Hot Spots in the Housing Market

Studying statistics can be drier than a day in the desert. I'll do my best to make these numbers curl up beside you and and become meaningful in a monetary way. There are 288 single family homes for sale in Palos Verdes. 47 homes are in escrow and 55 homes sold YTD. These numbers reflect roughly a six month supply of homes at the current absorption rate. However, homes priced below $1,000,000 are hot commodities while homes priced over $2,000,000 are racking up triple digit days on market statistics.

First, if you are a 1st time buyer the minute you finish reading this put on your shopping shoes. Your mini bailout tax credit of $8,000 is waiting for you to pull the trigger on a purchase, and if you do not act in time, you lose it. Good things do not last forever. The deadline is November 30, 2009. Rules and regulations do apply. Consult a professional.

Secondly, if you are an over 55 senior buyer and have not used your one-time-only free pass of transferring your property tax basis (Proposition 60/90) there are some bargain deals on downsized homes--several new construction senior housing options are available in the South Bay, including Palos Verdes. Psst, California is offering a $10,000 tax credit on 10,000 new construction purchases. Once the 10K threshold is reached the credit ends. Again, rules and regulations apply and only a few counties cooperate.

If you fall somewhere in between a 1st time buyer and an over 55 senior buyer you can still win in this market. Are you looking for income property? I recently sold units with positive cash flow--given the sky-high real estate prices of Southern California that is no small accomplishment, and before the drop in prices was a nearly extinct opportunity.

If you are in the market for a move-up property priced over $2,000,000 you are in the driver's seat in the Palos Verdes market. As a buyer, you get to be the kid in the candy store--lots of homes to choose from and many are wearing a Just Reduced price tag underneath those luxury wrappings.

Real estate trends are always in flux and never more so than in today's economic and financial turmoil. New forces enter and alter the real estate landscape with rapid speed. It takes daily monitoring to track them and a keen eye to identify them. Trends I expect to see explode are tax credits for going green, and savings passed along to consumers for going smaller and drier. Yes, those lush, but unnatural, green lawns of our arid region are going to be much more expensive to maintain. Plans are in the works to increase the cost of water and restrict its use. Water bills will be going up, up, up. Perhaps we will return to Mother Nature's plan and abandon the folly of turning a desert into a tropical paradise. Remember, oh so tropical Hawaii is only a six hour flight away.

Norma Toering RE/MAX Palos Verdes Realty 310-493-8333