California April Home Sales up

April home sales have improved about 4.8 percent from March of this year according to DataQuick, a California real estate research and data firm. This seasonal increase in sales is fairly typical as the home buying and selling season begins. But looking at the year over year sales, they have reported a 21.9 percent increase from April 2008. That is a respectable bounce and could signal a flattening or potential turning point in the market. There are many unlisted bank owned homes and "Shadow Inventory" which represents a large supply issue but if these homes are slowly listed, the market could reabsorb these without having a large negative impact on prices.
The first time home buyer credit has been a boon to buyers looking to get into this market but are looking for the extra push to get them off of the fence. There tends to be a mentality that keeps people on the sidelines until "Proof" of a bottom is in. The only problem with this approach is that if a buyer waits until everyone else is buying, they are typically competing with other buyers on the same house which creates a competitive bid process. First time buyers with little money down are at a disadvantage to a cash or large down payment buyer. From a seller's prospective, there is more risk that a low down payment borrower can actually close or that there can be delays in closing which is not what a seller wants to deal with.

If you are an investor and want to take advantage of these low prices - believe it or not, these prices are very attractive on a cash flow basis if you're an investor - call me and we'll discover some very good investing opportunities.
If you're a first time buyer - I can help you get started in your first home.
Visit Contra Costa Homes for Sale or call 925 788 5476

Good Time to Buy a Rental?

Many people have asked whether or not this is a good time to buy. Prices have come down so far that housing sales have finally started picking up. Spring usually see an increase in traffic but lower prices and record low interest rates have kick-started a buying spree.. Bay Area Home Sales Up
Investment properties seem to be a great investment based on cash flow at today's prices. In many cases 20% down can get an investor into a positive cash flowing property. The 680 corridor remains a convenient and in-demand region of the East Bay. Rental properties in this region are usually quick to fill up and don't remain vacant for extended periods.

If you want a personal presentation on rental properties that are a great value today, go to http://www.cahomeconnection.com/. Find Walnut Creek CA Homes and other East Bay properties.

California Home Connection Announces New User Friendly Website to search Walnut Creek California Real Estate and surrounding areas

Whatever Your Real Estate Needs Are, California Home Connections Are There To Help You Out

California Home Connection has recently launched an ultimate new website. This new website is dedicated to providing valuable information regarding investment in the East Bay Area. The population and the job opportunities are increasing rapidly in these areas simultaneously. This has resulted in a tremendous need of housing.

The website is very easy to use and everything has been categorized properly. Whether you are looking for information on the Walnut Creek California Real Estate, Danville, Concord, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon or other hot areas in Contra Costa County, all you need to do is just click and you will get the specific information you are looking for.

The new website of the California Home Connection provides all the resources, such as the available Contra Costa real estate properties, MLS listings, photos, school information, and much more. If you are looking for more specific information regarding the current prices of the various real estate properties such as single family homes, condominiums, apartments and villas, you just have to sign up to avail the current market analysis reports. These reports will help you get a deeper insight into the current real estate market trends.

The website has made it very easy for you to find the properties in your preferred location, based on the criteria determined by you. Once you sign up with them, you can also ask for the personalized daily list of homes matching your specific needs.

The website has provided comprehensive resources on all kinds of properties, including houses, town homes, condos, investment properties, golf course property in Walnut Creek, Danville, San Ramon, Alamo, Pleasant Hill, Concord and surrounding Contra Costa cities.

The MLS listings provided by the California Home Connection makes the website more special. You will be more than happy to know that you can find MLS listings on this website just as other real estate agents do.

Their Listing Plan page is a great resource for those who are seeking help in selling their home fast at a much higher profit. Planning to sell the real estate properties in the Contra Costa County was never as easy as now with the new California Home Connection website.

The user-friendly California Home Connection website provides a wealth of features some of which are listed below:

• You can easily find out the current market value of your real estate property
• The website also provides a free service to help you get your loan approved fast
• At the new website of the California Home Connection, you can find tools available to answer virtually any mortgage question
• The new website also provides an ultimate mortgage calculator for its user. Using this calculator, you can easily calculate your new mortgage payment here

You may also search for homes on the Multiple Listing Service and contact the California Home Connections to see or view any home you find.

