Chico Buyers
Chico CA Real Estate Market Stats
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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What Am I Thankful For…
November 21st, 2007 categories: Chico Buyers, Chico CA Real Estate Market Stats, Chico CA Real Estate News, My Opinion on Things
by guest writer Mike Wiegert, broker, Chico Homes
At this time of holiday cheer and good will towards men, I really feel the need to express my gratitude and thanks for the many blessings in my life.
First there is the love of a healthy family and friends. Next, I’m grateful for my own personal health and well being. I’m thankful that none of my sons are involved in an unnecessary war in a desperate land thousand of miles from home. I’m grateful that I live in a community like Chico, CA where a day never goes by without a hearty greeting from someone I’ve haven’t seen for a while. And I can’t forget to mention how thankful I am to be a Realtor in these times of prosperity and exceptional market conditions.
WHAT? WHOA! STOP! HALT! SCREECH!
What did that idiot just say? Is that the same market that we’ve heard about with desperate sales situations and real estate salespeople jumping off bridges or scurrying to find other skilled occupations. (Would you like fries with that?) Yes, that’s the market I’m talking about.
It’s all a matter of perspective.
We’ve all read horror stories sensationalized by our newspapers nationwide about the failing real estate market. We heard about how the bottom is falling out, and how families have lost tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity in their homes. We know about foreclosures and short sales being on the rise.
Did you see, however, an article that stated that by Thanksgiving week, members of the Chico Multiple Listing Service had sold and closed $825,000,000 in real estate since January ONE?
That’s EIGHT HUNDRED AND A QUARTER MILLION, PEOPLE!
Gosh, that really sounds terrible to me. Did you also read that the highest sales volume in Chico MLS history was the record year of 2005 at a whopping $1,250,000,000? At the current rate, Chico CA Realtors are projected to sell $927,000,000 in Chico CA real estate or about 74 percent of the volume of sales of that highest, greatest real estate sales year of all time! Year 2007 is shaping up to be the third largest volume of sales in Chico Multiple Listing Service history.
I’m thankful that mortgage rates are staying at historical lows, often in the high fives to low sixes. At risk of sounding like your Grandpa, I remember selling (or trying to sell) real estate in Chico, CA in the eighties when interest rates were in the 18 to 20
percent range. The point is that interest rates are incredibly low, and it’s a fantastic time to buy. If you read my article last week about short sales, it was a shout out to all the buyers out there. We’re talkin’ OPPORTUNITIES, PEOPLE!
I’ll leave you with this thought: you can read all the sensational negative news available, but remember that our local market is strong, and it’s a great time to be involved.
Have you every heard anyone say, “I wish I hadn’t bought so much Chico CA real estate in my lifetime.” I didn’t think so. How about, “I wish I had bought MORE real estate!”
I rest my case.
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Looking to buy or sell Chico CA Real Estate? Need a Top Producing Chico CA Realtor? Call Sandi Bauman 530-864-5407 or email [email protected]. Specializing in REO, residential, relocation, investment & ag property.
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