Price per Square Feet

92883

92882

92881

92880

92879

Here are the November numbers for price per square feet. These figures help establish market price for the average home in each of these zip codes. It also helps determine changes in property changes in values over the past 15 months. It also helps measure depreciation in each of the separate markets.

In almost every market Buyers and Sellers read a story in the newspaper or talk to a friend and get the wrong information because it is not specific to their price range or area of interest.

When I use these charts with clients I like to explain the pricing trends that are relevant to their home buying or selling decision. As I mentioned in yesterdays post when I work with clients I also like to drill it down to price range and square footage. When working with Buyers it insures that they are paying current fair market value when putting in an offer.

I'll use the 92883 zip code to show you how to determine fair market value. The formula is very simple. Just multiply the square footage by the average price per square foot in the last month. In a declining market it is very important to do this with the most current figures.

For example, lets say the home is 1700 square feet. We take 1700 x 185. This puts us at an average price of $314,500. Keep in mind this is an average for this zip code. Other factors you always need to figure in are property condition, location, special amenities and other factors.

As we can see by looking back to November 2006. The average price per square foot was 236. We take the $185 /$235= 78%. We can see that the market in the 92883 zip code on average has decreased by 22% in value the last 12 months.

Tomorrow we'll talk about average price sold by zip code.

The November Data is Out

Below I have posted for you statistical data on the market activity for November.
This is the Supply and Demand Chart. I have broken them down for each Corona zip code.

There are 3 pieces of information in the Supply & Demand chart. The first is the supply of homes for sale over a fifteen-month period. This is shown with light green bars. The second is the number of homes sold in dark green bars. The third is the number of pended sales, shown as a red line. These charts allow you to compare the most recent 3-months activity with the same period one-year ago.

You can see we are in a buyers market. Buyers at this time have a lot of inventory to choose from and sellers need to be priced very competitively to capture those buyers.

When I use this data for my listing clients I break it down first by zip code, then narrow it to 50 square feet above and below he subject property. That drills down to the specifics. I also like to use this as a tool to watch where the market is headed. When I'm working with buyers in addition to using comps I can use this to see where the buyers trends are going.

Stay turned, tomorrow we'll talk about average price per square foot in each of the zip codes.

November 92883

November 92882

November 92881

Novemeber 92880

November 92879

10 Days to Go

So much for real estate today...I'm starting to stress about Christmas shopping. Mostly because my 3 year old doesn't want to understand the concept of no you can't have a toy everytime we go to the store. Santas coming in 10 days. Santas trip down our fireplace is irrelevant to him. Today I vowed I'm never taking him to a store again until after Christmas. So don't be suprised if you run into me Christmas shopping at Target at 10pm, while he's got sugar plums dancing in his head.

Here's something nice for you for the weekend while you're wrapping those presents by a warm fire.

Heavenly Hot Chocolate

1 1/2 c. milk

1 1/2 c. heavy cream

1/4 c. sugar

1/8 t. salt

6 oz.chopped buttersweet chocolate

2 drops peppermint oil

Sweetened whipped cream, for garnish

Combine the milk, cream, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat. When the milk and cream just begin to steam, put in the chocolate and stir until melted. Add the peppermint oil. Divide the hot chocolate, top with whipped cream and share with friends and family.

When I think of hot chocolate it takes me back to my childhood in freezing cold Wisconsin. Enjoy the pictures while I take a trip down memory lane...

This Weeks Best Buy

LOCATION: 92881

PRICE: $485,900

SIZE: 2,940 Sq Ft, 4 BDR, 3 BATHS

DESCRIPTION: BANK OWNED home JUST REDUCED with many upgraded features such as: plantation shutters throughout, granite in kitchen with oversized island, seperate family and living room with fireplace, stamped colored conrete driveway, newer roll up garage doors, double door entry rock elevation and at entry to front door! Must see.

ELIZABETH'S NOTES: This home is a great buy in a great location. This house came on the market on 10/5 at $575,000. It was reduced on 11/7 to 519,900. Then reduced again on 12/7 to $485,000. If I was in the market I'd buy this house myself. Nice, nice, nice. Call me if you'd like to see it!

From One Extreme To The Other

Yesterday was an interesting day. It started out with a visit to a lovely home in Orange County.

I'm getting ahead of myself here, let me give you some background. I work with banks listing REO properties. Yesterday I had been out to check on a few properties that are about to go into foreclosure. The first home was the lovely home in Orange County. I went up to the door and sadly I met the tenant and got to be the one to deliver the bad news that the home he had recently leased was going into foreclosure. Each time I do this it's an adventure. Unfortunately, this time I was the bearer of bad news. Most of the time when I do this no one is home. After the sweet gentleman got over the initial shock we talked about how he could purchase the property. This one may might have a sweet ending.

