CAR Revises San Diego Real Estate Sales Numbers Due to MLS Data Glitch
This blog post is in reference to an article in the Wall Street Journal by James R. Hagerty. The WSJ reported that:
“The California Association of Realtors expects to make sharp downward revisions in its recent monthly reports of soaring home sales in the San Diego area, Robert Kleinhenz, deputy chief economist of the trade group, said in an interview. The problem resulted from a glitch in data from a multiple-listing service in San Diego, Mr. Kleinhenz said. He said a change in computer systems used there resulted in incorrect data being sent to the Realtor association over the past year or so. Thomas Lawler, an independent economist in Leesburg, Va., who tracks home sales nationwide, raised questions about the San Diego data in a report last week. Mr. Lawler noted that the numbers reported by the Realtors vastly exceeded those from MDA DataQuick, a research firm in La Jolla, Calif., and other sources. The California Realtors have reported that San Diego sales in April were up about 63% from a year earlier. Mr. Kleinhenz said that is expected to be revised downward to a gain of about 20%. For May, the group reported an 89% increase in sales in San Diego; that will be slashed to about 6.5%, the economist said. As a result, he said, the state-wide sales gain for May — reported last week as 35% — also will be revised down, though it probably will remain above 30%, Mr. Kleinhenz said.”
I use the San Diego MLS as a Realtor in San Diego. There have been some changes to it over the past year and just recently. Fields have been added and things have been changed around. It took Listingbook quite a while to finally come into San Diego as a tool for agents and their buyers and sellers to view real estate for sale in the MLS. It has been frustrating for me as well because the IDX solution for my San Diego real estate web site has been changed several times because of the adjustments in the San Diego MLS. This has also made many of my search links invalid and error codes pop up when clients do searches with prior created links. It has forced me to remove the links. I also understand that the MLS not only in San Diego but other areas of the country change from time to time and will always have to be modified with new fields and updates. It is a part of technology and changing times.
The old adage “GIGO – Garbage In Garbage Out” – doesn’t apply either because it wasn’t “Garbage In” it was just “Garbage Out”. Because of the Changes in the MLS I can see how the sales calculations can be different from what they were in the past because of the added fields that are now in play. I’m glad the mistake was caught and I’m sure more caution will be used in the future when doing these calculations. It can also affect the Median Home Price data as well. If fields change and new categories are created someone with an understanding of all this needs to be overseeing the operation to make sure the reporting is correct. DataQuick got it right ….. Why not hire them.
The annual Realtors Conference and Expo will be held in my town, San Diego California. San Diego couldn’t have been a better choice for the 2009 Realtor Conference. Who wouldn’t want to come to San Diego anyway? Now Realtors in other parts of the country will truly understand why San Diego is America’s Finest City. And why real estate in San Diego is priceless. The event is being held at the San Diego Convention Center in Downtown San Diego from November 13 – 16. Some of the guest speakers are Condoleezza Rice, Sugar Ray Leonard and Reba McEntire. Our great city will be gracious to all Realtors throughout the country coming to San Diego to experience this great event and the finest city in America.
Info from Realtor.org about the San Diego Real Estate Event.
THE 2009 REALTORS® CONFERENCE & EXPO
Chart your winning course through today’s turbulent economy!
The 2009 REALTORS® Conference & Expo delivers money-making strategies to help you succeed.
Four days of intensive training from real-world speakers in top-rated sessions.
Substantive programs for everyone who makes their living in real estate – brokers, agents, commercial practitioners, property managers, international specialists, and IT professionals.
Watch this week’s tip from a 2009 Conference speaker!
Sail confidently through troubled waters!
REALTORS® Expo has new ideas, products, and services to increase your productivity.
Ask questions, compare features and strike your best deal with 500 exhibitors, all under one roof.
Learn about opportunities to expand your market working with immigrants, foreign investors, and Americans buying property abroad.
Be part of a winning crew!
Network with the most successful real estate professionals in the country.
Build your referral network and increase sales opportunities.
A boat load of fun!
First REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Diego!
Enjoy a wide-range of Conference special events, including the REALTORS® Celebrity Concert starring Reba McEntire.
Combine business and fun — the Convention Center is right on beautiful San Diego Bay and in the center of nightlife, shopping, and dining!
Make sure you don’t miss out. See you in San Diego!
If you need help buying a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.
With San Diego real estate moving in an upwardly direction over the past couple of months recent interest rates could slow home buying activity. Home buyers in San Diego have been, in some areas of the county, fighting over homes that come up for sale. Many San Diego home buyers have offers in on short sales and jump all over the bank owned REO foreclosures the day they hit the market. Unfortunately the bank owned REO’s already have offers on them the day they come up for sale and sometime even before they show up in the MLS.
