Creative Real Estate Solutions for Southwestern California
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Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
"The Great Correction"
Southwestern California Real Estate Market Watch
Some will tell you that it's always a good time to buy real estate (see the video below) but, we think that's alot like saying Asprin is good medicine. It might be if you have a headache... it might not be if you have an ulcer.
What we can say with certainty, is that buying real estate ALWAYS involves taking risk. Even though prices have fallen as far as they have, there appears to be continuing risk of further decline. With financing rates at near historical lows there is also a potentially offsetting risk that financing will become more expensive. Now is a great time to polish up your credit and start looking around to get an understanding of what's going on in the market. Be ready to pull the trigger on an offer... you may find that perfect home and we can help you negotiate a deal that makes sense in this market!!! Click here to search MLS listed homes
At Hidden Market Realty we believe that better information helps in managing risk and making better decisions.
This website is maintained with that goal in mind.
About Hidden Market Realty
We represent home buyers, home sellers and rental investors.
We manage property and we have great sources of financing.
We offer flat fee MLS listing and transaction coordination services.
Call us at 951-308-1917 to discuss your needs.
We welcome the opportunity to EARN your business.
Experts split over bills focusing on foreclosures
"The bulk of the new state proposals expand protection for renters living in foreclosed properties, create new rules for reverse mortgages, and impose standards on loan-modification consulting companies, such as banning them from taking advance payments from troubled homeowners." read more... - Press Enterprise, 5/25/2009
Bruce Norris Interview for Real Wealth Expo, Newport Beach, CA May 15-17th
"On April 28th of 2009 I interviewed Bruce Norris at his offices in Southern, CA for the upcoming RealWealthExpo in Newport Beach, May 15-17th. I got the latest, most current evaluation to date. What he is predicting was so potentially market changing that I could not, in good conscience, simply keep it for my own list of friends and investors. That’s why you are seeing this now. read more... - Real Wealth Expo, 5/15/2009
UCLA Anderson Forecast's Outlook for San Diego County: Recession for Most of 2009 with a Recovery in Housing Market
"The UCLA Anderson Forecast today released its annual economic forecast for San Diego County. The Forecast states the official end month for the national recession is likely to be early in the second half of 2009, and the worst of the problems for San Diego will then be over. The unemployment rate for the nation and San Diego is likely to continue to elevate until growth becomes strong enough to absorb new entrants into the labor market." read more... - Business Wire, 5/15/2009
New foreclosure wave predicted in Inland area
"A near record number of homes entered the first stage of the foreclosure process last month in Riverside and San Bernardino counties after mortgage industry foreclosure moratoriums were lifted." read more... - Press Enterprise, 4/19/2009
San Diego economic indicators dip; forecast negative
"San Diego County's index of leading economic indicators took a nose dive in March, spurred by an increasingly bleak job market, according to a report Thursday by the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego." read more... - San Diego Union Tribune, 4/30/2009
Real-estate investor shares thoughts on new appraisal policy
"Owner of The Norris Group, a Riverside-based real-estate investor and financial broker for other real-estate investors, Norris says it's not what a home shopper "can afford to pay" that's key in turning this market around - it's what they're "willing to pay." read more... - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, 4/25/2009
Inland residents find ways to cope after foreclosure
"The tidal wave of foreclosures hitting Inland Southern California is leaving thousands in its wake who,, like victims of natural disasters, are challenged to find shelter and rebuild their lives." read more... - Press Enterprise, 4/19/2009
