Ray Perry; Realtor, CRS, GRI, e-PRO

The following is an annoucement I received from Mike Sylvas about calREDD^TM.

Some wanted to be kept informed so here it is.

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 25) - calREDD^TM today announced a succession of successful launches at the Chico Association of REALTORS®, the Oroville Association of REALTORS®, and the Paradise Association of REALTORS®. Members of those associations now can view properties for sale, place listings, prepare CMAs, and access agents for referrals via calREDD^TM, the statewide Multiple Listing Service (MLS). calREDD^TM has been up and running to users' acclaim since Jan. 11 at the Lake County Association of REALTORS® and since Aug. 17 at the Madera Association of REALTORS® and the Merced Association of REALTORS®.

"calREDD^TM offers much needed efficiencies, state-of-the-art technology, and increased security for our members," said Chico Association of REALTORS® President Jan Piacentine. "The calREDD^TM team has been very responsive during our transition. They've worked diligently to address our members' concerns, and have conducted multiple trainings prior to launch. We are so pleased with the knowledge and support we have received, and are looking forward to having everyone get up to speed so they can use the system to its fullest capability."

"The launch of the new statewide MLS in Oroville is a tremendous change, bringing us into a new age of technology for MLS systems - a great benefit to all members," said Oroville Association of REALTORS® President James Guderian. "We've witnessed the development of the system from the beginning and watched as it has progressed since then. The progression toward a statewide MLS is exciting and will provide the members of our association tangible benefits by being a step ahead in MLS system technology."

"As president of the Paradise Association of REALTORS®, I am excited to announce our partnership with the new calREDD^TM MLS," said Paradise Association of REALTORS® President Phillip Serna. "We believe the new system will be more effective in meeting the needs of our members, as well as providing superior service to our clients. We are pleased to be leading the way into the future towards a statewide MLS."

calREDD^TM enables brokers and agents to access the entire calREDD^TM data through any participating AOR or MLS. Associations and MLSs may be part of the system by using the new vendor as their primary software or under a hybrid arrangement using an association's existing vendor connecting to the statewide system through calREDD^TM for the rest of the data. To date, local REALTOR® associations and multiple regional MLSs representing more than 120,000 members across the state have recognized the importance of a statewide MLS and have signed letters of intent to participate in this critical endeavor.

"With launches at the Chico, Oroville, and Paradise associations today on track, following the Lake County launch earlier this month, calREDD^TM is off to a successful start for 2010," said REALTOR® Mike Silvas, CALMLS chairman. "We'll now concentrate on March launches at the Amador Association of REALTORS® and the Yosemite Gateway Association of REALTORS®, followed by April launches scheduled for the Mariposa County Board of REALTORS®, the Tehama County Association of REALTORS®, and the Plumas Association of REALTORS® in April, with more to follow."


calREDD^TM, an acronym for California Real Estate Dynamic Data, embodies the long-term vision of creating one database for all California real property, with advanced technology that goes beyond current MLS systems.
calREDD^TM is a service of California MLS Inc. (CALMLS), a subsidiary of the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.). Owned and operated as a non-profit mutual benefit corporation, calREDD^TM's board of directors is made up of a dedicated group of individuals committed to success.

The Chico Association of REALTORS® provides ongoing education, training, information, and support services to help members succeed. In partnership with our business affiliates, we add value to the community by advocating private property rights, providing community services, and promoting quality of life. We are dedicated to the highest standards of ethics and professionalism.

It is the mission of the Oroville Association of REALTORS® to be a source of information and education for our members, to promote the REALTOR® brand, and to be a positive influence in the growth of Oroville.

The purpose of the Paradise Association of REALTORS® is to enhance our members' ability to conduct their business ethically and successfully by developing and promoting programs, services, and the preservation of real property rights. Our vision is to promote the highest level of professionalism and ethics, and to affect changes in the real estate industry to benefit our members and the community. The association was chartered in 1950 and serves the Paradise and Magalia areas.

Leading the way...® in California real estate for more than 100 years, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® is one of the largest state trade organizations in the United States, with nearly 170,000 members dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate. C.A.R. is headquartered in Los Angeles.

As you know the real estate market has taken a beating lately and as a homeowner I'm sure is a subject that you are keenly interested in. There is some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that home values have reached an 8 year low the second quarter of last year but the good news is that they have started to make the slow turn around the second half of the year. The $140,000 median price point in the second quarter of last year was the lowest since 2001. The fourth quarter median price is $147,000 showing an increase in home values. Even though this looks like a big gain, historically the first half of the year tends to be weaker on home values than the second half.

To put everything into perspective the median price of a single family home in Lake County was $316,000 the second quarter of 2006.

Overall sales are up across the county by 25 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same time last year. This is because investors are looking for good deals and homes are now affordable enough for many to buy. Lenders have tightened up the lending requirements, credit scores are now more important than ever in the equation for buying a home.

