There are still some good deals out there, where the mortgage payments can be lower than an equivalent rent.
Short sales can be iffy, but some are getting done.
Lending is tight unless you are an ideal profile, W2 income, good FICO score, etc. but we work with some good lenders who can generally work with self-employed as well.
Inventory is down and demand has been up for homes under (I would say $400k, the article says $500k.) This is partly because more Bank Owned properties are selling for discounts on the courthouse steps to investors. This is a rather recent phenomenon.
Condos are
April home sales, contracts up in Sonoma County
Median single family home price still $345,000
By STEVE HART
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at 5:12 p.m.
Sonoma County home sales picked up in April, and pending sales grew even faster, a sign the housing market is warming up.
It's unclear whether an $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers — which expired April 30 — had an impact on last month's sales.
“Sales are up, but they're limited by the lack of inventory,” said Rick Laws, manager at Coldwell Banker in Santa Rosa, which compiles real estate data for The Press Democrat monthly housing report.
Buyers purchased 371 single family homes in April, up from 359 in March and 302 in February. Another 642 homes went under sale contracts, compared to 489 in March.
“We haven't seen that many properties go under contract for a long time,” Laws said.
Not all of those deals will result in sales, however. Many are short sales, offering less than is owed on the mortgage. Banks are slow to approve them, and such deals frequently fall apart, according to market analysts.
“Short sales have a habit of bouncing in and out of escrow,” Laws said.
April's median single family home price remained flat at $345,000. So far this year, prices are up more than 11 percent from 2009.
Katharina and Jules Rodigou jumped into the market last month, purchasing a bank-owned home priced in the high $200,000s in the Piner area of northwest Santa Rosa.
They had been renting and looking to buy for more than a year. “I think we got a fantastic deal,” said Katharina Rodigou.
With a low interest rate, their monthly payment will be less than what they've been paying in rent, she said.
“It was very hard to get a loan, but we got a good rate,” said Rodigou, who owns The Smog Center in Santa Rosa with her husband. “It was worth it to hang in there.”
Home sales normally pick up in spring, but buyers are being cautious, said Belinda Andrews of Century 21 in Santa Rosa, who handled the Rodigou's purchase.
“No one knows where the economy's going, and that's still making people a little nervous,” she said.
There were 1,486 homes on the market last month, down 5 percent from March. While there's a shortage of homes priced below $500,000, there's plenty of inventory above that mark.
Nearly half of homes for sale are bank-owned or otherwise distressed, Laws said. But that's down from late 2008, when bank-owned property dominated the market.
“We're seeing more activity in non-distressed properties,” Laws said, including homes price above $500,000. “I'd say it's warming up because there's some stability in the marketplace.”
Last month's performance may have been helped by the federal government's tax credit for first-time homebuyers, said Mike Kelly, senior sale consultant at Keller Williams Realty in Santa Rosa.
Those sales have until the end of June to close. “We'll have to wait to see if it was because of first-time buyers,” he said. “A lot of buyers had been waiting.”
Meanwhile, the state started offering a $10,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers and a separate tax credit for new home purchases on May 1.
But the $100 million state fund for first-time buyers could run out as early as next month because of high demand, according to state officials.
Sonoma County condominium sales were down 16 percent last month, with 64 deals closed. The median price was $158,700, down 11 percent from March.
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