Region's joblessness in March worst on record
Cascading layoffs in nearly every sector of the economy drove the region's unemployment rate to its highest level on record last month as companies dumped employees, according to data released Friday by a state agency." read more... - The Californian, 4/17/2009
Banks withholding foreclosed homes to prop sales, experts say
"Lenders for months have been holding back a high volume of homes in the foreclosure pipeline that could further depress home values if they are released at once into the market, industry experts say." read more... - Los Angeles Times, 4/16/2009
Southern California home prices may be stabilizing
"The median sale price remained at $250,000 for the six-county region, which is less than half the median value of homes at the market's peak in 2007. But the fact that home prices have stayed the same since January could be an indicator that the market is beginning to stabilize -- which is considered key to a broader economic recovery." read more... - Los Angeles Times, 4/16/2009
Inland foreclosures surge in March after law's delays expire
"Foreclosure activity soared to a record high in Riverside and San Bernardino counties last month, as lenders sent notices of default, the first step in the foreclosure process, after delays from moratoriums and a California law that required them to contact borrowers and try to find an alternative." read more... - Press Enterprise, 4/15/2009
HOUSING: Murky market shows signs of stabilization, pain
"Homebuyers' appetite for deeply discounted foreclosures remained voracious in March, driving up sales and offering signs to some analysts that a price bottom could be in the offing." read more... - North County Times, 4/10/2009
Crush of foreclosures coming to Southwest Riverside County
"Another wave of house foreclosures is poised to rumble through Southwest County, further disrupting an economy already trying to absorb the first wave of foreclosures and deal with a growing jobless rate. read more... - North County Times, 4/4/2009
UCLA Anderson Forecast: dark days
"In California, the economy may stop shrinking by the fourth quarter, but it will remain flat and probably will not grow until the beginning of 2010. Normal growth won't return until the middle of 2010, and high unemployment will remain until 2012 or longer, the forecasters said." read more... - Los Angeles Times, 3/26/2009
San Diego County foreclosures up 11% over January
"Foreclosures in San Diego County increased 11 percent last month, signaling a return to business as usual after a self-imposed slowdown by the mortgage industry." read more... - San Diego Union Tribune, 3/19/2009
Housing market, job outlook keep residents from leaving
"In Riverside County, 8,700 more people moved there than left between 2007 and 2008 – a decline from the previous year's 37,353 net newcomers. During the housing boom, as many as 65,000 more people moved to the county than departed, according to the Census Bureau." read more... - San Diego Union Tribune, 3/19/2009
Housing slump not even close to ending
“It's a blip . . . the numbers are too flooey,” said Christopher Thornberg, a principal at Beacon Economics. “The good news is things have calmed down so that we have enough (activity) that we can have a blip.” read more... - San Diego Union Tribune, 3/18/2009
SoCal home prices don't decline in February
"Southern California home prices did not decline in February for the first time in 10 months, MDA DataQuick reported Tuesday, but analysts shied away from pronouncing any end to be near for the real estate slump." read more... - San Diego Union Tribune, 3/17/2009
Owners skulking away from 'underwater' US homes
"While others persist in draining savings and running up credit card debt in a last-ditch bid to save their homes, a growing number see no point in making boom-level mortgage payments in a bust market -- with no bottom in sight." read more... - Reuters, 3/17/2009
HOUSING: Sales keep jumping, prices keep falling
"On Thursday, a report showed that more than 1,200 homes entered foreclosure in North County and 1,500 in Southwest Riverside County. That means there were more homeowners defaulting on their mortgages than new buyers entering the market."
