Linda Kay's Blog: California: Claremont

Claremont Real Estate Market Watch - May 14-20, 2012

Okay, so this is another exciting week for real estate in Claremont.  Four new listings and nine sold.  As you can tell, the homes are getting sold and the inventory is shrinking.  So if you are thinking of buying a home, it's time before they all get gobbled up.  There have been quite a few articles recently about low amounts of homes for sale in certain areas.  And even more articles about bidding wars being back.  So if you are thinking of selling your home, well the laws of supply and demand come into play.  Lower supply, larger demand raises those home prices just a bit for you. 

Just seven homes went into escrow this week.  That means that in approximately 30-45 days these should become sold houses as well.  Congrats to  those families and good luck in your new home!  Six homes have gone into back up status  in Claremont which, as I have explained before means that an offer has gone to the bank and they are taking more offers in case the buyer drops out.  Hopefully they will all go into escrow and become sold as well.  Congratulations to all those agents with the sales, escrows and backups!  Go get 'em.

Pricing.  I personally think I have been complaining about pricing for almost a year and a half.  Not that I attribute this to my rants comments, but this week in Claremont there were only five price changes!  Awesome job, agents!

I try to stay on top of the communities I serve and be a local expert for all of them, real estate and otherwise.  So if you are interested in buying or selling a home, or if you simply have real estate questions, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you!

HIGHS AND LOWS - Claremont, CA - March 5, 2012

Okay, so here is today's report for the CLAREMONT, CA Real Estate Market.

SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE

Lowest Priced Home   $     135,000

Highest Priced Home   $  4,000,000

Average   $     399,900

Active Listings   141

Sold This Week  9

New Listings This Week  21

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU:  You now have more information about what's happening with the CLAREMONT REAL ESTATE MARKET so you can make an informed decision on whether this city is right for you and if the prices fit into your budget.  The average price in CLAREMONT this week is $399,900 which is lower than before.  Prices have fallen just a little bit, but it looks like they are starting to stabilize in this area.

The other thing you can learn from this information is the saturation rate of the existing active real estate listings.  The saturation rate is determined by the amount of sales in a week and the number of listings available for sale.  So in this case, there are 141 homes being actively marketed by Realtors for sale.  If you divide those 141 by the number of homes sold this week, in this case 9, you have your saturation rate.  This means that if you placed your home on the market to sell you can expect it to take a little over 15 weeks to complete the sale of your home.  That is if no other listings come into the real estate marketplace during that time.  And we all know how likely that is, now don't we...  In fact this past week there were 21 new listings.

HOW THIS AFFECTS YOU:  If your price is competitive and your home is in relatively decent shape you can have it sold in as little as one day or as much or more than the 15 weeks.  It also depends on the agent you are using.  The more aggressive your agent's marketing plan is for your home, the more exposure your home gets and you can see that would have a great impact.  It truly helps to have an agent that has an existing web presence since most people start their home search online.  On the other hand, if you use someone who merely puts your home on the MLS and does nothing more, it will most likely take a little more time to sell.  

If you are a buyer, this means you have a large selection to choose from and you have a better chance right now of getting an offer accepted.  Not to mention that the average home price has dropped in the last month making you as they buyer able to afford a better home.

CONDOS AND TOWNHOMES

Lowest   $   169,800

Highest   $ 612,998

Average   $ 359,000

Active Listings   14

Condos Sold This Week  1

New Listings This Week  0

So if the same holds true for CONDOS, then it would take approximately 14 weeks to sell your condo or townhome.  And a buyer has 14 to choose from right now.  It seems that during these trying economic times, people are really not doing much in the way of buying or selling condos.

Since I am local to the area, I work hard to be a local expert in CLAREMONT Real Estate.  The prices, the inventory and the trends so I can be a better agent for you.  However, it is not only real estate information that makes one a local expert.  There must also be knowledge of local events, schools and neighborhoods.

So if you are interested in buying or selling or simply have questions about real estate, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you. Call me for your free home market analysis!