Outlook...Good

First of all, welcome to our the California Home Connection Blog where you will find more information on local real estate market trends and overall state of the market. Located at 2065 Ygnacio Valley Rd. in Walnut Creek, CA we here at California Home Connection are in the center of activity looking out, providing you the buyer or seller with useful information in your searching, planning, and executing your next real estate transaction.
NO RECESSION!!! We may be in a stagnant economy but there are no indications according to top economic advisors that we are headed towards a recession. The situation will plateau for a while and with all other factors of the economy holding and aiming high this plays out better for the real estate markets in our area. Prices are slightly down from this time last year but they are not sinking. In certain markets, for instance Pleasant Hill, prices are following market trends better than in others. This leads to better conditions for both buyer and seller. For the buyer they are getting more accurate purchase prices and for the seller their home is selling quicker, but at the fair market value. The agents are really working hard in the Greater East Bay to advise their clients on market trends. After all they are the professionals.
For more information about Contra Costa Real Estate

Contra Costa Housing Market for Feb. 2006

Here are the latest year over year housing statistics for Contra Costa County courtesy of Data Quick for the month of February. It’s interesting to see the changes in certain markets that were showing strength last fall. Walnut Creek had a surprisingly large drop in value with Antioch ticking up… Antioch had shown real weakness last year.

I always look at these numbers with a bit of skepticism and remember that statistics have a way of hiding the truth occasionally. For instance, if a large number of condos were sold in Feb of 2007 compared to Feb 2006, this may skew the numbers downwards. Condos tend to be more liquid and volatile in any given market. I’ve seen prices spike and move up drastically in a short period of time and move down quickly in weaker markets. So, these numbers are missing critical information about Single Family Residences/Condos/New Homes breakdown numbers.

County/City/Area	# Sold	Feb 2007	Feb 2006	% Change
ALAMO	11	$1,250,000	$1,300,000	-3.85%
ANTIOCH	82	$500,000	$480,000	4.17%
BRENTWOOD2	60	$523,250	$699,500	-25.20%
BYRON	27	$550,000	$667,500	-17.60%
CLAYTON	12	$599,500	$799,000	-24.97%
CONCORD	108	$510,000	$528,000	-3.41%
CROCKETT	2	$518,750	$495,000	4.80%
DANVILLE	74	$951,750	$875,000	8.77%
EL CERRITO	21	$550,000	$637,500	-13.73%
EL SOBRANTE	19	$535,000	$510,000	4.90%
HERCULES	16	$570,000	$636,500	-10.45%
LAFAYETTE	18	$915,000	$982,500	-6.87%
MARTINEZ	44	$531,000	$599,500	-11.43%
MORAGA	12	$826,500	$779,000	6.10%
OAKLEY	55	$499,500	$494,500	1.01%
ORINDA	13	$1,124,000	$992,000	13.31%
PINOLE	10	$525,000	$535,000	-1.87%
PITTSBURG	59	$449,000	$449,500	-0.11%
PLEASANT HILL	28	$627,500	$627,500	0.00%
RICHMOND	69	$420,000	$460,000	-8.70%
RODEO	2	$534,500	$563,500	-5.15%
SAN PABLO	38	$461,500	$462,000	-0.11%
SAN RAMON	121	$741,000	$834,500	-11.20%
WALNUT CREEK	92	$519,000	$667,500	-22.25%

The other data that I like to think predicts the future of the market (in two to three month forward ranges) is the average number of days on the market for all listings.

Winter is typically slower, so these numbers must be compared year over year in my opinion if they are to be used as a gauge of current market outlook.

Thanks for reading and I’ll post more info about the market in my next update.

For more about the Contra Costa Homes and Selling or Buying contact us at California Home Connection.

