SCV Real Estate Insider Blog

Inventory Finally Below 2,000!

Not that it means a whole lot, but its nice to see that the Santa Clarita inventory of homes for sale, which includes all attached and detached residences, has stumped below the 2,000 mark down to 1,995 homes for sale today. While this number may fluctuate up or down on any given day, and tomorrow could be back over 2,000...it has steadily decreased over the last several months.

This trend is good news, at least in the short term for sellers, in that it means there are that many less homes to compete with when trying to sell their home. This past summer we saw an inflated inventory of homes for sale, reaching into the 2600-2800 range. Prices indeed have dropped, and has created great buying opportunities for serious buyers.

If we are going to get back into a market where appreciation is a key factor in home buyer purchases, we will need to see a further decrease in the inventory of homes for sale. As it is, buyers have quite a bit to choose from. However, with out the "certain" prospect of home values going up 5-30% over any given short period of time, many buyers remain on the sidelines.

Those who are buying tend to be those who aren't in it for the quick buck (or flip), they need a larger home, they are transfering into the area, and or may even be downsizing and moving into the next stage in their life. In other words, the purchase was necessary due to a life change.

I have actually received many calls from investors over the past 60 days. I have been helping a large amount of non-investors, but to see investors returing to the table tells me that maybe the hype of a bubble bursting could be slowly wearing off. While prices have gone down in measurable percentages, there sure hasn't to date been a bursting of anything, so I do catergorize a lot of the talk in the media as just that - hype. It sold air time, and kept viewers eyes on their TV set, afterall, who doesn't want to hear about the future prospects of their largest investment from Guru's and TV "know-it-all's"?

Currently sellers are still having trouble selling their home within 30-60 days. Its quite frequent I see a home sit on the market for 60-120 days, sometimes longer. There are homes selling in less than 30 days, but there are usually similar factors amongst these select homes (Competitive Price, location, Great price and Upgrades, etc). Buyers in general have the upperhand right now, however there are ways to postion yourself when listing your home so that you increase the odds of receiving an offer quicker, and in some cases multiple offers. At the very least you want to get buyers through the door. Your agent should know how to make this happen.  

We will see where the Spring and Summer of 2007 take us. If a lot of the buyers who have stayed on the sideline over the past year come out of the woodworks and start shopping for a home, the inevitable Spring and Summer increase of homes on the market won't be as much a detriment to our market as it has been in 2006.

One thing to note is that there will not only be an increase in re-sale inventory, but there are also a few brand new construction communities coming online in 2007 such as Valencia West Hills, Valencia West Creek, River Village, Soledad Village or Villa Metro, Valle di Oro, Hearthstone, Fairmont, Strawberry Fields, Citrus Grove, Blackberry Briar, and a few others that have yet to sell out and complete construction. These new homes will indeed compete with other "newer" homes on the re-sale market, making it harder for homeowners to sell their home. Buyers of course will be taunted will incentives and upgrades from the builders.

Keep in touch and stay tuned to my Santa Clarita Real Estate Insider Blog for more details on our exciting SCV RE Market!