Chico CA Real Estate News
Chico CA Real Estate Market Stats
Interest rates are at an all time low!
October 27th, 2012 categories: Chico CA Real Estate Market Stats, Chico CA Real Estate News, Uncategorized
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Chico Home Buyers Get Off The Fence and Into the Real Estate Market
June 27th, 2008 categories: Chico Buyers, Chico CA Real Estate Market Stats, Chico CA Real Estate News
by Mike Wiegert
On a national level, existing home sales increased in May as buyers are reacting to lower home prices according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). May figures indicate 4.99 million existing home units sold, up two percent from April’s sales of 4.89 million sold units. This number is still a far cry from May 2007 sales at 5.93 million units. The reason for the latest increase in national home sales was summed up by NAR President Richard F. Gaylor, “Home buyers are starting to get off the fence and into the market, drawn by drops in home prices in many areas and armed with greater access to affordable mortgages,” he said. “Today’s buyer plans to stay in a home for 10 years, which is a good strategy for building long-term wealth.”
NAR Chief economist, Lawrence Yun, indicated last week that there is a significant inventory of homes. “The large supply of homes on the market clearly favors buyers, and it should take several months to draw the inventory down,” he said. “Stabilization in home prices can only occur with buyers returning to the market, so we are encouraged by rising home sales, particularly in distressed markets. Foreclosures and short sales appear to be a larger part of the market, particularly in California, and are creating a drag on current home prices.”
So what do the statistics mean to homebuyers in the Butte County area? At 472 active residential listings in the Chico area market, our local inventory is significantly lower than the national average per capita.
With an urban area population of 106,000 residents, the number of available homes compared to the number of residents is substantially less than most cities across the nation. In a nutshell, although the Chico real estate market is a “buyer’s market“, a less than generous selection of listings in our area diminishes the possibility of buyers coercing sellers into accepting cut-rate offers.
Local homeowners have indisputably seen their home prices drop over the past year. With a median sales price of $308,750 in June 2007 compared to $272,000 in June of 2008, year over year statistics appear to indicate almost a 12 percent decrease in median home prices sold for our area. And with the subsequent losses of equities following these price drops, many sellers are not in the position to accept bargain prices on homes that they owe more on than these proposed offers. I can’t really count the numbers of sellers who have expressed an unwillingness to go out of pocket to sell their homes. Instead, they are bunkering down and waiting for the market and prices to stabilize. Is this a good or bad strategy? You’ve heard it before, “real estate is a long term investment.” For many, it might be prudent to wait out bad times. For others that need to sell to relocate, hopefully many redeeming real estate opportunities exist in their new location.
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Chico CA Real Estate Market Report for Spring 2008
May 17th, 2008 categories: Chico CA Real Estate Market Stats, Chico CA Real Estate News
The Chico Real Estate Market is Changing!
Although a steady decline of local home prices over the last several months has been reported there’s a change of direction in last months statistics. For the first time in months the median and average home price in the Chico area is in the black.
The Chico area’s median price was up at $272,500 from March at $267,000. Median price refers to the exact middle point of all the homes sold in that month or given period. The average price in April was up at $340,881 from $311,232 in March. Average price is defined as combining the sales prices of all the sales for a given period and dividing by the number of unit sales for that period.
In addition to this good news, the number of residential Chico area units sold was up significantly at 80 in April in contrast to March sales at 45. Of course many would say that this increase of number of sales is due to the traditional increase caused by seasonal changes, and they would be right. The overall increase in sales of residential units has little to do with the median and average home prices.
So, are we on the road to recovery? A little early to tell, but many economists and analysts are indicating trends in that direction. Michael Feder, CEO of Radar Logic, Inc., a reputable company known for statistical reporting of national and regional sales data and trends, recently stated on Bloomberg.com that several national metropolitan areas not only showed signs of stabilization, but actual significant price increases in recent months. New York’s borough of Manhattan, Houston, Dallas, Virginia Beach, Seattle, Charlotte, Salt Lake City, Austin and Buffalo all have reported gains in recent months. Even our local neighbor, San Francisco, demand exceeded supply and median and average sales prices posted increases.
When taken into perspective, all the sensationally negative news is really only taking into account recent year over year sales data, which is indeed somewhat depressing, especially to folks who purchased during the housing boom of 2004 to 2006.
In ancient times when I began my real estate career, my mentor first told me that real estate is a long term investment and that I should be certain that my customers understood this basic principle. Along the line we forgot this concept and rushed to buy real estate at inflated prices in order to make a quick buck or just get in while the getting was good.
Prices have come down the last year, but when looked at over a five year perspective, homes nationally have appreciated at 4.7 percent annually.
Even neighbor Sacramento/Roseville, one of the hardest hit areas in the country, experienced a 1.5 percent increase in home prices over the last five years. In fact, of all the national Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA’s), only Detroit, Cleveland and Denver reported decreases in homes sales prices when calculated over the last five years. Michael Feder expressed optimism without forecasting by saying that home prices should improve based on Financial Services Committee Chairman, Barney Frank’s commitment to reopen the mortgage credit conduit.