**All information is taken from the IMRMLS.

Claremont Contest Introduces Students to Construction

Okay, so I was reading an article and I thought this was a fantastic idea!  The National Association of Women in Construction came up with a great plan to introduce children to the creativity of building and construction.  On February 15, 2012 the group held a building block contest at Sumner Elementary School in Claremont.  

The contest consisted of 36 third graders who used 100 blocks and had 40 minutes to create buildings such as a hospital a power plant and other choices.  The kids could also use items such as string and foil to help with the project and the creativeness.  The hope of this contest is to encourage children to enter construction as a profession later in life.

You can read more about the contest, the winner and the solar entry HERE.

*Note:  Picture is not from this specific contest.

See what an amazing local community we have here.  So if you are interested in information about buying or selling in Claremont or the surrounding cities, please feel free to give me a call, or text or email or...  I will be honored to answer your questions and help you.

Claremont Real Estate Market Watch - February 8-14, 2012

 

Market Watch

New Listing (16)
Price Change (11)
Back On Market (6)
Backup Offer (3)
Expired (2)
Pending (4)
Sold (1)

 

Okay, so here are Claremont Real Estate Market statistics for this week - and they seem interesting!

This week there are sixteen new listings,which indicates that confidence is coming back.  Only one sold this week in Claremont, and that's not really a great sign.  Four went into escrow which means that in approximately 30-60 days we should have four more that sold.  Again, not a great number for the Claremont Real Estate Market.

Six homes were placed back on the market and three have moved into back up status.  Usually the homes that go back on the market are homes where the buyer has either had to wait too long and backed out of the deal, or can't get the loan they need to complete the purchase.  The banks have been working on the timing part, but the new procedures are not helping a lot yet.

The fact that there is only one house that sold and four that have gone into escrow makes the number of price changes in Claremont huge!  Eleven!  Wow, I think it's a skill that many agents need to work on and at this point we can't blame all of those changes on the banks as they are starting to be more reasonable.

I try to stay on top of the communities I serve and be a local expert for all of them.  So if you are interested in buying or selling a home, or if you simply have real estate questions, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you!

**All information is taken from the IMRMLS.

Claremont Continues with Redevelopment Projects

Okay, so here's a bit of good news from the City of Claremont, CA.  The Claremont City Council voted unanimously to continue some projects even though the $3,000,000 they usually receive from the federal government has been halted.  It's like this for every city since the disbanding of the Redevelopment Agencies.

Some of the projects they have agreed to continue are Friday Nights Live - a program directed at teens and lowering the deaths and injuries caused by teens who are under the influence of one substance or another. Also a senior unit subsidy for Claremont Senior Villas which helps seniors afford their housing in senior communities within the City of Claremont.  You can read more about it here.

The amount set aside by the Claremont City Council is $50,000 to continue these and other projects.

So if you are interested in buying or selling or simply have questions about real estate in the Claremont area, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you. Call me for your free home market analysis!

HIGHS AND LOWS - Claremont, CA - January 20, 2012

Okay, so here is today's report for the CLAREMONT, CA Real Estate Market.

SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE

Lowest Priced Home   $     152,000

Highest Priced Home   $  4,000,000

Average   $     549,000

Active Listings   116

Sold This Week  3

New Listings This Week  9

WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU:  You now have more information about what's happening with the CLAREMONT REAL ESTATE MARKET so you can make an informed decision on whether this city is right for you and if the prices fit into your budget.  The average price in CLAREMONT this week is $549,000 which is lower than before.  Prices have fallen just a little bit, but it looks like they are starting to stabilize in this area.

The other thing you can learn from this information is the saturation rate of the existing active real estate listings.  The saturation rate is determined by the amount of sales in a week and the number of listings available for sale.  So in this case, there are 116 homes being actively marketed by Realtors for sale.  If you divide those 116 by the number of homes sold this week, in this case 3, you have your saturation rate.  This means that if you placed your home on the market to sell you can expect it to take a little over 38 weeks to complete the sale of your home.  That is if no other listings come into the real estate marketplace during that time.  And we all know how likely that is, now don't we...  In fact this past week there were 9 new listings.

