHill Homes as the inventory of our new homes is shrinking rapidly with the strong pace of sales. In fact, the most asked question on Mrs. Hill – when is the next sales release?
- Over 20 single-family homes have already been sold at Redwood Gate in Palo Alto for 44% of the homes sold in less than 8 months.
- Satake Estates in Mountain View has sold a record breaking 15 single-family homes in just 6 months making this community already 50% sold out.
- San Jose’s Village Square has only 20 homes left, that’s after selling over 79% of townhome-style condominiums and loft-style homes.
- San Bruno’s hilltop Merimont has sold over 60% of the single-family homes and the much anticipated prime view locations will be released soon.
- Rosewood has already sold 82% of homes with only 3 Cottages (single-family homes with side yard) and 16 Gables (traditional single-family home with backyard) remaining before selling out.
And stories about the Bay Area and California’s real estate market: All positive!!
- Home prices rising: L.A. County values up 5.6% from year before: https://bit.ly/ab1tw7
- California’s Home Inventory Shrinks to 5-Year Low https://bit.ly/63ks0L
- From my Tweet on Monday: Calif. unsold home backlog shrinks to 3.8 months in December
- https://bit.ly/dg4BA0
- From my Tweet on Friday: Bay Area Dec. home sales strongest in 3 years https://bit.ly/63ks0L .
Here are some of the top stories in the news about the national real estate market:
Be sure to check out the stories that the catchy titles – the news isn’t as bad as it seems in the titles.
- Home Prices Rise for 6th Month in a Row in Novemberhttps://bit.ly/av7IBW
- Tweeted on Monday – US existing-home sales down in December https://bit.ly/85PeVS – couldn’t it also be a result of decrease in inventory?
- New home sales hit 9-month low https://bit.ly/d6NZQq
- Headline: Drop in Home Prices Slows links to another article with headline: Home Prices Declined in November https://bit.ly/dordkb
- Home prices suggest tenuous housing rebound https://bit.ly/blIYeB
- U.S. home sales tumble https://bit.ly/djY2qV
How are you feeling about the recovery? What are you seeing?
The national news is going to influence the local perception of the real estate market. Until things get settled on Wall Street and in Washington so that the banks begin to loan to people to buy homes, the overall market is still going to be slow.