Hey, hey
Our Adylina started walking at 10 months so she is basically running now as we look forward to her 1st Birthday on May 25th.
I would love to hear updates from you and what's happening in your life.
Here are some important updates from the last few months.....
If you own a house or a rental or know someone that does:
Landlords and tenants eviction guidelines have changed once again. Here is the latest on that: EVICTION GUIDELINES You can also verify if a tenant actually applied for rent relief: CA STATE PORTAL
California Housing Finance Agency is providing grants up to $40,000 for ADU build-outs for homeowners. ADU GRANT
If you are planning on selling or know someone that does:
New website about PROP 19 tax breaks for sellers that are looking to buy and take with them the lower property tax basis: https://www.prop19taxbreak.com/
The market heavily favored the seller from January to about Mid-April as anticipated. Since then, interest rates have gone up at a record pace and the buyer activity has slowed quite a bit. It is still technically a seller's market, however, we are not seeing the typical 10-15 offers that we got used to for 3 months in quarter one of this year. Most listings are getting 2-4 offers now within the first week of being listed.
The median price jumped up to $850,000 in April compared to $760,000 in December of last year. That's a HUGE jump, however, the appreciation will now most likely slow down quite a bit due to much higher interest rates.
Total Active Inventory jumped from 1,685 first week in January to 2,439 last week as more listings are hitting the market weekly now and less buyers are out looking. However, total active inventory number is still very low compared to a "normal" market that would have 6,000 and higher.
So, if you have been or are thinking about selling, this could really be your last chance to sell it at this new peak that we've reached, as I really anticipate that the market will really level off or maybe even have a slight dip in value.
The image below puts things really into perspective. Rates have gone up .75% in the last month and 2.50% from December to now.
If you are planning on buying or know someone that is:
As mentioned above, the interest rate spike is really affecting buyer's affordability and many buyers are just not able to buy currently based on their budget limits.
The good news is that you will most likely not have to offer way over list price anymore if at all, so you can consider maybe applying some of that extra cash you might have to buy down the rate.
You will also most likely not have to compete against 15 other offers, which will feel quite refreshing to say the least.
The best advice I can give you is to focus on your monthly budget that you feel comfortable with and base your offer price with that in mind. This way, you will not be disappointed if interest rates go up or down, or if prices go up or down, as it somewhat becomes irrelevant.
Reminder: Rental payment history is now considered when underwriting loans for buyers. This will open the door to homeownership for thousands of Californians. Rental payments are often the largest ongoing payment history for non-homeowners and can be a good indication of credit worthiness. LINK TO ARTICLE
And as always, If you are planning on relocating to another state even though I would be sad to see you leave, let me know and I can help locate a great agent in whatever city that you are planning to move to. I will actually identify a couple great agents there, interview them on your behalf and connect you to that agent once I feel like he or she can serve you as I would here. (Bonus: I would stay involved over-seeing your purchase transaction on top of it for you and consult you along the way. That's if you value my opinion, of course.)
Have a fulfilling quarter two and let me know if you have anything specific that you want to discuss with me. I am here to help you navigate through it all.
Cheers