This has many home buyers frustrated and wondering what they have to do to get a house or condo in today’s San Diego Real Estate Market. Another issue that has been waiting to rear its ugly head is interest rates. When interest rates rise home buyers see their purchasing power reduced. Keep in mind when interest rates go up the monthly payment for a homebuyer also goes up and sometimes more than what they are comfortable with. Many times the lender will have to reduce the purchase price of what the homebuyer can qualify for.
This scenario can also have a real negative effect on the real estate market in general. If a home buyer wanting to buy a home has had a certain purchase price and monthly payment in mind for a certain size and quality of home and then they’re told that they can’t buy the same home at the same monthly payment, many of them will decide not to buy. Some will wait for the homes that they were recently able to buy at a certain price range to come down into the loan amount of what the comfortable monthly payment is that they had already had their hearts set on. Some of them won’t be able to afford the same home they thought they could buy and won’t settle for less of a home now. These factors could show a decline in demand and then a decline in home prices. We’ll have to wait and see. Oh, and don’t forget about the foreclosures to keep the median home price in San Diego from gaining too much ground. There are a few years of that left.
If you need help buying a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.
Ashlon Langley Writer and Director of The Car a 1970’s film starring James Brolin was interviewed on Shameful Cinema. I write many Blog posts about San Diego and San Diego Real Estate and after reading the Ashlon interview about this 1970 movie I thought I would deviate and write about something out of the ordinary. I like the 1970’s low budget movies without all of the special effects and outspoken actors of today’s Hollywood. Ashlon responding to a question from the interviewer Andy about the car design he said;
Ashlon: The under-cranking was reminiscent of the Adams Family and The Munsters television series, making that quality silly to me. However, the design is choice! I love that one of the confusing points for the cops in the movie is that they can’t tell what make or model the beast is. And… it has no tags! If only they could get a license plate, the bungling cops could stop all the mayhem, yeah right!
I wrote about this movie and this interview because things are also reminiscent of the 1970’s even though it’s 2009. We are now like in the early 70’s in a recession and inflation is due to rise. America has taken a hit in the pride department due to the media’s constant attack on the good things America stands for and good things the United States does for so many around the world. The 70’s brought about the 80’s and the economy started gaining ground again and Americans had a lot of good things to feel good about. Watch The Car if you can and read the Ashlon interview. It’s truly entertaining.
If you need help buying a home, condo, Bank Owned REO, Foreclosure or Short Sale in the San Diego area including Chula Vista make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.
South Bay San Diego has been and continues to be a very hard place to buy a home. It has one of the highest amounts of REO AKA Bank Owned Foreclosures and Short Sales in San Diego County. Chula Vista Real Estate, especially homes priced $300,000 and under, is a very popular price range. I have written well over 100 offers with several clients in the South Bay and have had only 2 accepted. My clients also write good fair offers on the properties they are interested in buying.
Most of the homes in the South Bay are short sales and can stay on the market for many months and sometimes over a year. To a buyer or non savvy real estate agent, this makes it looks like there are lots of homes for sale in the MLS and on sites like Realtor.com and Trulia. The truth is that most of the homes are short sales with many offers on them and no answer in site from the bank on what they’ll accept for a sale price. Some short sales I have had offers in on have had well over 20 offers rivaling some of the REO listings with the highest I’ve seen have well over 40 offers. This market can leave many home buyers discouraged.
The rumor of the second wave of foreclosures, which is not a rumor, is on the way with the hole in the dam already gushing water and the collapse of the dam imminent. But why are the asset managers representing the banks not unloading these toxic assets faster. This is a good question and is talked about often among real estate agents and REO agents like me. The most logical and most likely among people in the know is waiting for the administration. That’s right, it’s believed by some that the banks are waiting to see if Obama will buy back the toxic assets with your tax dollars. If the banks sell the REO’s now they won’t get money from Washington. If the bank sells now they will take the loss on the home which is $100,000 or $200,000 or much more. If they wait for another bailout by Big Brother they can get the money from us “you and me” and not take a loss. Would you wait? Of course this is just talk who knows if it’s really true or going to happen.
In the mean time if you’re buying a home in South Bay San Diego be patient and don’t get discouraged. Buying a home will take time and should be considered and adventure like life itself.
If you need help buying a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.
May 2009 - The Mortgage Reform and Anti Predatory Lending Act HR1728 passed on Thursday May 7, 2009. The House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 300 to 114 and is said to protect homeowners from questionable and predatory lending practices that were partially responsible for the record home foreclosures and financial crisis.
This Mortgage Reform and Anti Predatory Lending Act sets up rules to ensure that lenders make loans that mortgage borrowers can afford to pay back. The act also bans prepayment penalties on ARMs Adjustable Rate Mortgages that are the real culprit loans in the foreclosure mess. This bill will also hold accountable the secondary mortgage market for following the same rules. One lawmaker said, “The message is simple. Lenders can’t give loans to people who can’t afford them. And borrowers have to tell the truth about their finances when they apply for a loan.” Not to be disagreeing with the administration of hope but isn’t this just common sense?
