Looking back at the market in Oct. & Nov. 2009
Santa Clarita has seen gains in the median resale price of homes sold during October, which is the result of increased Buyer demand competing for such a limited number of homes listed for sale. Surprisingly, for the time of year where activity and sales regularly seem to taper off, there doesn’t seem to be much slow-down for the holiday season. Last month in November we saw a total of 248 homes change ownership, slightly down from October which showed roughly 293. After 13 months of increases in year-to-year sales, five of the last six months have reported sales declines, but this seems due primarily to the very limited supply of homes listed for sale. It is true that some regions of the nation have many homes listed for sale which are continueing to keep prices soft, but in Santa Clarita and many other parts of the nation are seeing multiple of offers on virtually every listing especially those priced under $500,000 regardless of whether it is a Short Sale, Foreclosure, or Standard Sale simply because the prices are affordable. Although there seems to be increased activity, it is important that we take a step back and control our optimism. It is important to realize that there is still a long-term housing recovery looking forward, a sluggish economy and significant unemployment at hand. *It is also important to note that some of the increased activity is due to first-time buyers looking to take advantage of the $8,000 federal tax credit, thinking it was going to expire at the end of November. Fortunately for those Buyers, that credit has been extended until April 30, 2009 and now includes a $6,500 federal tax credit for existing owners who trade up or trade down with a purchase of a home. At the end of October, a total of 729 properties were on the market throughout the Santa Clarita Valley which was down a staggering 53.7% from a year ago and according to analysts represents less than a 3-month supply of housing at the current pace of sales, compared to a 5.3-month a year ago. This may come as a suprise to most people, but demand outweighs supply so much right now that if there were more homes available for sale many more homes could be sold, but because there isn’t upward pressure on prices is building.
