Best Realty's Lake Oroville Real Estate Blog

 Hello again Paradise CA real estate market watchers and welcome back to your weekly stats. There is really not anything of note in this weeks’s report. With the deadline to qualify for any type of homebuyer tax credit fast approaching, I would expect to seeing some upward movements in the stats over the next 4-6 weeks.

MLS Stats for Paradise Area
Week Ending
Week Ending
Week Ending
Weekly % 

 
2/19/2010
2/26/2009
3/5/2010
Change

# of Total Sales
2
16
9
-43.75%

# REO/Short Sales Sold (SS)
1
7
4
-42.86%

% Sales that are REO/SS
50.00%
43.75%
44.44%
1.59%

Avg. List Price
$269,250
$161,546
$171,789
6.34%

Avg. Sold Price
$254,000
$151,912
$158,378
4.26%

Sold Price % of Listing Price
94.34%
94.04%
92.19%
-1.96%

Avg. Days On The Market
24
87
101
16.09%

Total Sales Volume
$508,000
$2,430,600
$1,425,402
-41.36%

# of Single Family Listings
148
225
227
0.89%

# Foreclosed On Market
18
29
30
3.45%

% of Foreclosed on Market
12.16%
12.89%
13.22%
2.54%

# Short Sales on Market
17
24
25
4.17%

% Short Sales on Market
11.49%
10.67%
11.01%
3.25%

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Here are the numbers for last week’s Lake Oroville real estate market. This is the third week in a row that the number of Oroville home sales has been in single digits, and the 7th week out of the past 8 for this. With inventories still low, and a lot of that inventory in disrepair it is becoming more and more difficult to find properties for Oroville area buyers.  All of my team members have pools of buyers that they simply cannot find decent properties to show them.

MLS Stats for Oroville Area
Week Ending
Week Ending
Week Ending
Weekly % 

 
2/15/2010
2/22/2010
3/1/2010
Change

# of Total Sales
9
8
7
-12.50%

# REO/Short Sales Sold (SS)
4
5
4
-20.00%

% Sales that are REO/SS
44.44%
62.50%
57.14%
-8.57%

Avg. List Price
$108,188
$116,644
$141,085
20.95%

Avg. Sold Price
$98,722
$109,500
$137,482
25.55%

Sold Price % of Listing Price
91.25%
93.88%
97.45%
3.80%

Avg. Days On The Market
67
53
111
109.43%

Total Sales Volume
$973,692
$933,152
$987,595
5.83%

# of Single Family Listings
291
287
288
0.35%

# Foreclosed On Market
35
31
34
9.68%

% of Foreclosed on Market
12.03%
10.80%
11.81%
9.30%

# Short Sales on Market
46
44
39
-11.36%

% Short Sales on Market
15.81%
15.33%
13.54%
-11.67%

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 Now, before you get too excited about the change in sales for the Paradise real estate market compared to last week, you need to know that I have made a change in the areas that I am tracking for you.  Due to popular demand I have now added the Magalia area to my Paradise CA weekly reporting.  Reporting on a larger geographical area will smooth our the wild swings in the numbers that sometime occur with smaller samples of numbers. Stay tuned for future reports.