What does this mean? It looks like the free fall in house value has ended. We may bounce along the bottom for quite some time before it substantially goes up. The reason is that there are huge backlogs of foreclosure homes that haven't hit the market yet that need to be processed through the system. Banks are holding many back and only put a few out at a time so not to flood the market. That has stabilized the current market but as long as they keep being offered buyers will still look for bargains.

At the current time the inventory of well priced homes is low giving the opportunity for a quick sale because of less competition. We have been seeing multiple offers in many of these cases and it often sells for more than asking.

Unfortunately sellers have to compete with the banks so they have to be realistic in their expectations. Overpriced homes are being ignored by buyers month after month while the sellers hope that the market will turn around or that someone will be willing to pay more than what the market will bare. That simply won't happen in the near future.

We have made a successful transition from Paragon to calREDD and so far we have had very few complaints. Those that have called in have had questions on how to operate the system, not that the system gave them problems or the data wasn't transferred over. This is a new program and does take a little getting used to but overall reaction is very good.

The folks at Concentric, the software company who is doing the work, have been very responsive and are able to take care of any bugs we find in the system. In Lake County we have a task force that addresses the issues head on and follow up on the requests so the system is a good program that is able to be used with little training or prior experience.

I am looking forward to some of the improvements and will keep on suggesting changes that I see that may need to be made to make the program even better.

Ray Perry

CRS, GRI, e-PRO

CPS/Country Air

707-277-8000 X 101

707-277-7840 Fax

707-245-8376 Cell

DRE#01246324

MailTo:Ray@RayPerry.com

http://RayPerry.com

After a bit of a shaky start it looks like calREDD is finally going to be implemented in my area, Lake County. As a director of the local Lake County Association of REALTORS®, chairman of the MLS committee and chairman of the calREDD^TM task force let me assure you that we didn't take the task lightly in helping develop this system. We spent countless hours in testing and putting the system through it's paces and, I'm sure, giving the good folks at calREDD^TM fits with all our requests for improvements and bug fixes. It now looks very robust and much better than what was presented to Fresno. This Adobe based system is much faster, can be used on just about any server, apple friendly is improving on a daily bases. Realtor® owned this system is designed to give local listings a state wide presence and Realtors® access to comprehensive information about property.

The program is currently being used in Merced and Madera and will be live in Lake County January 11th to accommodate the holiday season.

calREDD^TM installations beyond Lake County are proceeding at a measured pace to ensure that the software is delivered to members of the Chico, Oroville, and Paradise associations to calREDD^TM's satisfaction.. Amador will follow shortly thereafter, with the expectation that these additional four associations will be online by the end of January according to a C.A.R. news release.

Implementation of calREDD^TM is not without it's controversy. Not everyone is welcoming the concept with open arms. Independent MLS services are fighting for their lives. Some are privately owned and have an obvious financial reason to keep control of the data that it harbors. Some are owned by Associations who do not want to give up local control. calREDD^TM has made some agreements to accommodate some of these without making them give up local control.

Whether you are for it or against it, if you are a Realtor® or use MLS information in California I would recommend that you look closely at this program because it very well could be the wave of the future.

Real Estate Outlook: Sales Picking Up Tempo

Here's an important question about the current market: To figure out where we are in the current real estate market, do you look at home prices or do you focus on sales?

In a real estate market where an estimated 35 to 40 percent of all home sales are foreclosures or short sales - in other words, distressed properties-- prices don't tell you much more than the obvious that we are still "correcting" the excesses of the boom years, still peeling back those wild and unsustainable hyperinflationary price run ups.

So it's no surprise that median prices are down, year to year, in Lake County and other areas across the nation.

Sales statistics, on the other hand, tell you how fast buyers are responding to those lower prices -- and greatly improved affordability.

Right now, in Lake County sales are definitely increasing. According to information gathered from the Lake County Multiple Listing Service (MLS), fourth quarter sales are 55 percent higher than a year ago.

In a recent report from the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) sales are way up in most areas of California. This is great news, and we're in a recession. .

No question that a high proportion of these sales are distressed properties.

A total of 3,157,806 foreclosure filings, including default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions, were reported on 2,330,483 U.S. properties during the year, an 81 percent increase in total properties from 2007 and a 225 percent increase in total properties from 2006, according to RealtyTrac®'s 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report^TM. According to the report, 1.84 percent of all U.S. housing units (one in 54) received at least one foreclosure filing during the year, up from 1.03 percent in 2007.

But that's what the bottom of a real estate cycle looks like: Value-savvy buyers see the opportunities, move in and mop up the mess left over after the big party.

Happily, in this cycle, they're getting real help from the capital markets: Mortgage money is at historically-attractive low levels, and is readily available to anyone with a down payment and reasonable credit.

Rates fell again last week to an average 5.12percent for 30-year fixed loans, according to Reality Times Interest Rate Watch, and to 4.80 percent on average for 15 year loans.

If you can spot the opportunities -- and have the resources -- it's not a bad time to be a buyer.

For more information contact Ray Perry at Ray@RayPerry.com or http://RayPerry.com