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Southern Cal: Home Values What They Were In 2004

Posted on July 16th, 2008 3:51pm by Candy Evans
Filed under Real Estate, credit crunch, foreclosure, gossip

I have this theory: the high cost of Real Estate in California drags us all down. I mean, who invented variable rate mortgages because with home prices this high — 2004 values are no bargain — who can afford a fixed rate mortgage? Make sense?

One Comment to “Southern Cal: Home Values What They Were In 2004”

Baseball Mike @ July 16th, 2008 at 7:56 pm

Well,

Its not the high cost that drags us down, its the nationwide falling prices that drag everyone down. Another thing to think about in this area is that since prices have fallen so much in CA, there’s no reason for them to look for homes in other states anymore (like TX). Everyone can now find great bargains near home (if they have the means to get more homes).

7 year ARMS are super cheap still, and who lives in a home for 7 years these days? It works out better for buyer anyway if people move around anyway due to the lower interest rate and at that same time paying roughly the same principal (usually more).

Price to Rent is a figure people are talking about — and Dallas is actually a few points above its long-term average, so there is likely to be a bit of a softening in prices over the next year or so; especially as the pressure from the top end of the market pushes downward (more than 300 properties in Southlake w/ asking prices over $1MM on the market; and units over about $450k just sitting around forever) will eventually trickle down to the very strong $200k to $400k market…

Plus, migration is slowing down significantly. And that has been a huge prop for the local market. People can’t move b/c they are under water in their existing homes. And I’m betting that people who are foreclosed on don’t typically pick up and move across the country; they just suck it up and look for assistance in what is already familiar.

D

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Southern Cal: Home Values What They Were In 2004