Crescent City/Del Norte County Real Estate Market Report - May 2010

Crescent City/Del Norte County Real Estate Market Report - May 2010

Number of residential sales improved over April 2010 and May 2009 sales, however the median price has dropped 21% from the May 2009 median of $180,000.

The effect of foreclosures, declining prices, can not be denied. REO (foreclosure) sales comprised 56% of May 2010 sales and 37% of sales so far for 2010.

Upper end sales continue to remain stagnant with only two homes closing in May over $300k and one of those sales was an REO. So far in 2010 homes $300,000 and over were 11% of total residential sales.

What does it mean? It's a buyers market and there aren't a lot of buyers. The buyers that are out there are experiencing a difficult time getting pre-approved (even with the best of credit) and escrows are taking longer than usual to close, upwards of 60 days or more, as well as having to overcome many hurdles along the way, appraisals just to name one.

If you must sell at this point in time, your home needs to be priced competitively for your price range. Buyers who do make it successfully through the mine field of pre-qualification expect nothing less than an all out bargain. If you don't have the stomach for that, you best wait until the market picks up a bit for sellers. That may be awhile though and prices, in my humble opinion, are going to continue to decline so you better take that into consideration.

I work with quite a few asset managers, the folks banks contract with to liquidate their foreclosures, and they all agree that we have not yet seen even half of the foreclosure inventory hit the market. Banks seem to be holding onto a great deal of inventory for whatever reason and when these homes do enter the market, they will have a negative effect on home values in their neighborhoods.

Here is the market at a glance for May, 2010:

• May 2010 median price - $142,500, median price for May 2009 - $180,000
• May average price - $162,306
• Average days on market - 156
• 2 homes sold over $300,000, one of those was an REO
• 56% of May's sales were REO's
• 37% of all 2010 residential sales were REO's
• 2010 average sale - $169,689
• 2010 median sale - $161,000
• 2010 average days on market - 177

If you have questions about pricing your home in this market, please give me a call. I would be happy to give you current market data for competitively pricing your home.

I have sold more homes, both in volume and number of sales so far in 2010 than any other agent in my market. The reason, I work full-time, market my properties extensively on the internet and return prospective buyers phone calls and emails quickly. My goal is to give the best customer service available in Del Norte County. Please give me a call with your Del Norte County real estate questions.