DQ news, July

I mentioned before that July and November are two months where the data should be just lumped into the quarterly numbers. Unless something had really broken out, the data for those months can be very noisey.

So I charted data from dqnews.com. Sales aren't great for a July. But nor were they bad.

Price per square foot is back to 2004/early 2005 levels. I notice 90278 is slipping back to 2003 values. This could be interesting.

From my perspective, I find the linear drop in price per square foot in 90275 very interesting. Its a linear trend down. $17/ft^2/MONTH! The trend was for zip codes of interest to be dropping $30/ft^2/YEAR! I will be very curious if this trend continues. Since 90278 and 90274 did not drop as 90275 did... I suspect its a trend that is about to be broken. As a potential buyer. :( But then again, one more month of this trend erases a bubble year, in four months!

Basically, nothing broke the downward trend. We have only August left of the 'sales months' of the year. Overall, the dq data (LA times) showed a lot of areas struggling to sell.

Got Popcorn? (Thanks for the icon on CR Ken!)
Neil

Inventory

I've been lazy tracking inventory. One data point in a month. oh well... at least I have detailed past data to compare with. The quick summary is that inventory is starting to climb up in many areas, but is still low compared to the last few years.

Note: DC and Houston are starting to look quite healthy; since their job situation is 'ok,' they could be done with the downward trend. The only question is hidden inventory.

Here in California, 9% of the mortgages are in default. That's a HUGE hidden inventory. If those mortgages are fixed so that the 'owners' can afford the mortgage, that's the same as cutting the home sales price.

Note on the upgrade market: Its dead here in California. I do not expect it to return for 5 to 7 years. Since the areas I want to buy are at inventory levels at or near the levels before everything fell apart... and Alt-A is just starting to tickle the market... I'll wait.

I still think the bottom in prices (National and South Bay LA) will be February 2011. I expect a long 'churning flat' after then as ALT-A and prime implode. Between now and then... we exit this 'calm of the storm.' I'm coasting until I see the August data (in September). July is a non-event for Real Estate in California. No conclusions should be made off July data (good or bad, same is true for November). But to get through this storm, we have the seasonal October-February "Buyers Market" to get through.

Let's just say the OC Register's attempts to make it sound like bidding wars are the norm amuse me; the best strategy for a home seller is to price below market and let the market work (bids up the home to market). Yawn. I've been suggesting that strategy to sellers for two years. Now let them mention how many chase the market down...

Keep in mind Realtytrack's latest on foreclosures:
"In spite of the industry-wide [foreclosure] moratorium earlier this year, along with local, state and national legislative action and increased levels of loan modification activity, foreclosure activity continues to increase to record levels,” noted James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “Unemployment-related foreclosures account for much of this increased activity, and the high number of borrowers who find themselves owing more on their mortgages than their homes’ are now worth represent a potentially significant future risk…."

There is no Real estate price recovery until incomes improve.

But the whole point to my plotting data if for you to make your own conclusion. Just realize how hard it would be to do a worse investment than SoCal Real Estate during the last five years.

Got Popcorn?
Neil