Friday, January 29, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
San Diego Restaurant Week is Here!
In its sixth year as San Diego County's largest and most successful dining event, held twice annually, this beloved culinary tradition features more than 180 of San Diego's best restaurants offering fixed price, three-course meals for $20, $30 or $40. There are no tickets or passes required. Visit http://www.sandiegorestaurantweek.com/ for all the details.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
San Diego Housing Picture Not All Gloomy!
For all the talk of the housing bust, San Diego County’s median price ended the decade up 48.4 percent from 2000.
If in January 2000 you bought a home at the median price of $219,000 and went to sleep like Rip Van Winkle, you awoke at the end of 2009 to see your home worth $325,000.
This means that many longtime homeowners are still sitting on big gains even after seeing the market skyrocket to a peak of $517,500 in November 2005 before plummeting....
By Roger Showley, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Sunday, January 3, 2010 at 12:02 a.m.
For the rest of this positive and interesting article visit signonsandiego.com
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Interesting La Jolla Inventory Comparison
In La Jolla you are seeing season change with one notable difference in that this year (BLACK) we’ve seen a trending dip in inventory since October versus an trending rise in inventory last year… There is still more inventory in La Jolla than there was this time last year but the trends are completely different.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Preview my AMAZING New listings at the La Jolla Seville...not in the MLS yet!
1001 Genter #10F (Penthouse)
3 Bedrooms / 2Bathrooms
$2,630,000
More Listing Information:
Virtual Tour:
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Mortgage Rates at a Historic Low! Union Tribune Article
Mortgage rates at record low
4.71% is attractive for refinancing
By Roger Showley, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Friday, December 4, 2009 at midnight
Mortgage rates have reached a historic low of 4.71 percent and set off another miniboom among homebuyers and owners wanting to refinance.
The rates, reported yesterday in the weekly Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, were down from last week’s 4.78 percent, which ties a record low set in April for 30-year, fixed-rate loans with a 20 percent down payment. The survey dates to 1971.
For a $300,000 loan, the latest rate would yield a principal and interest payment of $1,558, down from $1,570 last week, not counting origination fees and other expenses like taxes and insurance, according to an online mortgage calculator.
A year ago, the rate stood at 5.53 percent, yielding a monthly payment of $1,709.
“There are no guarantees that mortgage rates are going to stay at these low levels,” said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com .
In fact, they have inched up in recent days by about an eighth to a quarter of a percentage point after concerns eased about financial trouble in Dubai that had driven investors to safer markets.
The Federal Reserve is pumping $1.25 trillion into mortgage-backed securities to try to bring down mortgage rates, but that money is set to run out next spring.
The goal of the program is to make home buying more affordable and prop up the housing market.
Despite the government support, qualifying for a loan is still tough.
Lenders have tightened their standards dramatically, so the best rates are available to those with solid credit and a 20 percent down payment.
Millions of American families have not been able to take advantage of them, particularly in the areas where home prices have fallen the most.
About 11 million households, or 23 percent of homeowners with a mortgage, owe more on their home loans than their house is currently worth, according to real estate information company First American CoreLogic.
That makes refinancing difficult.
Dave McDonald, president of the local chapter of the California Mortgage Brokers Association, said that with lenders’ rule changes going into effect next month to tighten underwriting standards, those who wait for rates to drop again may not be able to qualify for the best loans at all. The additional problem this month is to get lenders to act on loan applications, since many lenders are short-staffed due to the holidays.
“If they are on the fence waiting for rates to go back down, they could be shooting themselves in the foot,” McDonald said.
Gabe del Rio, senior vice president of Community HousingWorks, a nonprofit housing advocacy group, said the low interest rates, even if they fluctuate a bit, mean more affordability to would-be buyers who have the necessary good credit, down payments and income security.
“I think it’s going to mean a whole wave of stable owners,” he said.
But del Rio did not see any reason to panic at the thought that rates might rise rapidly and push housing out of reach.
“It’s going to hover in this neighborhood for some time, and it needs to,” he said. “It’s the only way we’re going to slowly dig ourselves out of this (recessionary) hole.”
