Deja Vu

On 9.13.07, The L.A Time’s front page story, August Cold to Home Sellers, was in 64 font. At the very end of the article on page 15, in 10 font, “As in Los Angeles, the median home prices in Orange County edged up - by nearly 2%.”

The following day, the S.F. Chronicle’s front page of the business section, ran a similar story. True to form, buried in the ninth paragraph in 10 font, in the nine counties of the S.F.Bay Area, “the median price rose 4%” to $ 655.000, from Aug/06 to Aug/07. What was the headline? “Home sales in Bay Area plunge to 15-yr low,” in of course, 64 font! Nothing new here! Selling newspapers by fanning the flames of the cyclical real estate markets.

Yet, when is it a good time to buy? In a buyers’ market. When is absolutely the best time to sell and buy simultaneously? In a s-l-o-w-e-r market. Bar none. Imagine a red-carpet rolled out in front of almost every home on the market. A bevy of homes. You’ll not read that fact in the newspaper.

Nationwide: The National Association of Realtors, (NAR), sites only a 1.3% drop in median Resale Home Prices, from Q2/06 to Q2/07. NAR reports a 10.7% decrease in Existing Home Sales for the same period. Not as bad as the media would have you believe.

California: The California Association of Realtors, (CAR), reports in spite of the over-building/sub-prime mortgage debacle up and down the Sacramento Valley, the median Resale Home Price increased 2.0% to $588,970, from Aug/06 to Aug/07. Understandably, Resale Homes Sales are down 27.8% for the same period.

Silicon Valley: According to DataQuick’s DQNews.com, Santa Clara County saw Resale Home Prices increase 10.3% to $803,250, from Aug/06 to Aug/07, while the Resale Home Sales fell 21.7%. Fair enough, let’s combine all of Santa County County’s condos, townhouses, new and resale houses for the same time period. DQNews.com shows a 3.7% increase in the median price to $700,000, while sales are down 13.9%. You’ll never see headlines proclaiming “Prices Up” in 64 font, not in a so-called buyers’ market, anyway. After all, that’s not how you sell newspapers.

Pat Kapowich, “Negotiating Smooth Transactions Throughout The South
Bay” SiliconValleyBroker.com