Nancy Pelosi the Democratic House Speaker said, “The simple fact is that our laws and enforcement efforts did not keep pace with the complexities of a global economy and a financial industry where the greed of some trumped common sense. Insisting on responsible borrowing and lending and ensuring that borrowers enter into mortgages they can repay or refinance will help families protect their most valuable asset — their home — and guard against another financial and housing market meltdown.” I would have to ask Nancy why she didn’t do something about it, she was a lawmaker at the time and there were many economists warning the government about this.
Many San Diego home owners and potential home buyers know the facts about the San Diego housing market and its foreclosure mess. This act, although very important for protecting potential home buyers when getting a mortgage comes in way too late. The damage is already done. I think if anyone dropped the ball it was the U.S. Government and there lack of proper legislation to protect home buyers and the greed that’s within the system itself. Isn’t that what we elect them for? It’s very interesting to see where all of the elected officials got their campaign contributions, the banks and companies now getting all of our future tax dollars in the form of a so called bailout? What a joke.
If you need help buying a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.
In EastLake Chula Vista a beautiful suburb of San Diego County there was a recent pig napping outside of Miguel’s Restaurant in the EastLake Village Market Place. The 3 foot tall bronze pig valued at $15,000 was stolen around 5:30 A.M. on April 5, 2009. The Chula Vista Bronze Pig was a favorite of locals. I was there the day they installed the pig and saw the whole shopping center built after it was a vacant field for many years. My daughter used to climb on the pig and give him a hug. The pig is an EastLake landmark and a big hit with the EastLake children. It displayed a sign below it “Eat more Beef”.
The two Chula Vista pig nappers backed into the pig with a pickup truck knocking it off of the bolts that secured it to its home. They then picked it up and threw it in the back of the truck and drove away. Unfortunately for the duo and a stroke of luck for the pig the Bank of America in the EastLake Village Market Place caught it all on video. The two nappers also went up to the ATM machine at the B of A and Police are asking tipsters if they know the two.
There is currently a $1,000 reward by San Diego County Crime Stoppers and a Miguel’s Restaurant reward of a Carne Asada dinner for 10. Please bring our pig back. The latest update is that the Bronze Pig was returned to the Chula Vista Library and the two nappers turned themselves in to Chula Vista Police.
If you need help buying a home or condo in the Chula Vista area make sure you contact us we’re your Chula Vista Realtor.
There are many foreclosures because of the Foreclosure Moratorium that are waiting to be put on the market for sale by banks, asset managers and REO agents. The foreclosure moratorium here in San Diego County as well as most areas of the United States has kept homeowners in their homes through the 2008 holidays and then extended into 2009. Now that we’re well into 2009 there are many wondering why hasn’t the banks released the foreclosures. Many of them are vacant and the buyers are looking for new foreclosures to buy. In fact there are so many buyers here in San Diego they are starting to get discouraged in some San Diego markets and price ranges on the lack of inventory. There are also multiple offers on many homes sometimes exceeding 30 offers.
Some say the foreclosures are being held off the market because the banks are waiting to see if the Obama administration will subsidize the banks for their toxic assets. If that’s the case one of two things will happen the government “our tax dollars and our kids and grandkids tax dollars” will bailout the banks once again and then the foreclosures will come onto the San Diego market or the administration wont bail them out and the foreclosures will come on the market. Either way if this is the hold up let’s make a decision already because my buyers are getting real tired of waiting.
The word here in San Diego is that there are buyers galore and not enough homes for sale in some areas and some price ranges. Mostly first time home buyer price ranges. The inventory is filled with REO’s that are heavily damaged and needing lots of work or short sales with many offers and slow moving negotiators at banks. I HOPE by summer the Obama administration will CHANGE what’s going on.
If you need help buying a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.
Beautiful EastLake Greens home right on the EastLake Greens Golf Course! This home has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms and is over 3,600 square feet. Luscious, tropical landscaping in front court yard and backyard is complete with flagstone patio, amazing view of the golf course and built in barbeque with oven. Vaulted ceilings in living room, stone flooring thru out home, neutral paint, window coverings and overhead lighting. Kitchen complete with eat at bar, island and a desk area. Lots of cabinet space in kitchen and have a huge pantry. Walking distance to EastLake shopping centers and Eastlake High school!
If you need help buying a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.
Great opportunity in Otay Ranch in newer Chula Vista. This Otay Ranch short sale has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms located at the end of a Cul-De-Sac. This beautiful home offers many upgrades. Tiled stone flooring on a diagonal lay thru out first floor, wood flooring upstairs in big upstairs loft, upgraded carpet in bedrooms, custom window coverings, built-in custom TV niche with light wood to match kitchen, upstairs laundry closet, neutral colored paint, tiled fireplace in living room and overhead lighting. Walking distance from big playground, shops, restaurants and schools. Come check out this Otay Ranch short sale for great value.
If you need help buying a home or condo in the San Diego area make sure you contact us we’re your San Diego Realtor.