In Chico, we are seeing a re-emergence of FHA mortgage loans thus enabling credit worthy buyers in our area to purchase with less that the standard twenty percent down payment.
And a reminder, with over fifty million mortgaged homes in this nation, less than two percent are in peril of foreclosure at this time. It is certainly apparent that these foreclosure sales when calculated in the the homes sales data and indexes are really what are influencing current market prices. Equally apparent is the Federal governments determination to come to the assistance of these desperate homeowners with a variety of programs to stem off the flow.
There’s no doubt that nationally, statewide and locally here in Chico CA, real estate investments have been rendered a strong blow, but the wound is healing.
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Chico Real Estate Market Report April 18, 2008
April 18th, 2008 categories: Chico CA Real Estate Market Stats, Chico CA Real Estate News
by Mike Wiegert
While the rest of the world continues to shroud itself in a cloak of doom and gloom, our Chico real estate market appears ready, able and willing to go to the 15th round.
All type of media ranging from the daily newspaper to “expert” fiscal commentaries on various internet news services to regional and local blog sites are all assuming the role of a sort of economic Edgar Allen Poe. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m not just tired. I’m exhausted, wiped out and drained by all the tales of woe that doomsayers consider newsworthy.
It’s time to stop assuming that just because a home down the street went through a foreclosure that this is the end of Chico real estate as we know it. As pointed out in previous “moments”, foreclosure sales nationwide only amount to seven tenths of one percent of all the households in our country. Due to the reseting of adjustable rate loans and a subsequent inability to pay by the borrowers on these loans, the rate of foreclosures is certain to rise. But with all the government and banking industry sponsored programs to assist these troubled homeowners, any foreclosure rates increases are assured to be negligible.
Let’s look at some hard facts derived from statistical reporting by our Chico Association of Realtors. Historically, the first quarter of every year is a “seasonal” slow quarter as many sellers and buyers anticipate the brisk activity of the spring and summer housing markets. The first quarter of 2006 statistics revealed 178 residential sales in all of the Chico sectors. The average market sold price for these sales was $361,166 giving us a total volume of sales of $64,287,548. The 2006 first quarter is considered to be one of the most active quarters in local real estate history. The first quarter of 2008 showed us 162 residential sales with an average Chico sales price of $336,926. The total volume of sales for this quarter was $54,582,012.
So let’s crunch some numbers and interpret this data. Using these hard numbers, sales in the first quarter of this year lagged fifteen percent behind the first quarter two years ago. When comparing average sales prices of these quarters we see that the average sales price of this year’s quarter is down seven percent from the average sales price of the 2006 first quarter.
Ask ten economists how much prices have dropped and you’ll probably get eleven answers but these local quarterly statistics are as good an indicator of pricing as any.
So it’s time for all you woe-begone town criers to blow your noses, put down your Kleenex’s and stop using sensationally negative national news to harm our virile local economy. For years people have asked me, “Mike, how does your town survive with little or no industry.” My answer, “Inexplicably, it does”. Over thirty years ago when I started in the real estate business the nay-sayers were out there. I was told this town would never survive. But it has and it will continue to not only survive, but thrive. I’ve seen many down cycles locally, but our area like many, always pulls out of it and experiences safe and positive growth.
Before we know it, these problems will be a memory and we will remember just how great it is to live in a place like Chico, CA.
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The Chico Real Estate Market: Turning the Corner?
April 13th, 2008 categories: Chico CA Real Estate Market Stats, Chico CA Real Estate News
by Mike Wiegert
There’s a lot of talk in the news these days about the end of the housing slump, home prices stabilizing and increases in real estate sales activity in the West. Last week while speaking at a banking conference in Tokyo, former Federal Reserve Chief and guru Alan Greenspan announced that he expects an end to the drop of U.S. home prices by early in 2009. Greenspan added that as housing inventory is reduced, “it is very likely that home prices will stabilize well before that.”
In nearby Sacramento county, an area among the highest in U.S. foreclosures, a recent survey of 1200 residents indicated that 63 percent believe that now is a good time to buy a home. The study conducted by Sacramento State University’s Institute for Social Research fine tunes the data by stating that 47 percent believe that now is the right time to buy and 16 percent believe that between now and six months will be the best time to buy. Additional, less than comforting information, is that 58 percent said that they have concerns that their income will be insufficient to cover their expenses.
Outskirt communities of San Diego County such as Oceanside, Escondido, Valley Center and Ramona are experiencing a burst of new activity as buyers and investors take advantage of significantly lowered home prices. Brian Crisp, a San Diego broker has stated in the North County Times that investors are pouncing on deals in high numbers. “Mostly investors will look to fix up a home and sell it for a profit. But some homes are so deeply discounted that investors can rent them for a profit” says Crisp. “My business had doubled just in this month. And I’m seeing some cash-flow potential with a lot of deals lately,” he said.