read more... - North County Times, 3/13/2009
Riverside/San Bernardino counties ranked sixth nationwide in foreclosures
"Riverside/San Bernardino in February ranked sixth among the nation's metropolitan areas in rate of foreclosure activity, with one foreclosure related filing for every 80 homes. The two counties combined had 18,040 filings, up 63 percent from 11,066 filings in February, 2008." read more... - Press Enterprise, 3/11/2009
Obama plan to prevent foreclosures won't help many California homeowners
"The Obama administration's plan to stave off foreclosures could fall flat in California, where nearly one-third of mortgage holders are underwater on their loans -- many of them by amounts that would disqualify them for government-sponsored refinancing." read more... - LA Times, 3/6/2009
Inland jobless rate nears 12 percent
"Inland Southern California lost a staggering 76,500 jobs last year, by far the most ever, as its unemployment rate climbed to almost 12 percent, the state reported Thursday." read more... - Press Enterprise, 3/6/2009
Inland homeowners bear weight of 'upside down' mortgages
"Almost 45 percent of homeowners with a mortgage in Riverside and San Bernardino counties owe more on their homes than the homes are worth, according to a report released Wednesday." read more... - Press Enterprise, 3/5/2009
U.S., state rolling out incentive welcome mat to homebuyers
"The state incentive, which is exclusively for buyers of newly constructed houses, together with a new federal tax incentive for first-time buyers, could enable people qualified for both programs to get an income tax break of up to $18,000 for buying a house." read more... - Press Enterprise, 2/27/2009
Expert: San Diego Economy Faces 'Bleak' Future
"A historic fall in San Diego's leading economic indicators -- including building permits, unemployment and wants ads -- continued in January, leading to a "bleak" outlook for the months ahead, a University of San Diego professor said Thursday." read more... - 10News.com, 2/26/2009
Menifee homebuilder John Laing padlocks Holiday clubhouse
"John Laing has seven uncompleted housing projects in Riverside County, including two in Chino where sales have been stopped, and three in Lake Elsinore where, as of December, no homes had sold, according to Hanley Wood." read more... - Press Enterprise, 2/25/2009
Southwest Riverside County among top in nation in foreclosed homes
"Three of the top five busiest markets for foreclosed homes in cities of less than 100,000 population are in southwestern Riverside County, with Murrieta tops overall, according to a recent analysis by Forbes.com." read more... - Press Enterprise, 2/24/2009
HOUSING: Builders shut down as home prices continue tumble
"Builders have practically given up on San Diego County's housing market ---- at least for now. Two reports released Tuesday showed the local real estate market still mired in a painful recession with prices falling and construction down." read more... - North County Times, 2/24/2009
Dealers, dreamers see gold in California housing bust
"This is the buying opportunity of our lifetime," said Bruce Norris, who heads an investment group that expects to purchase some 100 homes this year in Southern California's Inland Empire region." read more... - Reuters News Service, 2/23/2009
Economists forecast GDP growth in late 2009
"Christopher Thornberg, principle of Los Angeles-based Beacon Economics, laughed when he heard the conclusion of the national economic study. Thornberg, who several months ago told an Inland audience to expect two bad years, does not expect the economy to right itself in 2009." read more... - Press Enterprise, 2/23/2009
HOUSING: Bailout will have little effect locally
"Analysts said last week that homeowners in the region can expect little relief from President Barack Obama's $275 billion housing bailout, based on details the White House made public last week." read more... - North County Times, 2/21/2009
Housing-affordability index gaining in county, nation
“We've heard a lot of talk regarding the decline in home values about how no one wants to catch a falling knife,” DataQuick President John Walsh said. “But for months we've seen quite a flurry of sales activity in many inland areas, where prices have fallen more in line with local incomes.” read more... - San Diego Union Tribune, 2/20/2009
Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan Fact Sheet
"The deep contraction in the economy and in the housing market has created devastating consequences for homeowners and communities throughout the country. Millions of responsible families who make their monthly payments and fulfill their obligations have seen their property values fall, and are now unable to refinance to lower mortgage rates. Meanwhile, millions of workers have lost their jobs or had their hours cut, and are now struggling to stay current on their mortgage payments. As a result, as many as 6 million families are expected to face foreclosure in the next several years, with millions more struggling to stay current on their payments." read more... - US Treasury, 2/18/2009
