Graph of the average list prices vs. sales prices in La Crescenta
As you can see in this graph, homes in La Crescenta are being listed at a higher price than what they are selling for.
Many of the homes for sale are going unsold after being on the market for months…
The sold homes, on the other hand, often sell within 30-45 days of being listed.
If you want more information on La Crescenta home sale statistics, leave a comment or email me.
As Ben Franklin said, “It’s an ill wind that blows no one good…”. Certainly, the current real estate woes are an ill wind for a homeowner who needs to sell. So, who get’s to take advantage of this “ill-wind’? The “Move Down Buyer”.
First off: What/Who is a “Move Down Buyer”?
Most of these things are true of the “The Move Down Buyer”:
By selling the current, larger, home now, you will “lock in” more equity. If your old house & your new, less expensive, house both go down 10% you get to pocket some of the money. An example follows.
If either spouse is over age 55 (when the old home is sold), PROP 60 allows replacement of a primary residence with a new home of equal or lesser value (but see below) within the same California county and transfer of the Prop 13 assessed valuation from the old home to the new property.
Let’s say you paid $130,000 for your current, larger home many years ago. Your property tax might be $1,500 to $2,000 per year. Most people who pay $500,000 for a home pay about $6,250 or about $4,000 more in property taxes per year. Proposition 60 lets you keep your old property tax and transfer it to the New, easier & cheaper to maintain home. Or, in the example, a savings of about $4,000 year.
So, in this example the homeowner stands to save $25,000 in lost equity, bank up to $500,000 in tax free money, save around $4,000 in property taxes and have a less expensive, easier to maintain home.
There’s nothing wrong with that!
| Area | March Sales | % Change from March 2007 |
| La Crescenta Homes | 18 | -30.77% |
| La Canada Homes | 9 | -47.06% |
| Sunland/Tujunga Homes | 14 | -70.83% |
| Shadow Hills Homes | 0 | -100% |
| Glendale – Rossmoyne Homes | 12 | -29.41% |
| Glendale – Chevy Chase/Glenoaks Cyn Homes | 8 | -66.67% |
| Foothills & No. Glendale Total | 61 | -55.15% |
These numbers are preliminary. As you can see sales are still down very dramatically. Many different forces are at work. Loan availability – the sub-prime and other banking issues have severely limited loans over $417,000. Recent changes in the rules will alleviate this a little – but only a little and only until the end of the year. The large number of foreclosures is creating a lot of confusion in the market place. Home buyers are often reluctant to make a decision until the last moment. This often results in multiple offers. Then, when the house with all the offers sell, the remaining buyers get back onto the fence until the next “great” deal. Foreclosures often have low price tags but just as often come with a lot of deferred maintenance and or damage.
And, uncertainty breeds uncertainty.
What this means, of course, is that this is a very diffiuclt time to sell a home – it’s a buyers’ market.
It’s worth pausing and considering that phrase – “Buyers’ Market”.
The shortage of buyers is producing much lower prices. This, together with low interest rates (for those who can qualify under the new rules) is producing some very good value for a buyer.
If you have considered a real estate investment – pay attention – you may have an opportunity sooner than you thought.
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