Foreclosure Resales in SoCal

January’s 15,361 sales mark the highest total for that month since 18,128 sales in January 2007. However, last month’s tally was 14.4 percent below the average number of sales for a January – 17,938 – since 1988.

Last month the sales pattern shifted a bit, with a greater portion of transactions involving distressed properties and lower-cost inland homes. Meanwhile, sales in many pricier areas lost some of the steam they had built in recent months, though high-end sales still outpaced the year-ago level.

Foreclosure resales – houses and condos sold in January that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – made up 42.1 percent of all Southland resales, up from 39.6 percent in December but down from 56.4 percent in January 2009. Foreclosure resales hit a high of 56.7 percent last February, then tapered or leveled off month-to-month until they rose slightly in December, then again last month.

The rise in foreclosure resales helped push sales of homes priced below $300,000 up to 55 percent of all transactions last month, compared with 51.3 percent in December and 60 percent a year earlier. In the mid- to high-end, $500,000-plus home sales fell to 18.5 percent of all transactions, down from 20.6 percent in December but up from 13.6 percent in January 2009.

Over the last decade, $500,000-plus sales made up an average of 26 percent of monthly sales. Just before the credit crunch hit in August 2007, making larger “jumbo” mortgages more expensive and harder to obtain, $500,000-plus sales represented just over half of Southland transactions.

“The January stats underscore just how atypical this market remains. A huge chunk of what’s selling is still distressed. Investors and first-time buyers continue to dominate many areas, while the move-up market has yet to kick in. For many, the financing to buy high-end homes remains difficult, if not impossible, to obtain,” said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president.

“High-end sales aren’t nearly as sluggish as a year ago, but they lost traction over the holidays, which can be seen in the January closing data,” he said. “Whether significant new patterns are emerging in the market is unclear. We try not to over-analyze one month’s data, and historically January and February haven’t been the best indicators for the year ahead.”

As we approach another "Spring house selling and buying season", homeowners in Arcadia have much to be optimistic about. If you are the seller, and you and your Realtor have priced your house and property commensurate with local market pricing, you should not be concerned about what the numbers are in other Southern California regions. You will be able to sell your house in a relatively short period of time.

Happy New Year Everyone !

Another year has passed, and many are glad to see its passing.

As we embark upon 2010, best wishes for good health, happiness, prosperity, and peace.

Happy New Year !

www.GeneGlasco.com

Gene Glasco
Realtor-SRES, e-PRO, SFR
Century 21 Ludecke, Inc.
Arcadia CA 91006
http://GeneGlasco.com
GeneGlasco.blogspot.com

Gene Glasco's Brown Bag Lunch Talk

Songwriter, Producer, Musician, and Artist at Arcadia Museum "Brown Bag Lunch Talk" October 15.

ARCADIA, CA.- Pat Robinson, former Arcadian-- accomplished musician, songwriter, recording artist, film producer, and sketch artist, – is Gene Glasco's featured guest at his Brown Bag Lunch Talk- "The Beat Goes On: Arcadia's Back Yard Bands of the Sixties", Thursday, October 15, 12:00 pm at the Ruth and Charles Gilb Arcadia Historical Museum. Samples of Robinson's music and some of his exceptional artwork will be on display. Hors d’ oeuvres and refreshments will be provided.

The multi-talented Robinson created a band in the Sixties named "Fenwyck", "that played not only in Arcadia, but all over California", says Glasco. Fenwyck’s style and four part harmony sound was known for their incredible similarity to "The Byrds", a group that invented a whole genre of folk rock who topped the 60’s music charts with their recordings of “Mr. Tamborine Man” and “Turn, Turn, Turn” and many more. After high school, Robinson formed a new band called "Back Pocket", and performed in the U.S. and Europe. Later, Robinson wrote and produced songs for fifteen years with Gene Clark (Byrds) eventually forming yet another group, "CRY" (Clark, Robinson, York). John York on 12-string, Nicky Hopkins (Stones, Beatles) on keys, Rick Danko (The Band) on bass, Michael Clarke (Byrds) on drums with Gene Clark and Robinson up front on guitars. In the 80's, Pat enjoyed a successful affiliation with Joe Cocker, writing songs that Cocker would perform both in the U.S. and abroad. Robinson's New Orleans production company, JBond Records has recorded and produced CDs for Hall of Fame blues artists Leon Russel, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, and the Benjy Davis Project. With Timothea, aptly named the "Siren of Soul", he fashioned the captivating music video, “It's Time for a Change", filmed at the historic Columns Hotel on St. Charles Place. Some of Fenwyck's early recordings will be played at the Brown Bag talk, along with some newer cuts from Robinson’s CRY and Mystery Brothers CD’s. An accomplished sketch artist in his own right, some of Robinson’s work will also be on display; which according to Eric Finzi, appraiser for the J. Paul Getty museum, is rising in value.