HOW THIS AFFECTS YOU:  If your price is competitive and your home is in relatively decent shape you can have it sold in as little as one day or as much or more than the 38 weeks.  It also depends on the agent you are using.  The more aggressive your agent's marketing plan is for your home, the more exposure your home gets and you can see that would have a great impact.  It truly helps to have an agent that has an existing web presence since most people start their home search online.  On the other hand, if you use someone who merely puts your home on the MLS and does nothing more, it will most likely take a little more time to sell.  

If you are a buyer, this means you have a large selection to choose from and you have a better chance right now of getting an offer accepted.  Not to mention that the average home price has dropped in the last month making you as they buyer able to afford a better home.

CONDOS AND TOWNHOMES

Lowest   $   180,000

Highest   $ 702,688

Average   $ 300,000

Active Listings   14

Condos Sold This Week  1

New Listings This Week  0

So if the same holds true for CONDOS, then it would take approximately 14 weeks to sell your condo or townhome.  And a buyer has 14 to choose from right now.  It seems that during these trying economic times, people are really not doing much in the way of buying or selling condos.

Since I am local to the area, I work hard to be a local expert in CLAREMONT Real Estate.  The prices, the inventory and the trends so I can be a better agent for you.  However, it is not only real estate information that makes one a local expert.  There must also be knowledge of local events, schools and neighborhoods.

So if you are interested in buying or selling or simply have questions about real estate, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you. Call me for your free home market analysis!

Claremont Real Estate Market Watch - January 6-12, 2012

Market Watch

New Listing (7)
Price Change (12)
Back On Market (5)
Backup Offer (2)
Expired (3)
Pending (4)
Sold (1)

 

Okay, so once again we are starting a new year.  Happy New Year once again to all of you.  Here is this week's Claremont Real Estate Market Watch - and we're off and running!

This week there are 7 new listings which is a good sign that people are getting more and more confident in the real estate market.  Only 1 sold and 4 went into escrow.  That's 1 homes that have new owners and 4 that will hopefully in a few weeks.  So home sales are happening in Claremont but it's not a really strong start to 2012.

There are 5 that went back on the market and 2 that have gone into backup status.  Usually the homes that go back on the market are homes where the buyer has backed out for some reason and the seller has to start all over again.  Most recently the reason most buyers back out is because of the time it has been taking for the lenders to approve short sales.  To be fair, the lenders are working on it, but it hasn't helped much to this point.

You know, I try to be positive about the amount of price changes. Claremont has 12 this week and that seems like a lot.  But with the sales for the week being at only 1, the sellers have got to do something to get their home sold.  Again, the banks change their minds on pricing sometimes but that can't be all 12 of them.

I try to stay on top of my communities and be a local expert for all of them.  So if you are interested in buying or selling or simply have questions about real estate, please feel free to contact me.  I will be more than happy to assist you!

 

**All information is taken from the IMRMLS.

Claremont Colleges Complete Their New Construction Projects

Okay, so the world-famous Claremont Colleges have completed Phase 1 of their building projects.  The reason they are doing this is that they are seeking LEED certification - Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.  

LEED is a four-tier system ranking for high performance green building by the U.S. Green Building Council. (Really, I never knew we had a council like this!)  I do know that the City of Fontana has all new homes being built with solar power, but I digress.  The completion of Phase 1 indicates a GOLD ranking, the highest available at the time this all started.  Phase 2, which is scheduled to be completed in 2013 will make them qualified to achieve the Platinum ranking which is now the highest ranking available.

You can read more about it here.

If you are not familiar with the colleges, they are an elite group of higher learning colleges on par with the likes of Harvard, etc.  The list of schools includes Harvey Mudd, Pomona College, Claremont College, Pitzer College, Scripps College, Keck Graduate Institution and Claremont McKenna College.

Not only that, but Claremont is a wonderful town to live in with an amazing old town area which has been expended and upgraded.  amazing restaurants, some of which date back to when I was a child, and new ones which I'm sure will be around for my grandchildren to enjoy.  But more about that in another blog.

As always, if you are thinking of moving into this area, contact me for any questions regarding real estate or if you are interested in buying or selling.  I will be honored to assist you.