While many homebuyers are in trouble financially for having purchased at the heights of the boom and then seeing their values drop, others continue to have substantial equity in their properties and can save some money by refinancing. McDonald said he has one customer who is swapping his 30-year, fixed-rate loan at 6 percent into a 15-year loan at a lower rate so he pay it off early without raising his monthly costs.
Buyers and homeowners who want to refinance are picking up their phones. Mortgage applications rose 2 percent last week from a week earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday, driven by a more than 4 percent increase in purchase applications and a nearly 2 percent increase in applications to refinance existing loans.
Erik Weichelt, president of the San Diego Association of Realtors, said low rates, still-low prices and quicker action on short sales — selling for less than the outstanding mortgage balance — are providing added stimulus to the housing market.
“Every time good news happens in the marketplace, we see people still sitting on the fence and coming off, wanting to get involved,” he said.
4.71% is attractive for refinancing
By Roger Showley, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Friday, December 4, 2009 at midnight
Mortgage rates have reached a historic low of 4.71 percent and set off another miniboom among homebuyers and owners wanting to refinance.
The rates, reported yesterday in the weekly Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, were down from last week’s 4.78 percent, which ties a record low set in April for 30-year, fixed-rate loans with a 20 percent down payment. The survey dates to 1971.
For a $300,000 loan, the latest rate would yield a principal and interest payment of $1,558, down from $1,570 last week, not counting origination fees and other expenses like taxes and insurance, according to an online mortgage calculator.
A year ago, the rate stood at 5.53 percent, yielding a monthly payment of $1,709.
“There are no guarantees that mortgage rates are going to stay at these low levels,” said Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com .
In fact, they have inched up in recent days by about an eighth to a quarter of a percentage point after concerns eased about financial trouble in Dubai that had driven investors to safer markets.
The Federal Reserve is pumping $1.25 trillion into mortgage-backed securities to try to bring down mortgage rates, but that money is set to run out next spring.
The goal of the program is to make home buying more affordable and prop up the housing market.
Despite the government support, qualifying for a loan is still tough.
Lenders have tightened their standards dramatically, so the best rates are available to those with solid credit and a 20 percent down payment.
Millions of American families have not been able to take advantage of them, particularly in the areas where home prices have fallen the most.
About 11 million households, or 23 percent of homeowners with a mortgage, owe more on their home loans than their house is currently worth, according to real estate information company First American CoreLogic.
That makes refinancing difficult.
Dave McDonald, president of the local chapter of the California Mortgage Brokers Association, said that with lenders’ rule changes going into effect next month to tighten underwriting standards, those who wait for rates to drop again may not be able to qualify for the best loans at all. The additional problem this month is to get lenders to act on loan applications, since many lenders are short-staffed due to the holidays.
“If they are on the fence waiting for rates to go back down, they could be shooting themselves in the foot,” McDonald said.
Gabe del Rio, senior vice president of Community HousingWorks, a nonprofit housing advocacy group, said the low interest rates, even if they fluctuate a bit, mean more affordability to would-be buyers who have the necessary good credit, down payments and income security.
“I think it’s going to mean a whole wave of stable owners,” he said.
But del Rio did not see any reason to panic at the thought that rates might rise rapidly and push housing out of reach.
“It’s going to hover in this neighborhood for some time, and it needs to,” he said. “It’s the only way we’re going to slowly dig ourselves out of this (recessionary) hole.”
While many homebuyers are in trouble financially for having purchased at the heights of the boom and then seeing their values drop, others continue to have substantial equity in their properties and can save some money by refinancing. McDonald said he has one customer who is swapping his 30-year, fixed-rate loan at 6 percent into a 15-year loan at a lower rate so he pay it off early without raising his monthly costs.
Buyers and homeowners who want to refinance are picking up their phones. Mortgage applications rose 2 percent last week from a week earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday, driven by a more than 4 percent increase in purchase applications and a nearly 2 percent increase in applications to refinance existing loans.
Erik Weichelt, president of the San Diego Association of Realtors, said low rates, still-low prices and quicker action on short sales — selling for less than the outstanding mortgage balance — are providing added stimulus to the housing market.
“Every time good news happens in the marketplace, we see people still sitting on the fence and coming off, wanting to get involved,” he said.
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