Yearly Archives: 2010

With 2010 rapidly winding down, the friendly over-under wager on whether or not we will see more residential closings this year than we did last is very much in question. Last year there were 892 sold and as of now there have been 841 for 2010. However there are 125 residential listings in escrow. Will we see 53 more of these close prior to 12/31/2010? We shall see. More to the point with respect to the real estate market in Big Bear: the absorption rate of 18% (pending of 125/active of 697), sends a strong message that demand is more than keeping up with current supply. For most of this year we have been used to seeing a 10% - 12% absorption rate, meaning that if no new listings hit the market, it would theoretically take 10 to 12 months to sell what is active. Over the last few months, the supply of inventory has dropped to five to six months. ...continue reading

With the third quarter of 2010 now in the books let’s check in on the happenings in the Big Bear real estate market, shall we? There are currently 858 active residential listings in the Big Bear Valley (only six percent of those are bank-owned foreclosures.) There are 136 homes currently in escrow (30% of those are bank-owned), and of the 629 sold year-to-date, 37.6% were bank-owned. This points to the ever increasing competition for foreclosures in the Big Bear real estate market and I expect to see that continue into next year with gradually more inventory becoming available. ...continue reading

Wow! Just when you think that rates could not get much lower….They do! The Freddie Mac Survey of Rates asks lenders nationwide what they are offering to well-qualified borrowers. They have been reporting these since 1971 and NEVER in this period have they been lower than they are right now. As reported by the LA Times, the average 30-year fixed-rate loan dipped to 4.19% last Friday, and 15-year fixed rates stood at 3.62%! You have to go back to 1951 to find a comparable rate, but back then most long-term loans were made for 20 to 25 years. Truly amazing times we are living in. I have a few clients, who are planning to keep their homes in Big Bear for the foreseeable future, report that they switched from a 30-year mortgage to a 15-year mortgage, shaving their payments significantly and knocking 15 years of off their mortgage at the same time. ...continue reading

Hello All! Thanks for checking in regarding the state of affairs in the Big Bear real estate market. In my last blog I mentioned how unexpectedly slow the summer selling season had been through July. Well, it seems that the lure of rock bottom interest rates is finally kicking in as demand is on the rise so far in August.

I had two clients finance a second home purchase, fixed for thirty years, at 4.375% last week, and that is truly astounding. In fact, a client of mine I was with over the weekend was actually disappointed, as they were looking for a bigger tax write-off than the current rates provided. They ended up looking at bigger houses. It is amazing what such a steep drop in interest rates does to a buyer’s purchasing power. ...continue reading

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. ...continue reading

Let us get caught up on the happenings in the Big Bear real estate market as we roll into the summer ‘selling’ season. Here in Big Bear it seems we have altogether skipped spring and gone straight into summer. On Sunday a couple weeks ago it snowed most of the day and now it is mid-eighty degrees and beautiful. At last!

Looking at the Latest Market Statistics

When looking at the latest numbers a couple of trends are apparent: On the supply side the inventory is growing rapidly, which is quite typical this time of year. A month ago we were hanging around 650 residential listings whereas now there are 775. As a buyer this is great news as there are many more options to choose from. ...continue reading

Big Bear Real Estate: Will the market keep rolling into summer?

The first quarter of 2010 is already in the books. Now that tax time is behind us, T.S. Eliot was right, April is indeed the cruelest month; will the Big Bear Real estate market keep on rolling into the summer? Let’s get into the trenches and review the state of the Big Bear real estate market to see what the first quarter numbers indicate:

On the supply side, inventory remains tight as there are currently 636 active residential listings in the Big Bear Valley. Historically this number will be on the rise ...continue reading

March 2010 Update:

Although spring will officially arrive later this month it still feels very much like winter here in Big Bear. We have had a tremendous amount of snow this season and the inclement weather has indeed had an effect on the ability of many would-be buyers to get up the mountain in order to take a look at real estate here in Big Bear. But has this slowed down the Big Bear real estate market? Let’s take a look.

There are currently 622 active residential listings on our Big Bear MLS. This is a relatively low number and, while demand has stayed solid, well-priced inventory is increasingly scarce leading to the many multiple-offer situations we have been seeing of late. ...continue reading

Big Bear Real Estate: Is it Really a Buyer's Market in Big Bear?

I have been asked this question on a number of occasions lately and wanted to shed some light on the current state of the market for buyers interested in Big Bear real estate. Multiple offer situations are becoming more and more the norm when offering on the best-priced inventory in Big Bear. Instead of speculating on how long a new ‘hot property’ will be on the market, I now find myself wondering how many offers will be submitted before it goes into escrow.

Regarding these multiple-offer situations, there are a few very important points for buyers to understand: ...continue reading

Big Bear Real Estate: Market Momentum

Year-End 2009 Report

Winter is in full effect here in Big Bear. Lots of new snow is coming down to kick off 2010. Does the rough weather make for a rough real estate market in Big Bear? I commented in my last blog about the momentum in the Big Bear real estate market heading into the New Year and the absence of signs of the usual seasonal slowdown in sales we typically see during the winter months. An interesting article yesterday in the “The LA Times” reported that this trend is indeed proving to be the case in real estate markets all over Southern California. We have lots to cover, so let’s take a look at the numbers affecting the Big Bear real estate market and project what those indicate going forward, shall we? ...continue reading