Written by Pete Wagner

Walnut Creek, A Great Contra Costa East Bay Community

Walnut Creek, California is the hub of activity for the greater East Bay, located at the base of beautiful Mt. Diablo offering the best in every facet of life. Whether it’s shopping, restaurants, entertainment, outdoors, or your favorite leisure activity Walnut Creek is second to none. Broadway Plaza is the heart of the area featuring the finest shopping with Nordstrom’s, Macy’s, and many finer boutiques leading down Main Street where some of the most superb restaurants set a friendly, family oriented atmosphere. The desire to live in Walnut Creek is exemplified by the current state of the real estate market. The market for Walnut Creek California Real Estate is still showing signs of strength. Average sales prices for one and three bedroom homes are showing an increase over last year at this time. Slightly less are the two and four bedroom homes, but overall there has been an increase in average home sales prices, boding well for current home owners who may be looking to sell, or investors who are measuring profitability. Average sales price for the final quarter of 2006 in Walnut Creek was $665,931. This is very strong number when you consider the diverse housing features. House sales in 2006 for Walnut Creek depict a wide range of buyer’s interests and wants. Housing in Walnut Creek consists of condominiums, townhouses, duplexes, single family residences, planned and rural communities. What ever you are looking for Walnut Creek can meet your needs. For 2006 there were a total of 901 homes sold. That’s just in Walnut Creek!! The majority of those sales were two and three bedroom homes, with 218 and 304 respectively. These homes were condominiums along with single family residences. Condominiums themselves made up 25%, 229, of homes sold and single family detached homes made up 54%, 488, of homes sold together with an average sales price of $767,047. This leaves 21% of sales in the duets and townhouse sales. What diversity!! Speaking of diversity, California Home Connection and its agents pride themselves on working with all the surrounding communities. Alamo, Danville, Concord, Clayton, Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Pleasant Hill, and Pacheco homes have been bought and sold through our network and hard working agents. Whether you are looking to sell or buy your condominium, single family home, or duplex our experienced and licensed agents will already have done their homework and be ready to help you with all your California Real Estate needs. Are you looking to buy and don’t know the first step to take? Don’t worry; it’s perfectly natural to have questions. When you call California Home Connection you will be welcomed by experienced listeners and qualified agents to find exactly what you are looking for. Are you looking for a home for yourself and your family? Or are you looking for an investment property? Which ever your situation we are here to find you that dream home or that great investment. One of the first steps you need to take is obtaining financing that you can afford and California Home Connection can help there also. Our friends at Merit Funding, Inc. are the best in the business; otherwise we would not trust them to help you purchase that dream home in the beautiful Bay Area. If you would like to setup an appointment to meet with any of our experienced agents, whether you are looking to sell or purchase, please don’t hesitate. With a no pressure atmosphere our meeting will be a comfortable break from the stressful home buying and/or selling process. Please visit us at our beautiful Walnut Creek, California office located conveniently at 2065 Ygnacio Valley Rd. Visit California Home Connection and start your search for your Contra Costa Real Estate.

Author: Matt Dillon, Your Real Estate Specialist of the California Home Connection Team

Date: 3/23/2007

Home Buyers Are Finding Value in Current Market

Home buyers are finding this to be a great time to find value in a previously fast paced market. The East Bay of Contra Costa Real Estate Market has uncovered some real value based on a slow build in inventory. It doesn't take much of a change in inventory to influence the market. A vacant house, sitting for more than a couple of months can make a seller nervous and willing to bend on their asking price. You may be surprised at what values are available. Waiting on the sidelines for too long may prevent you from capitalizing on the bargain properties that are available. Remember that California is one of the top states in which immigration has created a burgeoning, diverse economy in which opportunities in a multitude of interesting careers exists. As our economy grows, so does our need for housing. California is and has been a state in which residents have long understood the need to pay a premium to live in this great state. So as values seem lofty, these higher than US average home prices have been the rule for several of the last decades and will continue to be. Take advantage of this market and make a decision to buy now rather than later. We are ready and willing to help you find your next gem and look forward to working for you. Visit Walnut Creek CA Real Estate real estate today.

Author: California Home Connection Team

Date: 3/24/2007