Southland economy may bottom out by summer, forecast says
"The declining Southern California economy may bottom out as soon as this summer, but more financial grief is coming as local industries struggle to cope with the recession, a prominent business trade group said in a forecast to be released today." read more... - LA Times, 2/18/2009
More than 25% of homes in San Diego County worth less than mortgage balance
"A new analysis from MDA DataQuick shows that more than a quarter of all homes in the county are worth less than the owners owe on their mortgages. And nearly two-thirds of those who sold last year settled for less than previous owners had received." read more... - San Diego Union Tribune, 2/14/2009
Industry flourishes in the Inland area fixing up homes repossessed by banks
"If there is a silver lining in the housing crash, it is the job opportunity afforded many unemployed workers--from general contractors to painters and gardeners--by a flood of repossessed houses that need to be cleaned up and repaired to attract new buyers." read more... - Press Enterprise, 2/14/2009
REGION: Stimulus bill hits home
"local economists disagree on whether the package will speed the nation's tottering economy toward a quick recovery from the most painful recession since the Great Depression." read more... - North County Times, 2/13/2009
Inland economy suffering more
"According to RealtyTrac, which maintains a database of foreclosures, the San Bernardino-Riverside area led the nation in foreclosure filings in November 2008. Foreclosures were up 71 percent over November 2007." read more... - Press Enterprise, 2/10/2009
MURRIETA: City seeking out delinquent property owners
"The Murrieta City Council authorized city representatives to pursue foreclosure on about 450 homes in late August. Since then, more than 300 of those cases have been resolved by city officials working with residents to arrange a payment plan." read more... - North County Times, 2/4/2009
Higher-end home sales are slipping
"University of San Diego real estate economist Norm Miller estimated that top-end homes may have lost 10 percent to 15 percent in value in 2008 – enough to represent about half the drop-off in sales count as those homes sank below the million-dollar mark." read more... - San Diego Union Tribune, 2/4/2009
Zillow: Inland home values sank almost a third last year
"Home values in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, as throughout California, are deteriorating at an increasingly faster clip, which means that the bottom of the market is not yet in sight, said Amy Bohutinsky, spokeswoman for Zillow Real Estate Market Reports, which on Monday released its fourth quarter and year-end data". read more... - Press Enterprise, 2/2/2009
Economic forecast shows tough times ahead for region
"Esmael Adibi, Chapman's chief economist, said housing prices could stabilize in the fourth quarter if some of the 90 percent of the Inland work force that isn't out of work recognizes an opportunity to buy a cheaper house." read more... - Press Enterprise, 1/29/2009
HOUSING: Falling values have homeowners weighing foreclosure
"With home prices down 50 percent in some North County areas, many residents face a difficult choice: Stop paying the mortgage and rent for less, or stick out history's toughest housing market and pay a mortgage that equals hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the value of the house." read more... - North County Times, 1/24/2009
HOUSING: Sales skyrocket in Riverside County
"Amid the worst foreclosure crisis since the Great Depression, house sales in Southwest Riverside County boomed during December, according to data from a local real estate company." read more... - North County Times, 1/23/2009
ECONOMY: Jobless rate soars to new highs
"The two-county region of Riverside and San Bernardino lost 1,800 jobs in December, a month when retailers and other consumer-focused businesses usually hire strongly, the California Employment Development Department reported Friday." read more... - North County Times, 1/23/2009
Flood of foreclosures: It's worse than you think
"There is probably even more excess housing inventory gumming up the market than current statistics indicate, thanks to a wave of foreclosures that has yet to hit the market." read more... - CNNMoney.com, 1/23/2009
Area jobless rate hits double-digits
Inland Southern California's unemployment rate climbed to 10.1 percent in December, the first time it has been in double-digits in more than 13 years, a state report found. read more... - Press Enterprise, 1/23/2009
ECONOMY: Job loss highest in decades
