The Spring Rush! 3/11/ 2013

3/11/2013 - Redding, CA

From The Desk Of Josh Barker,

The number of homes on the market typically reduces in the winter and increases in the spring. The spring selling season is especially popular for homes being sold on acreage. Sellers want potential buyers to experience the natural beauty, flowers, lush green grasses, and freshly bloomed trees, before the green yields to a golden brown. Hence the e-mail title: The Spring Rush! If you or someone you know is looking for a home to purchase in the "country", the next 3-4 months may be your optimum time to find one. Happy house hunting!

Your Real Estate Adviser,
Josh Barker

Rates: Interest rates are still averaging below 4%. The latest data shows that rates did creep up from 3.375% to an average of 3.75% over the past quarter. The mortgage banker association estimates that rates may be as high as 4.4% on average by the end of the year. If you are considering refinancing, you may want to contact a lender sooner, rather than waiting any longer.

Loans: Loans guidelines are changing. There are changes coming in both April and again in June. Basically, fees will be going up. The government is currently funding over 90% of the mortgages nationally. The government over time wants private banks to take over the burden, which will likely lead to more normal rates in the 6-7% range in the years to come.

Foreclosures: In the 1st quarter of this year many buyers experienced a shortage of homes for sale. A large reason for the reduction of inventory is the "Home owner bill of rights" that was passed last year. It is complicated to explain, but basically banks were told they had to add multiple steps to the foreclosure process. This change caused many homes in foreclosure to "start over" at the first step of foreclosure all over again. This caused an impact on the normal supply of foreclosures that have been coming to the market. We expect to see foreclosures come back to the market over the next several months at previous levels. However, foreclosures are decreasing overall and are down to 23% nationally compared to 35% last year according to Realty Track.

Short sales: Short sales "when sellers sell a home with the banks permission for less than what is owed on the mortgage" are still high in the Redding area and are expected to continue to rise unlike foreclosures. A main reason is political. Banks prefer to work with a short sale because it impacts neighborhoods at a lesser degree and provides homeowners with a respectable solution. The largest challenge banks are having is communicating with homeowners in trouble. If you know someone that is considering a short sale, let them know that the process is typically free, the home is sold as-is with no repairs and of course we can help.

Prices: Home values have been on the rise. Each price range has been impacted differently. For example, homes that sold for around 100k 2 years ago are now selling for approximately 125k, a 25% increase. Homes sold for 150k 2 years ago are now selling for approximately 175K, a 15% increase. Homes selling for 200k 2 years ago are now selling for approximately 225k, a 11% increase. Homes selling for 250k 2 years ago are now selling for approximately 275k, a 10 increase. Homes selling for 300k are now selling for approximately 325k, an 8% increase. As you can see, as the price goes up, the amount of appreciation has gone down. There has also been noticeable and varied increases in prices in niche neighborhoods and markets.

The Josh Barker sales team Statistics for February

• 14 Homeowners listed their homes for sale with us
• 16 of the homes we had listed for homeowners sold
• 17 homes sold to buyers we were advising

Thank you for all of your great referrals to friends and family!