November sales and price report

November sales and price report

For release:
Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009

C.A.R. reports November home sales increased 4.7 percent; median home price increased 5.8 percent

Multimedia:
· Click here to view a data table comparing peak prices and current prices in areas throughout
the state

Quick Facts:
· Existing, single-family home sales increased 4.7 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted rate
of 536,720 units on an annualized basis.
· The statewide median price of an existing single-family home increased 2.4 percent in November to
$304,520 compared with October 2009.
· C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index fell to 4.5 months in November, compared with 7.1 months in
November 2008.

LOS ANGELES (Dec. 22) – Home sales increased 4.7 percent in November in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home rose 5.8 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.

http://www.car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/novsalesandprice/

A buyer asked me whether he should buy. He should buy when he is ready to buy!

More Wealthy Default on Their Mansions The sub-prime crisis has turned into the super-prime crisis. Homeowners with mortgages of more than $1 millio

More Wealthy Default on Their Mansions

The sub-prime crisis has turned into the super-prime crisis.

Homeowners with mortgages of more than $1 million are now defaulting at nearly three times last year’s rate, according to a Bloomberg article.

Payments on about 12% of mortgages exceeding $1 million were 90 days or more overdue in September, up from 4.7% a year ago and well over the 7.4% default rate for U.S. mortgages as a whole. There are 114,000 home loans of more than $1 million.

“The rich aren’t as rich as they used to be,” Alex Rodriguez, a Miami real estate agent, was quoted as saying. “People have reached the point where they can’t afford the carrying expenses of a $2 million home.”

Or maybe the people who got $1 million mortgages weren’t rich to begin with and shouldn’t have gotten $1 million loans. Either way, short sales of pricey homes are becoming more common as more mansions go underwater.

“You are just starting to see the tip of the iceberg with luxury short sales,” said Adrian Heyman, owner of Property Advisors, a real estate broker in Scottsdale, Arizona. “A lot of wealthy people are upside down in their mortgages, and they just can’t afford the second or third vacation home anymore.”

The statistics suggest that for all the talk of stock-market rebounds and green shoots since early summer, the rich are still facing a cash crunch. And it shows that the wealthy - or aspirational wealthy — engaged in the same kind of leveraged-up, overbuilt lifestyle as the rest of the country.

Most importantly, it means that hopes that the rich will lead the country out of the real-estate crisis may be ill-founded. The wealthy will start buying real-estate when they stop defaulting.

Why do you think the wealthy are defaulting at such a high rate? Or are they?

http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2009/12/18/more-wealthy-default-on-their-mansions/?mod=rss_WSJBlog

The wealthy will only buy a property that they considered it a big discount, a real 'BARGAIN' to them.

REALTOR® Statistics

REALTOR® Statistics

Hours worked by all REALTORS® (nationwide): 40 per week

Gross personal income by hours worked: $51,900 (median for 40-59 hrs.)

Percent of business generated by REALTOR® personal web site (all REALTORS®):

• Zero: 36%
• Over 25%: 12%

Real estate experience of all REALTORS® (median): 10 years

REALTORS® by gender: Male 40%; Female 60%

Formal education of REALTORS®:

• Some college: 34%
• Associate degree: 12%
• Bachelor's degree: 26%
• High school graduate: 8%
• Graduate degree and above: 10%
• Some graduate school: 8%

Sides per agent: For all REALTORS® in 2008, the typical brokerage specialist completed 7 transaction sides or commercial deals

Median tenure at present firm (all REALTORS®): 5 years

REALTOR® affiliation with firms:

• Independent contractor: 82%
• Employee: 6%
• Other: 12%

Source: 2009 National Association of REALTORS® Member Profile