Bob Willis

Here is a brief report of homes sold in Whittier in March 2009.

There were 121 residential properties sold. The average price was 98.36% of the listing price for all properties.

There were 46 bank owned properties sold. The average bank owned property sold for 101.13% of the listing price.

There were 75 properties that were not bank owned, and would include regular sales and short sales. This group sold at an average price of 96.65% of the listing price.

115 of the sold properties were Single Family Residences.

Only six properties sold were condominiums.

As of today, April 24, 2009, there are 470 residences for sale in the City of Whittier.

419 of these properties for sale are Single Family Residences.

132 of them are Regular Sales.

55 of the Single Family Residences for sale are bank owned properties.

169 of these Single Family Residences for sale are in one of these phases of foreclosure: Notice of Default, Short Sale, in Foreclosure or in Bankruptcy.

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About the author: The above Market Report on Whittier Real Estate was provided by Bob Willis, a locally recognized Realtor®. Bob can be reached via email at bob@willisrealtor.com or by phone at (562) 639-9400.

For Whittier real estate, see Whittier Welcomes You. Want to have MLS access to beat other buyers to your dream home? Sign up with no obligation at my ListingBook website.

I service the following towns in the greater Whittier area: La Habra, La Habra Heights, La Mirada, Norwalk and Santa Fe Springs.

The California Association of Realtors® (CAR) announced a new program for first time home buyers that will provide cash toward mortgage payments if you get laid off.

The new Mortgage Protection Plan for First Time Home Buyers will pay up to $1,500 per month for up to six months for a first time home buyer who gets laid off this year.

The plan takes effect today, April 2, 2009. Any first time home buyer who closes escrow between now and December 31, 2009 is eligible to apply for the program.

Money for the program will be provided through the CAR Housing Affordability Fund.

Here is what is needed to qualify:

• You must be a first time home buyer, who has not owned a home in the past three years.
• You must use a California Realtor® to oversee the transaction.
• The property must be in California.
• You cannot be self-employed (must be a W-2 employee).

Contact me if you are interested in taking advantage of this program. I would be happy to represent you during the purchase of your first home.

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About the author: The above Report about the Mortgage Protection Plan for First Time Home Buyers from the California Association of Realtors® was provided by Bob Willis, a locally recognized Realtor®. Bob can be reached via email at bob@willisrealtor.com or by phone at (562) 639-9400.

For Whittier real estate, see Whittier Welcomes You. Want to have MLS access to beat other buyers to your dream home? Sign up with no obligation at my ListingBook website.

I service the following towns in the greater Whittier area: La Habra, La Habra Heights, La Mirada, Norwalk and Santa Fe Springs.

I specialize in helping first time buyers get into their first home. Whether you want to buy now, in six months or in a year, a Buyer Consultation with a professional Realtor® should be the first priority of your home search. It's custom designed for you and your needs! Please call me for a FREE Buyer Consultation! (562) 639-9400.

Whittier Real Estate Market Report: Why There Has Never Been Better Time to Be a First Time Home Buyer

Home Prices Increase in January

On March 24, the Federal Housing Finance Agency issued a Press Release showing that "U.S. home prices rose 1.7 percent on a seasonally-adjusted basis from December to January". In other words, home prices have gone up!

The graph above shows how prices have gone down nationwide since April 2007, until January 2009, when prices showed a significant gain.

Are you waiting for the market to bottom out before you buy? The graph kind of looks like a bottom, but we will have to wait a few more months to really find out if it was the bottom. If it was the bottom, then you missed it. If it wasn't the bottom, then you may still find the deal of the century. The thing is though, is to buy a home to live in that you can afford, that you will stay in for a few years in order to build up some equity.

What will we see when February's results are tallied? Well, I can't predict the future, but there are many parts of the economy that may affect home prices.

• Nationwide, real estate agents are seeing multiple offers on well-priced homes. Multiple offers were rare a year ago.
• Locally, in the Whittier real estate market, I am seeing multiple offers on any well-priced home. Bank repos, in particular, are seeing a lot of competition.
• Bank owned properties are selling for 1% to 6% above asking price, depending on the neighborhood and local competition. It is now unusual to see a bank owned property sell for less than the asking price.
• Competition from other first time home buyers is fierce. Your competition realizes that now may be their only chance to buy a home of their own.
• Inventories are decreasing rapidly.

I started to personally keep track of homes for sale in Whittier on May 25, 2008. On that date, there were 888 houses and condos on the market. On March 28, 2009, there were only 521 houses and condos for sale in Whittier. That means that anyone looking for a home today has over 360 fewer homes to consider than if they had been looking less than a year ago. Despite the fact that over 40% of all sales are bank owned properties, there just are not very many homes available.

Real Data Strategies reports that Whittier had 9.2 months of housing inventory available on May 8, 2008. Their latest report, dated February 6, 2009, shows only 2.9 months of inventory. That number will likely be lower when they release their new report in the next week.

