Big Bear Real Estate Blog: First Half 2010 Review

It is time once again to check in on the happenings of the Big Bear real estate market and see what has transpired in the first half of 2010. It is hard to believe that half of this year is already in the books and the trends in Big Bear real estate sales continue to surprise. I myself was amazed at how well the momentum that we were seeing towards the end 2009 carried into the first part of this year. The first three months of any given year in the Big Bear real estate market are typically the slowest for closings, but 2010 started off with a bang and the demand that rolled into March and April was much stronger than anticipated. The total number of residential sales was up overall 28% and 21% respectively in those two months as compared to 2009. However, just when the train seemed set to continue rolling downhill into the beginning of what is typically the prime selling season, sales slowed in May and June. The real estate market in Big Bear seems to have paused to catch its breath. Demand is still healthy and we are seeing somewhat renewed interested in the first half of July, but the slower than expected May and especially June, came as somewhat of a surprise. Nationally, the real estate market has been on some serious government funded medication for most of the last year as the first time buyer programs and tax credits available, which have recently expired, combined with historically low interest rates and deeply discounted prices, have greatly stimulated many primary home markets. But the Big Bear real estate market remains driven more by vacation home buyers, so the impact of these primary residence programs, although it has been felt, has not been as dramatic as elsewhere.

All in all, the total number of residential sales in the first half of 2010 compared to 2009 increased 8.2%. Interesting to note is that under $250,000 the increase was substantially higher at 24%. The average days on market remains steady at roughly four months and overall, the sale to list price ratio, having dipped last month to 93% was back where it has held at 95%. The active inventory has increased to 848 total listings with only 5.7% of those being foreclosures. 13.8% of the active inventory is currently in escrow, which leads to a 7.2 month supply, and 34.2 % of those pending sales are foreclosures. And of the 397 closed residential sales, 41.2% of those were foreclosures as well…So the demand for lender owned property remains strong and buyers continue to compete for these well priced listings. Let me know if you would like a list of bank owned foreclosures that are currently available and/or information on those soon to be on the market, as we handle lots of these assignments.

So, with summer in full swing in Big Bear it will be interesting to see what transpires in the coming months. I expect the inventory to edge up gradually and bank owned properties to continue to make up a small percentage of what is for sale overall, and a substantial portion of what is actually sold. Demand I anticipate will be on the rise as well as we move further into summer. Stay tuned, I will keep you posted, and let me know if you have questions on any you see for sale here in Big Bear as I would very much look forward to representing you in your next purchase or sale.