April Numbers
Some numbers to help satisfy the need to know what's really going on in the marketplace locally. For April the closed sales as reported by MLS. We've noted before that there will be other sales which were private or not MLS generated. For greater Chico, 81 sales compared to 67 for April 2006, for Paradise, 27 compared to 33 last year, for Oroville, 8 compared to 9 last year, and finally for Glenn county, 7 compared to 15 last year. Chico is doing rather well, probably because prices are responding to market conditions and there is a fairly steady demand for Chico properties.
Despite the media attention to the bad news in housing and the finger pointing exercises, things are not all that bad. The tightening of credit and underwriting is long overdue and the people who are now unable to qualify shouldn't own a home anyway. Some government types are saying we need an alternative to high mortgage costs, and my favorite response I've seen in print says there is one already, it's called rent. The phrase "first time home buyers" is used like a mantra as though there is some intrinsic right to own a home. First time car buyers or first time leather jacket buyers don't have the same emotional appeal, but for all of these events it's a good idea to have a financial plan in place. Foreclosures are up, dramatically in some areas, but these are largely the result of treating homes as an investment vehicle, draining equity for some purpose and then suffering the consequence of a debt load that exceeds the ability to repay. People do that with all kinds of investments, buying stocks on margin, etc. and if you make a bad guess you lose. Speculating with home equity is little different, and the bad guesses are catching up. While whining is possibly therapeutic, and certainly good TV fodder, it is not a very good problem solver. The housing market will doubtless correct itself and those industries that have prospered as a result of the cash generated from home equity speculation, (autos, major appliances, etc.) will survive, and the folks who want to buy a home to live in will do so. For those of us who have been in the business for a while, (I started in the middle 1970's) we have always held that the best time to buy a home is now, when you want to. True, a home is an investment and an estate builder, but it is primarily a place to live and raise a family, and it is for the long term.
Hope the sales figures are useful to some, and as usual,
Thanks for visiting
Despite the media attention to the bad news in housing and the finger pointing exercises, things are not all that bad. The tightening of credit and underwriting is long overdue and the people who are now unable to qualify shouldn't own a home anyway. Some government types are saying we need an alternative to high mortgage costs, and my favorite response I've seen in print says there is one already, it's called rent. The phrase "first time home buyers" is used like a mantra as though there is some intrinsic right to own a home. First time car buyers or first time leather jacket buyers don't have the same emotional appeal, but for all of these events it's a good idea to have a financial plan in place. Foreclosures are up, dramatically in some areas, but these are largely the result of treating homes as an investment vehicle, draining equity for some purpose and then suffering the consequence of a debt load that exceeds the ability to repay. People do that with all kinds of investments, buying stocks on margin, etc. and if you make a bad guess you lose. Speculating with home equity is little different, and the bad guesses are catching up. While whining is possibly therapeutic, and certainly good TV fodder, it is not a very good problem solver. The housing market will doubtless correct itself and those industries that have prospered as a result of the cash generated from home equity speculation, (autos, major appliances, etc.) will survive, and the folks who want to buy a home to live in will do so. For those of us who have been in the business for a while, (I started in the middle 1970's) we have always held that the best time to buy a home is now, when you want to. True, a home is an investment and an estate builder, but it is primarily a place to live and raise a family, and it is for the long term.
Hope the sales figures are useful to some, and as usual,
Thanks for visiting
posted by Douglas Doss | 11:33 PM
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