"Employers in San Diego County cut jobs last month at their fastest rate in 17 years, as holiday shopping failed to overcome the effects of locked-up credit markets." read more... - North County Times, 1/23/2009
Foreclosed homes inventory forces cuts in new-home building
"Unable to compete with foreclosures, Inland Southern California builders will slash new home construction by 35 percent in 2009 after cutting production almost 60 percent last year, a national housing market research company predicted Thursday." read more... - Press Enterprise, 1/22/2009
Home sales spike on lower prices
"Last month the median price of homes that sold in Riverside County was $209,000, down more than 41 percent from December 2007. The median home price in San Bernardino County was $180,000, almost 43 percent lower than a year earlier. " read more... - Press Enterprise, 1/19/2009
Economic Real Estate Trends
"Among the 50 largest MSAs,
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA ranks the highest
on the index, with a 99.9 percent chance that home prices
will be lower in two years" read more... - PMI, January 2009
Investors returning to Inland housing scene
"Sharply discounted foreclosed properties are luring back the first wave of professional investors and amateurs, both those hoping to "flip" for a quick buck and those wanting to buy and hold for a future rebound." read more... - Press Enterprise, 1/3/2009
Top 5 home-buying blunders for 2009
"If you're not planning on living in that house for more than three to five years, I wouldn't buy anything right now," says Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California. "Nobody knows what is going to happen to prices over the next few years." read more... - MSN Money, 12/31/2008
Prognosticators split on Inland economy's health in 2009
"Some see a ray of hope in housing," Chapman University economist Esmael Adibi said. "Declining prices can be a positive thing if it improves affordability. That will bring in the first-time buyers and investors." read more... - Press Enterprise, 12/31/2008
Home prices expected to fall further in 2009
"Real estate experts who were troubled by a 10% drop in median home prices near the end of last year from the previous year probably were stunned by the 35% drop in values since then."read more... - Los Angeles Times, 12/27/2008
Inland housing market expected to be one of nation's worst performers in 2009
"Among the nation's larger metropolitan areas, the Inland region saw the most severe price declines in the first nine months of 2008, and next year it will continue to be among the worst performers, according to reports released Tuesday." read more... - Press Enterprise, 12/23/2008
10 worst real-estate markets for 2009
"The housing market hasn't bottomed out yet. For the third quarter, the closely-watched S&P Case-Shiller national home-price index fell 16.6%, and experts are predicting further declines. Of the top 100 markets, here are 10 with the worst forecasts." read more... - Fortune, 12/22/2008
More are moving out of California than in
"For the fourth year in a row, more residents left the Golden State than moved here from other states, according to a report released Wednesday by the California Department of Finance." read more... - Los Angeles Times, 12/18/2008
Recession study confirms Inland economic freefall
"One in 10 Riverside County residents is out of work, and 1 in 8 households is facing foreclosure, the report found. In San Bernardino County, 1 in 9 are jobless and 1 in 9.5 homes faces foreclosure." read more... - Press Enterprise, 12/17/2008
Median price of a home falls below $300,000 in SoCal
"The overall median in the six-county region was $285,000, the first time since April 2003 that the figure has dropped below $300,000. It was off 5 percent from October and a record 34.5 percent from November 2007." read more... - San Diego Union Tribune, 12/16/2008
Inland housing sales show signs of life
"Foreclosures will continue because of high-risk loans made during the housing boom, now combined with rising unemployment, Kleinhenz said. He said he expects foreclosures, which are depressing home prices, will peak in the second or third quarter of next year. "We have not seen a bottoming out of home prices," he said, predicting that the summer of 2009 is the earliest that home prices may stop falling." read more... - Press Enterprise, 12/16/2008
Foreclosures drive home sales up, prices down
"In Riverside County, home sales were almost 49 percent higher in November than a year ago, while the median price of homes sold dropped to $220,000, down 38 percent from November, 2007." read more... - Press Enterprise, 12/16/2008
U.S. homes lose $2 trillion in value in '08
"American homeowners will collectively lose more than $2 trillion in home value by the end of 2008, according to a report released Monday." read more... - CNNMoney.com, 12/16/2008
