Pasadena CA Real Estate

If you are living in San Gabriel or are thinking about relocating to San Gabriel, you’ve come to the right place. 

This post will be updated monthly, around the first week of the month, for the previous month and will give you key real estate market indicators for San Gabriel California.  Bookmark this page and visit it each month to see how San Gabriel homes, condos and townhomes are faring in today’s real estate market.

If you are already a San Gabriel homeowner and would like to get a monthly email sent to you with real estate activity around your San Gabriel home, please click here and order your real estate monthly market report.  You will not be contacted by me or anyone on my team and the information will be generated automatically via email based on the criteria that you list.

If you are seriously considering selling your San Gabriel home and would like a private consultation, please contact me at     626-627-7107     or Irina@Irina4RealEstate.com.

San Gabriel Real Estate Market Report for the month of June 2008:

Single Family Residence

Jun-08

New Listings 18

Total Listings 91

Sales Pending 13

Homes Sold  24

Listings Expired 9

Average Days on the Market  98

Average Price Per Sq. Ft. $358

Average Selling Price $580,783

   

   

Condos Jun-08

New Listings 6

Total Listings 21

Sales Pending 0

Condos Sold  1

Listings Expired 1

Average Days on the Market  54

Average Price Per Sq. Ft. $325

Average Selling Price $588,000

   

   

Townhomes Jun-08

New Listings 3

Total Listings 14

Sales Pending 1

Townhomes Sold  0

Listings Expired 5

Average Days on the Market  n/a

Average Price Per Sq. Ft. n/a

Average Selling Price n/a

San Gabriel Real Estate Market Report for the month of May 2008:

Read more »

http://www.pasadenacarealestatehomes.com/0039D7

We may have seen the worst in the run up in mortgage rates

Pasadena Mortgage rates for July 22, 2008.  Loan amounts up to $417,000:

 

3/1 ARM              5.750%

5/1 ARM              5.875%

7/1 ARM              6.250%

10/1 ARM            6.500%

30 Yr Fixed          6.500%

 

All rates offered to the borrower with 1 point cost.  Rate quotes assume a purchase transaction with a 20% down payment, 720 credit score, and full income qualification.  Rates are subject to fluctuation.  Custom rate quotes and rate lock advice are available by calling (858)-777-9751.

 

PASADENA MORTGAGE RATE TREND:

 

Next 7 days:      Slightly Lower

Next 30 days:     Lower

Next 3 months:  Neutral

 

What a difference a week makes, huh?  Last Tuesday, I signaled that a short-term increase in rates was likely when I changed the 7-day outlook to “slightly higher” from neutral.  I felt that the rally in mortgage bonds was overdone and that traders would sell off a bit; I had no idea it would be this drastic.

 

If you click the link, you’ll see that I offered a 30-year fixed at 6.0%. last Tuesday- today, the 30-year fixed rate loan is a full .5% higher.  In fact, almost every loan program is .5% higher than it was last week.  The problem?  Wall Street thinks the worst is over for banks and that inflation is going to be the #1 target for the Fed in the next few months.  ‘ Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is certainly telling the markets that the banking crisis should be averted by Christmas.

 

So will the Fed raise interest rates in 2008?  I’m not so certain that they will.  The housing decline has been the worst since The Great Depression.  Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, is an expert on monetary policy in the Depression.  He subscribes to the Milton Friedman theory that monetary policy must accommodate a healthy banking system.  His 2004 speech signaled two things two us:

 

(1)- Bernanke believes that tightening during a slowdown could cause further economic declines:

 

According to Friedman and Schwartz, the Fed’s tight-money policies led to the onset of a recession in August 1929, according to the official dating by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The slowdown in economic activity, together with high interest rates, was in all likelihood the most important source of the stock market crash that followed in October. In other words, the market crash, rather than being the cause of the Depression, as popular legend has it, was in fact largely the result of an economic slowdown and the inappropriate monetary policies that preceded it. Of course, the stock market crash only worsened the economic situation, hurting consumer and business confidence and contributing to a still deeper downturn in 1930.

 

(2) Bernanke believes that a contracting banking sector withdraws a HUGE amount of money out of the economy:

 

The banking crisis had highly detrimental effects on the broader economy. Friedman and Schwartz emphasized the effects of bank failures on the money supply. Because bank deposits are a form of money, the closing of many banks greatly exacerbated the decline in the money supply. Moreover, afraid to leave their funds in banks, people hoarded cash, for example by burying their savings in coffee cans in the back yard. Hoarding effectively removed money from circulation, adding further to the deflationary pressures. Moreover, as I emphasized in early research of my own (Bernanke, 1983), the virtual shutting down of the U.S. banking system also deprived the economy of an important source of credit and other services normally provided by banks

 

His conclusion is foreshadowing:

 

Some important lessons emerge from the story. One lesson is that ideas are critical. The gold standard orthodoxy, the adherence of some Federal Reserve policymakers to the liquidationist thesis, and the incorrect view that low nominal interest rates necessarily signaled monetary ease, all led policymakers astray, with disastrous consequences. We should not underestimate the need for careful research and analysis in guiding policy. Another lesson is that central banks and other governmental agencies have an important responsibility to maintain financial stability. The banking crises of the 1930s, both in the United States and abroad, were a significant source of output declines, both through their effects on money supplies and on credit supplies. Finally, perhaps the most important lesson of all is that price stability should be a key objective of monetary policy. By allowing persistent declines in the money supply and in the price level, the Federal Reserve of the late 1920s and 1930s greatly destabilized the U.S. economy and, through the workings of the gold standard, the economies of many other nations as well.