Former Arcadian and Rock Artist Coming Home

Pat Robinson, whose local Arcadia band Fenwyck launched a successful career in recording and performing all over the United States and abroad, will be my guest speaker at the Arcadia Historical Society's Brown Bag lunch talk beginning at 12:00 noon, Thursday, October 15 at the Ruth and Charles Gilb museum in Arcadia.

I will have more information and background in another post, please stay tuned.

Gene Glasco-Realtor
Century 21 Ludecke, Inc.
Arcadia CA 91006

We Loved Horses Didn't We

The Bridle Path: Arcadia in the 50s and 60s

By Gene Glasco-REALTOR e-PRO- Century 21 Ludecke, Inc.

My family and I became residents of Arcadia in 1954. With the exception of overseas military service in the sixties, and college (Northern California) in the seventies, Arcadia has been "home" for last fifty-three years. Arcadia, not unlike many other small towns within the San Gabriel Valley was somewhat obscure back in the 50s, 60s. Acquaintances that lived in Los Angeles twenty miles away from our pastoral paradise had no idea where Arcadia was situated. I remember mixed emotions when people would ask me, "where is Arcadia"? Embarrassment, because I didnt want them thinking I lived in some rural backwater settlement, and elation that they might never come to disturb my isolated bucolic bliss. Today, most Arcadians connect horses to the Santa Anita Race Track. But back in the 50's and early 60's, horseback riding citizens were seen trotting up and down Santa Anita Avenue commonly referred to as "Double Drive". Before todays grass and pretty trees, the dirt and eucalyptus tree legacies of Elias "Lucky" Baldwin, Arcadias first mayor, lined the center median. On this well traveled trail equestrians were seen galloping their trusty steeds, dust clouds behind them, up Elkins to the north in the "Highlands" and down past the park and golf course to the south. The commercial horse stables and riding corral were located next to a small bowling alley on Morlan Place, just north of Huntington Drive and diagonally across from the back entrance of the Elk's lodge. Those of us who didn't own horses could "rent" a fully saddled riding horse out on an hourly/daily basis. (About $2.50 an hour). We would walk or (depending on the horse's temperament) trot one block over to Santa Anita. Motorists gave courteous right of way to our horse back riding citizens, stopping at intersections to allow our equisterian street crossings.
About a year ago or so I was interviewed by some Arcadia High School History class members whose assignment was to find out what it was like growing up in Arcadia in the sixties. They were incredulous--if not envious--in learning about the horse and riding stables we had, and the opportunity to tell it to them brought back some very fond memories of growing up in a town with a sense of community that prevails today. Gene Glasco is a local REALTOR and e-PRO with CENTURY 21 Ludecke Inc. and can be reached at: 626.456.4366 or Gene@Geneglasco.com.

Gene Moves To Arcadia

My Mom and Dad moved to Arcadia in 1954! Before they selected our house in the Highlands, we temporarily stayed with some friends of theirs in the "Rancho" area of Arcadia. I remember thinking that their house on Volante was so large and beautiful. They even had a little house in the back yard where we stayed. I now know that this was their guest house. I loved the Rancho area, with its quiet tranquility and silence punctuated with ocassional exotic peacock calls. I loved watching "Ramar of the Jungle" an adventure television series, all the more exciting knowing that portions of it were filmed in the famous Arcadia Arboretum with For a short while, I attended highly acclaimedHugo Reid elementary school. I remember waiting on the corner of our host's property waiting for the yellow school bus to pick me up and transport me a few blocks away to the school. The neighborhood and surrounding environ was safe for kids back then, and it was commonplace to see kids walking to school unaccompanied by parent or guardian; something unheard of these days. The Rancho district of Arcadia has changed a little since the mid Fifties; the demographics are different, but homes there are still very well kept, and those folks who put up their homes for sale usually have no trouble in attracting good buyers.

Please re-visit my blog, as I will be adding more tidbits of interesting information about the San Gabriel Valley and our local real estate happenings !

The Best Time To Buy Real Estate Is Now

Ordinarily one should never try to time the real-estate market, but there are reasons why buyers have been cautious. Few want to buy in down markets, just as stock buyers avoid bear markets. And for most people, of course, buying a house is a much bigger decision than buying a stock. But with real estate prices nationally now down about 30% from their 2006 peak, and showing signs of turning up, the prices aren’t likely to go much lower. Every real-estate market is local, and so there may be a few exceptions. Overall, though, there could not be a better time to buy than right now.

In addition to bargain prices, buyers should find plenty of homes to choose from. The inventory of unsold homes was 4.09 million units in July, up 7.3% from June, according to the National Association of Realtors. And mortgage rates this week were at a two-month low of close to 5%, according to Zillow. Even the stricter appraisal process is working to the advantage of buyers. Appraisals are coming in far lower than most sellers have been expecting, forcing them to face the new reality of sharply lower prices. And with stricter standards, lenders aren’t going to let buyers borrow more than they can afford, which protects buyers and helps to keep prices down.