“Nasty Recession” For U.S. To Include Four Quarters of Declining GDP
"California will join the nation in its recession, though its impact will be felt differently across the state. UCLA Anderson Senior Economist Jerry Nickelsburg writes that the “Inland Empire, Orange County, the East Bay and Central Valley will be hit hardest as the recession provides a double whammy with a generalized downturn in demand and a postponement of a recovery in residential construction.” read more... - UCLA Anderson Forecast, 12/11/2008
Forecast Sees Recession Through 2009
“We’re in for a very rough ride in 2009,” said Jerry Nickelsburg, senior economist with the Anderson Forecast and author of the California portion of the forecast. read more... - Los Angeles Business Journal, 12/11/2008
Flood of housing defaults predicted for '09
"Foreclosures will spike next year after a short reprieve granted by moratoriums that have delayed the inevitable, an official for a leading foreclosure reporting service said Wednesday." read more... - Press Enterprise, 12/11/2008
Key report sees 9% jobless rate, housing bottom in state in 2009
"Unemployment in California will hover close to 9 percent in 2009 and 2010, as the state struggles with the widening aftermath of the collapse of the real estate bubble, according to a quarterly forecast released today by one of the state's best-known economic panels." read more... - San Diego Union Tribune, 12/11/2008
Glimmer of Inland housing hope seen
"Economists say California will remain in recession for at least most of 2009, and the state can expect to see higher unemployment and lower incomes, a pair of economic forecasts released this week said." read more... - Press Enterprise, 12/10/2008
8 really, really scary predictions
"Dow 4,000. Food shortages. A bubble in Treasury notes. Fortune spoke to eight of the market's sharpest thinkers and what they had to say about the future is frightening." read more... - CNNMoney.com, 12/10/2008
ECONOMY: Region took "turn for the worst" in October
"Key measurements showed the region's economy buckling dramatically in October and suggested that the situation will continue to worsen for the next six months, an economist said Tuesday." read more... - North County Times, 12/2/2008
ECONOMY: North County jobs recession just getting started, analysts say
"Snowballing economic weakness is poised to cause joblessness rivalling the recession that hit Southern California in the early 1990s, when sharp cuts in federal spending led to tens of thousands of job losses on military bases and for defense contractors, economists said last week." read more... - North County Times, 11/29/2008
Case-Shiller: Prices Slide to May 2003 Levels
"Home prices in San Diego County continued to fall in September, reaching a point last seen in May 2003, according to the most recent Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index released this morning." read more... - Voice of San Diego, 11/25/2008
San Diego County foreclosures fall sharply
“It's unclear whether we'll see a meaningful, permanent reduction in foreclosures as a result of recent changes in the state's foreclosure process and lenders' efforts to modify more problem loans,” he said. “One possibility is that all of those things combined will simply delay a lot of foreclosures, in which case we would see foreclosure filings spike in the months ahead.” read more... - San Diego Union Tribune, 11/25/2008
Homeowners seek loan modifications
"Inland economist John Husing says unless foreclosures can be substantially reduced, the economic recession will persist, perhaps until early 2012, in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. He said from March 2007 through September 2008, mortgages on 106,129 Inland homes became 90 days delinquent, of which 81,389 were foreclosed on." read more... - Press Enterprise, 11/22/2008
Surge in unemployment puts California's Inland Empire in tailspin
"State numbers released Friday show the Riverside, San Bernardino and Ontario area is now suffering from its highest unemployment rate in 13 years at 9.5% in October -- 3 percentage points higher than the national rate and 1.3 points higher than the state's rate of 8.2%" read more... - LA Times, 11/22/2008
Inland region hemorrhaging jobs
"It's going to get worse in the months ahead, because we're seeing downturns in consumption," said Jerry Nicklesburg, economist with the UCLA Anderson Forecast. "As we head into the holidays we don't have the retail boost we usually get. And, as the consumer pulls back it means fewer imports, which hurts the logistic industry. read more... - Press Enterprise, 11/21/2008
Affordability rises in California
"A growing number of households were able to afford an entry-level home in California in the third quarter, as recent declines in home prices and mortgage rates have brought housing into better alignment with incomes." read more... - Inman News, 11/20/2008
