(The letter below as of May 1 is running in nearly 40 local newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Mercury News, Sacramento Bee, San Diego Union-Tribune, Orange County Register, Fresno Bee, Press-Telegram, Desert Sun, Record Searchlight, as well as the California editions of The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.) Dear Californians, If you’ve been reading about real estate lately, you’ve no doubt heard about antitrust lawsuits and settlements by real estate brokerages and the National Association of REALTORS®. You’ve also heard about the settlements resu ..read more

Photo credit - C2 Paint Have you noticed that everywhere you look in the neighborhood there's a house with white exterior paint  combined with black trim?  It's supposedly being going on for about 2 years, but now it's quite noticeable almost in every neighborhood.  The interesting  thing about colors is they seem to go with  certain architectural styles, for a long time pink stucco on older California Spanish Mediterranean was very common, and smaller bungalow houses were perhaps off-white, or painted an older traditional color as dictated by the local histo ..read more

There are changes coming to the way REALTORS and all real estate licensees do business.  One change has actually been discussed many many times since about 2004, or perhaps a little earlier, and that is, requiring buyers to sign buyer representation agreements with their agent of choice. Of course, listing a home with a listing agreement in place has been in place for decades, but working with  a buyer, until July 2024, did not require that practice.  Well, this is all changing. California Regional MLS, one of the largest  MLSs in California and the nation, is soon puttin ..read more

Long Beach February sales information  For the Long Beach single family market, the months supply of inventory remains low, under 2 months.  On a rolling basis over the last 12 months, closed sales are down 18+%, and both the median and average sales prices are up as much as 2.5%. New SFR listings are down over 18%, and the average sales price, on a 12 month basis, rose to $1,038,606 It's a similar story for condos, with the average sales price over a 12 month period rising to $578,267.  However, condos also have a somewhat higher months of inventory at 2.7 months, an ..read more

Craftsman Bungalow Home in Long Beach "Every person who invests in well selected real estate in a growing section of a prosperous community adopts the surest and safest methods of becoming independent, for real estate is the basis of wealth."  Theodore Roosevelt, Speech, September 9, 1903. Whether you're wealthy or not-so-wealthy, consider how you can invest in real estate: as a sole owner, as an income property investor, or as a partner among several at your level of affordability.  You don't have to have the ability to buy the most expensive real estate in order to benefi ..read more

 Here's an abridged summary of CAR's market data report: March 4, 2024 – Recent economic reports suggest that inflation continues to cool from last year but may remain sticky in the short term. ... While it is widely expected that the Federal Reserve will not cut its policy rate in its upcoming meeting, mortgage rates could begin to trend down more meaningfully towards the end of the second quarter if the economy continues to slow.       Consumer confidence slips for the first time in three months: Consumers’ attitude towards the economy took a step back in February, as ..read more

Many times a property owner loves their colors, that deep purple wall in the living room is such a nice contrast to a golden orange kitchen.  And in some countries, bright colors or very deep colors are seen as desirable, so sellers need to work at what the buyer sees when viewing their home. The fewer the personal elements, the easier for the buyer to make the house his, or hers.  It may be difficult to achieve perfection in staging to sell, but usually paint, at least in the main entry areas and living room, is achievable for most people. Color definitely has an impact on the feeli ..read more

San Francisco and Kansas City home market prices! This graphic is at the end of 2023, showing median sales prices as of the 4th quarter in the Bay Area vs Kansas City. If anyone is thinking of relocating to Kansas City or any other area, just get in touch!   Julia Huntsman, REALTOR, Broker | http://www.abodes.realestate | 562-896-2609 | California Lic. #01188996 ..read more

"The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed a regulation on Wednesday that would require real estate professionals to report information to the agency about non-financed sales of residential real estate to legal entities, trusts and shell companies." Cash transactions in real estate have been a suspected source of money laundering, both in the United States and Canada, where values have increased over 3-7%. Not everyone is happy about being registered, but a new database has been set up where over 100,000 business have registered, in order to gain transparency fo ..read more

Seal Beach Market Update Dec. 2023 Listings for single family homes in Seal Beach were down in December 2023, as were the number of closed sales, compared to one year ago, 96 sales down to 77 sales, while days on market increased from 20 days to 30 days.  The median price however, over the previous 23 months, increased by 3.7%, while average prices were down 1.2%. To see map and or list views of current properties on the market, go to the link below, fill out the form and click on Apply. Here is map view of current properties on the market in Seal Beach as of date of this po ..read more