MLS Stats for Paradise Area
Week Ending
Week Ending
Week Ending
Weekly % 

 
2/12/2010
2/19/2010
2/26/2009
Change

# of Total Sales
7
2
16
700.00%

# REO/Short Sales Sold (SS)
2
1
7
600.00%

% Sales that are REO/SS
28.57%
50.00%
43.75%
-12.50%

Avg. List Price
$126,442
$269,250

$161,546

-40.00%

Avg. Sold Price
$113,142
$254,000
$151,912
-40.19%

Sold Price % of Listing Price
89.48%
94.34%
94.04%
-0.32%

Avg. Days On The Market
107
24
87
262.50%

Total Sales Volume
$791,994
$508,000
$2,430,600
378.46%

# of Single Family Listings
148
148
225
52.03%

# Foreclosed On Market
18
18
29
61.11%

% of Foreclosed on Market
12.16%
12.16%
12.89%
5.98%

# Short Sales on Market
17
17
24
41.18%

% Short Sales on Market
11.49%
11.49%
10.67%
-7.14%

 Another ho-hum week for Lake Oroville real estate market as sales activity continues to under perform. But once again we find that the inventory of Oroville homes for sale has dropped to another low. 
If the current activity in the office of our Oroville market is any indication we may soon be seeing a change in these sales numbers. Our Oroville agents have been very busy this week showing property and writing offers. It is good to see that maybe the spring-like weather is bringing buyers out.
If you are thinking of selling, now might be the time to get your home on the market.

MLS Stats for Oroville Area
Week Ending
Week Ending
Week Ending
Weekly % 

 
2/8/2010
2/15/2010
2/22/2010
Change

# of Total Sales
8
9
8
-11.11%

# REO/Short Sales Sold (SS)
5
4
5
25.00%

% Sales that are REO/SS
62.50%
44.44%
62.50%
40.63%

Avg. List Price
$156,674
$108,188
$116,644
7.82%

Avg. Sold Price
$149,800
$98,722
$109,500
10.92%

Sold Price % of Listing Price
95.61%
91.25%
93.88%
2.88%

Avg. Days On The Market
303
67
53
-20.90%

Total Sales Volume
$1,253,392
$973,692
$933,152
-4.16%

# of Single Family Listings
308
291
287
-1.37%

# Foreclosed On Market
36
35
31
-11.43%

% of Foreclosed on Market
11.69%
12.03%
10.80%
-10.19%

# Short Sales on Market
49
46
44
-4.35%

% Short Sales on Market
15.91%
15.81%
15.33%
-3.01%

Over the past eighteen months or so I am sure you have seen many an article written by various real estate professionals encouraging buyers to “get off the fence” to take advantage of the low prices and low interest rates currently available.  As a regular reader of this Lake Oroville and Paradise, CA real estate blog you have also seen my views of market conditions over the past year. Many buyers have taken the advice and made some magnificent deals on their purchase of homes in the Oroville and Paradise, Ca real estate markets.
The advice has been taken so seriously in fact that a new dilemma is now facing potential Oroville and Paradise buyers: A lack of adequate inventory!
Suffering from significant loses in the value of their homes, many Oroville and Paradise potential home sellers have decided to wait for the market to get “better” before putting their homes on the market. What the definition of “better” is remains to be seen, but a look at the trend in the Oroville inventory numbers (see chart) points to a need for some sellers to get off the fence themselves and take advantage of the lower interest rates, and the increase in buyer inquiries we are beginning to experience.
Granted, home prices are not what they were in 2006, but if you are waiting for a return to those prices, you are in for a very long wait. Those prices were a result of very loose and irresponsible lending standards. They were not driven by free market demand.
So what is a seller to do? Well, that depends on your circumstances. If you do not need to sell, then DON’T. If you are considering a sell but are thinking about waiting for a year or so for the market to improve, you may be outsmarting yourself. While it is possible (isn’t anything possible) that prices may move up in the next year, it is not very probable. I continue to think that we are at the bottom of this market but that we will be bouncing along the bottom for quite some time. Maybe two to three years before we see any consistent price appreciation trends in our local markets.
Historically low interest rates, and lower prices have significantly increased the home affordability for Californians. An increase in either of these factors will exclude potential buyers from the market further delaying any meaningful recovery.
Another thing to consider when contemplating a sale is how many other homes are on the market that compete for the attention of potential buyers. With inventories at an 8 month low, now would be the best time for your home to be seen by the most buyers.
I know that many of you are upside down with your mortgages at the present time and NEED to wait for a significant turn in home values. But for those of you who owe less than the value of your home or own your homes outright, this may be a good time to think about getting off the fence.
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