We were not extremely surprised when we saw the numbers for this past month.  Values have droped over $144,000 from exactly one year ago.  The average sales price for the month of June in the south east region of Los Angeles was $390,355 compared to $534,970 for June 2007 (Cities included in this report are Downey, Lakewood, Norwalk, Whittier, Santa Fe Springs, Pico Rivera, South Gate, Long Beach, and parts of North Orange county including Huntington Beach and Westminster).  Suprisingly of all the cities included in this paradigm, Huntington Beach was the city that had most homes sold for the month of June.  We are finding that properties are becoming more and more difficult to sell and since financing now is challenging to obtain, buyers are finding it more difficult to obtain a loan to purchase a home.  The combination of grueling guidelines and lack of buyers is causing home owners and banks to lower the prices on their homes in order to sell them. 

The graph below shows that overall values have been declining month after month.  If you have the opportunity to buy, we think you should go for it.  Last week we had a meeting with an asset manager from Goodman Dean and in his opinion the market was going to begin to level off towards the end of this year.  Don't wait too long to buy.  

You can't ignore the graph below!  Prices are at their lowest in years.   

What is the most popular type of Loan currently out there?

FHA is Back!

FHA loans were extremely popular over 10 years ago but in recent years they have pretty much been a lost cause.  Lenders came along with alternative products and when prices rose FHA became less attractive as they didnt raise the sales price much.

Well, you'd need to live in a cave to not know what has been going on in the mortgage industry as of late.  Most alternative loans such as the stated income, and 100% financing are gone now.  As a result, FHA has raised their loan limits to conform to our current market.  So with our average prices being what they are (see chart above) FHA is a real option now with little money down for a government insured loan.

More information can be found at www.FHA.com or call us and we'll get you approved on the right financing for you.