Then I headed east....all the way to San Bernardino, with much trepidation of my husband, who strictly instructed me not to go alone, call him before I got out of the car and to call him again when I left the house. To say it nicely, this wasn't a great area. When I got out of my car I asked 2 men if they were the owner of the blue house. The homeless man, yes you read that right, asked me if I meant the blue abandoned bus and told me someone lived in the bus...No, I mean the house I thought. Then I went up to the door. Thank God no one answered. I was praying not to be greeted my someone with something long and metal. I left my card and a note asking them to call me. After I drove away I got to wondering if they even had a phone. I called my husband of course and let him know I was still alive. Then I called my guy at the bank and when he answered the phone he asked if I had gotten out of there alive. As you can guess I told him I'd pass on that listing. No one ever said being in real estate was boring.

On a more professional note, the feds lowered the interest rates yesterday a quarter of a point. Here is a great article on how the rate cut may effect consumers.

Weekly Stats

In the last 7 days...
New Listings 101
Price Reductions 217
Back up/Pending 39
Closed Sales 11

The prices of the closed listings this week range from $133,000 to $515,000. The majority of the closings are in the $300s and $400s. 5 of the 11 are foreclosures. The serious buyers are out there Christmas shopping for homes!

This Weeks Best Buy

LOCATION: 92880

PRICE: $425,000

SIZE: 2,992 sq ft, 4 Bedrooms, 3 Baths

DESCRIPTION:

Beautiful executive home in Limonite area. Close to Eastvale shopping center and 15 freeway. Cul de sac. Family neighborhood. 7 ceiling fans. Bright and airy. Kitchen with island. Huge bonus room upstairs. Large master with dbl door entry. 3 car garage. Carpeted throughout house. Covered patio and large backyard. Great opportunity for growing family. Bedroom and bath downstairs. Nicely landscaped. Move in condition.

ELIZABETH'S NOTES:

This is a great deal for someone that's looking for something that's turnkey in the 92880 area.

The upstairs has a large bonus room and good sized bedrooms. The backyard is great. Lot's of room. Call me if you'd like more information. I wonder if we could get them to throw in the Beemer too...

Weekly Stats

In the last seven days...
New Listings 125
Back Up/Pending 49
Price Reductions 242
Closed 18
Of the properties that closed...
3-$200,000s
7-$300,000s
6-$400,000s
2-$500,000s

2008 Market Predictions

On Saturday I went to the hairdressers to get my hair done. The first thing he said to me is "What's going on here?" as he played with my hair then he added my hair has fallen out quite a bit since our last appointment. Then he asked me how real estate was going. What does this have to do with my hair falling out I wondered. After you read this you too will understand why I may be sporting the bald look by the end of 2008.

Anyone who knows me knows that I always speak the truth. That goes for my clients too. They want the facts and my opinion and that's what they get. To answer the question what's the market doing I'll pull out my crystal ball. Looking at all the facts and figures it looks to me like 2008 is going to be a tougher year in the market than 2007. I have two reasons for this opinion. First, all indications are that housing activity is continuing to weaken and house prices in general will continue to decline. Second, mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures will probably continue to rise for a number of quarters because the bulk of resets to higher rates and payments have yet to come. A lot of people that have bought houses in the past few years have taken out adjustable rate loans that are about to mature. I've had people tell me their payment has gone up as much as $1,200 a month! I've wanted to stop and pray for them on the spot. Each quarter from now until the end of 2008, the monthly payments for more than 400,000 subprime mortgages are scheduled for their first interest rate reset. That's up from about 200,000 per quarter in the first half of 2007.

Earlier this year, the typical reset was from 7 % to 9.5%, producing a 25-30% increase in the borrower's monthly payment. From here it can go two ways. First, the borrower can refinance and try to find a solution that they can live with. Or secondly, they'll go into default and eventually into foreclosure. The sad thing with that is we will continue to see more foreclosures in our neighborhoods, but what's even worse is when the guy down the street wants to sell his house for the normal reason he's competing with all the active foreclosures in the neighborhood. And I mean competing with pricing. None of this "Oh but, my house is so much nicer and I've got so many more upgrades". Buyers don't care about that. What they want a "good deal". They'll do their own fix up work and put upgrades in on their own time. This is what the sellers will have to deal with. It's been a tough year and I've told a few of my clients to take their house off the market or to rent it out. And I've told more than a few just to wait it out a while. It's been sad for them but it's the right thing to do. I can tell you what your house is worth in todays market but if that numbers not where you want it to be, sit tight. I'm not going anywhere, I'll still be here to sell your home when the market turns around. Now on the other hand if you want to buy property call me while I still have some hair left!!!

Daily Stats

Every day I'm going to post the activity for the last 24 hour period. On Mondays I'll post the activity that has occured over the weekend.

As of today there are 2,336 homes on the market in Corona.

21 New listings

48 Price reductions

18 Went into backup/pending meaning they've gotten contracts/gone into escrow

2 Closed

Welcome to my Blog

and welcome to Corona California!
I've been pondering for a few weeks on what my clients may want to know about the Corona real estate market. I'm constantly asked questions about the market. Let this become your site of choice while looking for information on anything real estate related. Feel free to email me any comments or questions you may have. I have answers to all the Real Estate questions you are afraid to ask and many more.