A Pie of a Different Flavor

Thought it might be fun to get a jump-start on all the year-end data that will be flowing freely in a few weeks from every real estate resource in the country!  Since I am constantly asked about how many short sales and REOs we have here in Santa Maria and Orcutt, I decided to make it easy and do a visual presentation.  Here it is — sales figures for 2011 vs. 2010, January through November.  (Will do a year-end snapshot in early January.) Starting with our current year:

Interesting that sales are up in 2011, about 4%, when the big tax incentive was in 2010!  Of course, interest rates this year have been historically low, in the 4% range and even less, for much of the year.  The average sale price is down, and the average market time is up.  Short sales held at 26% of all sales, but bank-owned REOs went from 37% to 41%, and that should continue to rise.  According to the forecasters (are they as reliable as the weather forecasters?), these trends will continue for the next few years.

Sellers need to get VERY realistic about the market.  If you only want to hear fairy tales, call someone else.  If you want the truth, please give me a call at (805)937-5777 or send an email.  I live and work in the real world.