A Buyers' Market typically has over 6 months of inventory available. Although it is no longer technically a Buyers' Market, prices are still very low, and people who want to buy a home today will be able to find a home to live in that is reasonably priced.

Affordability Index at an All-Time High

The National Association of Realtors® reports that its Housing Affordability Index is at an all-time high, meaning that more people today can afford to buy a home than at any other time since the Index began in 1970.

NAR stated, "The HAI indicates a median-income family ... could afford a home costing $283,400... A year ago, the typical family could afford a home costing $263,300."

Historically Low Interest Rates

Today's mortgage interest rates, are the lowest they have been in the past 50 years. At one of the highest points, in 1981, interest rates on home loans skyrocketed to 17.5%, resulting in a monthly payment of $5,865 on a $400,000 loan. Today's 5% rate makes the payment $2,147.

Are you still waiting for interest rates to go lower than the lowest they have been in the past 50 years?

Although the Fed has slashed fed fund rates to 0.25%, the sad fact is that mortgage rates are tied to the bond market, which is driven by inflation. Economists are now saying inflation is going to increase, which means higher mortgage rates in the future.

Are you waiting for interest rates to increase before you buy? It's better to lock in the interest rate by getting into escrow today, than hope that they will continue to go down.

Some people expect home prices to go down another 10%. Here is an example of what may happen with a typical Southern California home purchase if the mortgage rates increase by 1% and home prices decrease 10% over the next year.

If prices go down by 10%, and interest rates increase 1%, the monthly payments are nearly identical. Why continue to live in a house or apartment that is not your "Dream Home" for another year? And remember, a good portion of your mortgage payments are tax deductible, so the sooner you buy, the less you will owe Uncle Sam when tax time comes around in 2010.

The bottom line is, if you find a home that you want to live in for at least five years, then buy it now. Don't wait for prices and interest rates to go back up!

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About the author: The above Market Report on Whittier Real Estate was provided by Bob Willis, a locally recognized Realtor®. Bob can be reached via email at bob@willisrealtor.com or by phone at (562) 639-9400.

For Whittier real estate, see Whittier Welcomes You. Want to have MLS access to beat other buyers to your dream home? Sign up with no obligation at my ListingBook website.

I service the following towns in the greater Whittier area: La Habra, La Habra Heights, La Mirada, Norwalk and Santa Fe Springs.

I specialize in helping first time buyers get into their first home. Whether you want to buy now, in six months or in a year, a Buyer Consultation with a professional Realtor® should be the first priority of your home search. It's custom designed for you and your needs! Please call me for a FREE Buyer Consultation! (562) 639-9400.

If you read my article, Whittier Has A Shortage Of Homes For Sale And A Ton Of Buyers, Resulting In Multiple Offers, then you can see that the Whittier real estate market has changed dramatically over the past year.

What has changed in the past three weeks?  Well, the trend for quicker sales and a shrinking inventory of homes for sale is continuing.

Every Wednesday, my real estate office goes out on a "caravan" tour of homes for sale in the Whittier area so that the agents can all get a sample of what is available for sale.  In addition to looking at Whittier homes for sale, we also may look at homes for sale in La Mirada, La Habra and La Habra Heights.  Today, we viewed 5 homes, three of which were downright bargains.  One of them, located in La Habra, has over 25 offers on it, after being on the market for 6 days.  It is almost typical for well priced bank repos to get multiple offers.  They are priced low, in order to create demand, which in turn, drives the price up.  Bank owned repos are selling on average from 1% to 6% above the asking price, depending on the area. 

By the way, my office has just started a Saturday Tour of Bank Repos.  Give me a call if you want to go on the tour. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

About the author: The above Market Report on Whittier Real Estate was provided by Bob Willis, a locally recognized Realtor®.  Bob can be reached via email at bob@willisrealtor.com or by phone at (562) 639-9400. 

For Whittier real estate, see Whittier Welcomes You.  Want to have MLS access to beat other buyers to your dream home? Sign up with no obligation at my ListingBook website.

I service the following towns in the greater Whittier area:  La Habra, La Habra Heights, La Mirada, Norwalk and Santa Fe Springs.

OK, I just set up a new Twitter account, called TwitWhittier. And, I also just modified my Active Rain account to automatically send all of my Active Rain blog entries to Twitter, at Twit Whittier.

Twit Whittier, much like my Active Rain blog, is focused on all matters related to Whittier real estate.

Follow me at http://twitter/TwitWhittier

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

About the author: The above Information about Whittier Real Estate was provided by Bob Willis, a locally recognized Realtor®. Bob can be reached via email at bob@willisrealtor.com or by phone at (562) 639-9400.

For Whittier real estate, see Whittier Welcomes You. Want to have MLS access to beat other buyers to your dream home? Sign up with no obligation at my ListingBook website.

I service the following towns in the greater Whittier area: La Habra, La Habra Heights, La Mirada, Norwalk and Santa Fe Springs.