Below is your weekly update for the Big Bear real estate market as of 12/1/2008. The number of residential properties listed for sale in Big Bear now stands at 1049, down from 1067 last week. The reason for the drop was there were 30 expired listings (properties that did not sell) this morning. It would have been nice if this drop was due to 30 new pending sales, but it was not the case. It is pretty typical to see this amount of expired listings show up at the beginning of the month, as many listing contracts … [Read more...]
Say It Ain’t So Zillow
November 28, 2008 by 4 Comments
I don't mean to bash Zillow but they make it so easy sometimes. Last time I checked, real estate prices in Big Bear are not going up. So you can imagine my surprise when I received an email last week from Zillow saying the Zestimate (read:value) for a rental property I own went up a staggering $20,000, or 11.4%, in the past 30 days. Huh? Not a big deal, I am in the business and know what is really going on. But I also received a call from a seller client about his property Zestimate going up $30,000, 11.5%, in … [Read more...]
Big Bear Real Estate – Monday Market Update For 11/24/2008
November 24, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Below is an update for the Big Bear real estate market as of 11/24/2008. The number of residential properties listed for sale in Big Bear now stands at 1067 total. This is only up one from last week so not a big shift either way. I do expect this number to go down in the winter months as the market slows down. A lot of people think our market is good during the winter months as it is the peak skiing season. The fact is the winter months are the slowest months of the year for real estate in Big Bear. Driving … [Read more...]
Pricing Your Big Bear Home – Get Ahead Of The Buyer Train
November 18, 2008 by 5 Comments
One of the most common mistakes sellers make in this market is overpricing their home. It is human nature to think ours is better than the others. In real estate however, the numbers speak for themselves. The quote, "Liars figure, but figures never lie" seems appropriate. The biggest risk with overpricing a home now is that every month the home in on the market the price moves farther down, sometimes 1-2% (for Big Bear) per month. Many times sellers start out too high, and then reduce only to see that they are … [Read more...]
Big Bear Real Estate – Monday Market Update For 11/17/2008
November 17, 2008 by Leave a Comment
It has been over 6 months since my last Monday market update so I figured, why not start it up again today? Below is an update for the Big Bear real estate market as of 11/17/2008. The number of residential properties listed for sale in Big Bear now stands at 1066 total. It is interesting that this number is relatively low. A lot of people I talk to seem to think there is so much for sale right now when in fact this number was much higher, near 1500, last year at the same time. The real story is that a lot of … [Read more...]
Absorption Rates For The Big Bear Real Estate Market – October 2008
November 9, 2008 by Leave a Comment
If you are thinking of buying or selling a home in Big Bear, you may want to take a look at the absorption rate of homes that are currently for sale. This is a good way to become more informed on the most current real estate market conditions in a particular area. There is an easy to understand article here describing what the absorption rate is and what it means for the real estate market. In simplistic terms, it is a mathematical equation that tells the amount of time it will take for a specified set amount of … [Read more...]
Big Bear Home Sales – October 2008
November 6, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Home sales in Big Bear increased 28% in October 2008 as compared to the same month last year, but fell 11% from the September 2008 home sales number of 82. Though it is down, it was still the second best month for homes sales in Big Bear this year. The median price for the homes sold was $255,000, up 12% from Sept. 2008 but down 18% from Oct. 2007. The median price has been quite sporadic the past 6 months, ranging between $205,000 to $290,000. With such a limited amount of sales, any slight variation can throw … [Read more...]
Sales Up, Prices Down In Big Bear Lake
October 21, 2008 by Leave a Comment
There was some surprising news to come out yesterday regarding home sales in the Southern CA area. Sales were up quite a bit in September 2008 though prices were down. I guess some news is better than no news at all but I think this report needs to be looked at in the proper perspective. I had a couple thoughts about it, check out the video below. [viddler id=75e77d9&w=437&h=368] Mr. Mortgage, as always, also has some good points on this article. … [Read more...]
Big Bear Bank Owned Buyers – Be Ready!
October 20, 2008 by 1 Comment
Bank owned properties in Big Bear are continuing to come on the market for sale at a steady pace. Don't expect that to change anytime soon. In the month of September 2008, there were 41 properties that went back to the bank. And there have already been 10 so far this month. While a few of these properties are already on the market for sale, the majority of them are still "in the listing process" with the banks and should be on the market in the coming weeks/months. What do the banks do between the time they … [Read more...]
MLS Data vs. Public Records – Which Can You Trust?
October 18, 2008 by 5 Comments
News about the real estate market is huge these days. There is a lot of talk about prices going down, sales going down, and lots of numbers to prove the point. But, are these numbers legit? I use the Big Bear MLS to substantiate a lot of the real estate data that I provide on the Skinny. Pulling sales data from the MLS only provides part of the story however. One of the biggest problems with the Big Bear MLS data is that it does not include all of the sales in the area. Along with the increase in REO … [Read more...]
