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I often get asked “have we hit bottom yet?” Mostly by seller’s wanting to know if they can finally count on selling their property without taking a bath and dealing with the uncertainty of a rapidly falling market. Signs are finally improving locally. Take a look at the comparison between Zillow’s local report on sales prices vs. C.A.R.’s (California Assoc. of Realtors) 2011 forecast.

Locally the Zillow data shows we may have hit bottom in April of this year with Median prices on the uprise. Compare that to the state of California statistics showing the median price statewide up over 10% from 2009 vs. 2010 and a slight upward projection for 2011. [...] Continue Reading…

Real estate deals in which lenders agree to take less for a property than the balance on the mortgage have tripled since 2008, a report says. Instead of taking over homes through foreclosure and then selling them, many lenders are agreeing to short sales, in which a home is sold for less than the owner owes on the mortgage.

By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times – August 11, 2010

Sales of homes for less than the amount of their outstanding mortgage debt have tripled since 2008, particularly in California and the Sunbelt, according to a report released Tuesday. [...] Continue Reading…

By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Friday, Jul. 23, 2010 – 12:00 am | Page 6B

Home prices continued to recover in Sacramento and California last month, even though fewer sales were recorded, according to a report released Thursday.

The findings by the California Association of Realtors were consistent with recent trends showing a steady improvement in the state’s housing market in spite of a shaky economic recovery. [...] Continue Reading…

By DAVID STREITFELD Published: July 8, 2010 NY Times

LOS ALTOS, Calif. — No need for tears, but the well-off are losing their master suites and saying goodbye to their wine cellars.

The housing bust that began among the working class in remote subdivisions and quickly progressed to the suburban middle class is striking the upper class in privileged enclaves like this one in Silicon Valley.

Whether it is their residence, a second home or a house bought as an investment, the rich have stopped paying the mortgage at a rate that greatly exceeds the rest of the population. [...] Continue Reading…

It appears the banks are figuring out that they lose less money when the agree to negotiate and get properties sold through a “Short Sale” instead of taking the property back through a Trustee’s Sale foreclosure.
“Short Sale” by definition simply means the the asking price will net less than what is owed on the property.

This can be seen statistically right here in South Lake Tahoe as well as throughout the region and country with similar trends.
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By Robert Freedman, senior editor, REALTOR® Magazine (Click on Screen for Video Presentation)

You often hear talk within real estate about the shadow inventory that looms over markets. These are the homes that are at risk of going into default or are already owned by the banks and that can come onto the market at any time. They pose a problem because a flood of these properties can put enormous downward pressure on prices as inventories rise far above what can be absorbed by demand. Of course, the properties tend to sell for quite a bit less than other properties, and that’s good for buyers, particularly investors who can scoop up properties in bulk. But the discount inventory isn’t friendly to sellers whose properties have to compete with them. [...] Continue Reading…

By Jim Wasserman – Sacramento Bee Published: Thursday, Jun. 24, 2010

Lots of people will want to get in on this one: California is going to use federal money to pay down the mortgages of struggling homeowners. [...] Continue Reading…

Home Prices Up in April (watch NAR video)

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