 I don’t see the Fed aggressively raising interest rates to prop up the dollar.  I think reduced demand will bring oil prices below the $100/barrel mark which will strengthen the dollar.  The Fed’s focus should have been (in the 1930s) and will be (this decade) to promote a healthy banking system.    While the banks are reporting lower losses, they still aren’t healthy. The recent good news from the banking sector needs to be sustainable.  Look for the Fed to restrain itself from raising rates until 2009.

Are higher mortgage rates on the horizon?  Sure, in 2009.  The run up in mortgage rates I predicted, two weeks ago, has already happened.  I don’t think mortgage rates go much higher in 2008.

http://www.pasadenacarealestatehomes.com/003F22

Pasadena Real Estate blog welcomes Brian Brady!

Pasadena Real Estate Blog is very excited to announce that Brian Brady is going to author weekly posts about mortgage rates and mortgage industry.

Brian is a 19 year veteran of the financial services industry.  He started his career with Merrill Lynch, as a financial adviser, right after he graduated Villanova University. 

He moved out west in 1992 and have worked in residential real estate lending since 1994.  He has originated loans, managed branches, was the National Sales Manager for a regional mortgage bank, and successfully turned around an ailing mortgage banking firm to profitability.

He is now back to his first love - working with clients in a financial advisory capacity.  Ron Feinberg appointed him as a Managing Director at World Wide Credit Corporation. a long-time mortgage banking and brokerage firm in San Diego.  Brian considers himself a Mortgage Planner, which is a new title for mortgage originators who have expertise in financial planning.  This means that you’ll get a whole lot more than rate and points from him.  He’ll show you how to properly structure your debt so as to increase your liquidity, safety and return on your investments.  He’ll even show you a tax trick or two to run by your CPA.

Brian, welcome to the Pasadena Real Estate Blog!!!

http://www.pasadenacarealestatehomes.com/003F21

If you are living in San Marino or are thinking about relocating to San Marino, you’ve come to the right place. 

This post will be updated monthly, around the first week of the month, for the previous month and will give you key real estate market indicators for San Marino California.  Bookmark this page and visit it each month to see how San Marino homes and condos are faring in today’s real estate market.

If you are already a San Marino homeowner and would like to get a monthly email sent to you with real estate activity around your San Marino home, please click here and request your San Marino real estate monthly market report.  You will not be contacted by me or anyone on my team and the information will be generated automatically via email based on the criteria that you list.

If you are seriously considering selling your San Marino home and would like a private consultation, please contact me at    626-627-7107    or Irina@Irina4RealEstate.com.

San Marino Real Estate Market Report for the month of June 2008:

Single Family Residence
New Listings	13

Total Listings 41

Sales Pending 8

Homes Sold  15

Listings Expired 4

Average Days on the Market  77

Average Price Per Sq. Ft. $552

Average Selling Price $1,638,045

San Marino Real Estate Market Report for the month of May 2008:

Read more »

http://www.pasadenacarealestatehomes.com/003AA2

When buyers open the door to your home, is your entry making a great first impression?  Buyers make a lot of decisions in those first few seconds upon entering your home.  If your entry is dark, crowded or just plain boring, you may be losing your chance to get them the rest of the way into your home and onto writing that important offer to buy.

 

 

The entry to your home should always keep super clean, super neat and super bright.  Lots of homeowners prefer to remove their shoes at the door before entering the rest of the home.  But you cannot leave your shoes piled up at the doorways.  You must keep your shoes neatly in the closets.  Nothing turns off a buyer faster than walking into to a pile of some-one’s shoes.  And while we are on the subject of shoes, resist the temptation to place shoe booties at the door for buyers to wear as they tour your home.  The message you are sending to them is that the floors are difficult to keep clean, which is not a feature most buyers are looking for when choosing which home to purchase.

 

 

 

 

 Keep a light on in your entry at all times.  Your entryway needs to be bright and will feel more open with the extra light on.  If your foyer is small, you can hang a mirror so that it feels more open.  If you use a console table here, be sure that it does not impede with the flow of traffic.  You want buyers to have easy access in and out of your home.  Interesting artwork on the wall and fresh flowers or a beautiful sculpture on the table will set the mood for the entire home tour.

If you have rugs in your entry, it is probably best to remove them.  Area rugs have a tendency to make rooms look smaller.  If your foyer is large, use a round rug. 

Make the entry of your home light, refreshing and exciting.  Give buyers a little taste of what they can expect to see in the rest of your home the moment they open your door.  Make your home’s first impression a great one!

Posted by Nickie Rothwell, GetStaged2Sell.

http://www.pasadenacarealestatehomes.com/003EFC