Oceanside Realtor, Kurt Kinsey recently listed a home in Oceanside for almost 40 percent below it’s 2005 sales price. Kinsey was flooded with 31 offers from interested buyers. “I’ve done this for 21 years and even in a hot market, I think the most I had was nine (offers),” he said. “I think we might have turned the corner as far as falling prices.” Kinsey continues by saying that not all deals are snatched up by investors. Of the 31 offers on the home listed at $340,000, all but one were from buyers actually intending to live in the home.
The National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index which measures pending sales contracts and is a barometer of future home sales activity saw a rise of 2.1 percent in the west region for the month of February.
This region, which includes California was expected to drop by .7 percent according to economists and analysts.
A survey of Chico real estate brokers indicate a flurry of calls and inquiries about listings particularly in the sub-median price ranges. These brokers tell me that they are seeing an emergence of not only investors but owner-occupant buyers as well. One southeast Chico neighborhood home, recently listed for $199,900, was deluged with eight offers. In my own office, Sandi Bauman’s two college area duplexes received two competing offers within hours of the sign going up. As we now experience new activity in the sub-median and median prices it won’t be long until the price ranges above these levels also gain sales activity as once-be sellers become buyers seeking to replace their modest homes with more suitable environments for their growing families.
With interest rates continuing to hold in the mid to high fives, this in a fantastic time to buy real estate in Chico, CA!
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Chico CA Real Estate Market Report for Week Ending 2/18/2008
February 20th, 2008 categories: Chico CA Real Estate Market Stats, Chico CA Real Estate News
Chico real estate market data.
I’ve always found real estate market reports to be really dry reading… but many of you potential Chico buyers and sellers have been coming to my blog looking for this type of information, so here you go!
The following represents the market data including Chico homes sold, listed, price changes, and pendings for single family homes only. Chico areas covered are 1A to 1F, as provided by the Sierra North Valley MLS.
Looking for other Chico real estate market data? Tell me what you need!
Subscribe to Chico CA Real Estate Blog and MLS Listings Search to receive regular market updates.
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Chico CA Real Estate Listings SOLD! Week Ending 2/16/08
February 18th, 2008 categories: Chico CA Real Estate Market Stats, Chico CA Real Estate News
Chico Residential Listings SOLD!
$165,000 1401 SANTA CLARA AVE 1161 sqft
$220,000 330 W 14TH STREET 1300 sqft
$231,500 689 E 18TH STREET 2000 sqft
$285,000 1196 #B FILBERT AVE 1173 sqft
$285,000 1300 CHESTNUT ST 1280 sqft
$275,000 1391 CROUCH AVE 1967 sqft
$269,000 1389 KERI LANE 1592 sqft
$280,000 735 PINE ST 2020 sqft Duplex
$285,000 667 E 8TH STREET 1261 sqft
$255,000 1558 FILBERT AVE 1658 sqft
$275,000 1300 CHESTNUT ST 1280 sqft
$295,000 5 TORINO CT 1810 sqft
$390,000 1520 LOCUST ST 4 plex
$545,000 638 STILSON CANYON RD 2402 sqft
$775,000 488 E 3RD STREET 4500 sqft
$900,000 1328 ESPLANADE 5-15 units
Want to see your Chico property listed up there in the “SOLD!” section?
Contact me for a no obligation, Comparative Market Analysis to find out what your house may sell for. Ask me about my internet marketing plan!
My direct number: 530-864-5407. Email: [email protected].
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Chico Real Estate: What happened to prices in 2007?
January 22nd, 2008 categories: Chico CA Real Estate Market Stats, Chico CA Real Estate News
Chico CA Real Estate Prices History Comparison 2005-2007
Misery loves company, or so the saying goes. It’s the only explanation for the dismal outlook many folks have when discussing the Chico real estate market. While it’s true that prices have come down from the record highs of 2005 and 2006, it’s safe to say that we fared pretty well compared to many of our California neighbors. If Chico Realtors have said it once, we’ve said it a million times: REAL ESTATE IS LOCAL!
The chart below compares average asking prices and sold prices for single family, residential properties in the urban Chico area.
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Chico Listings Sold Week Ending 1/19/2008
January 21st, 2008 categories: Chico CA Real Estate Market Stats, Chico CA Real Estate News
Chico Residential Listings SOLD!
$450,000 1635 LAZY TRAIL DR 2330 sqft
$210,000 220 HENSHAW AVE 1110 sqft
$452,000 35 WESTGROVE CT 2307 sqft
$350,000 2657 LAKEWEST DR 2087 sqft
$340,000 7 REDEEMERS LOOP 1881 sqft
$332,000 429 CHESTNUT ROSE L 1705 sqft
$305,000 1812 HERON LN 1731 sqft
$413,000 925 DIAS DR 2240 sqft
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Chico CA Real Estate Market Report for Week Ending 1/19/2008
January 20th, 2008 categories: Chico CA Real Estate Market Stats, Chico CA Real Estate News
Chico real estate market data.
I’ve always found real estate market reports to be really dry reading… but many of you potential Chico buyers and sellers have been coming to my blog looking for this type of information, so here you go!
The following represents the market data for single family homes only. Chico areas covered are 1A to 1F, as provided by the Sierra North Valley MLS.
| Discussion: 3 Comments »
