Valley Home Prices Up!

From SGV Tribune article - June 26, 2009

All but seven cities in the San Gabriel Valley saw home values go up in May -- the third month in a row in which median prices rose across the state, according to a report released on Thursday. The statewide median -- the point at which half of the values are less and half the values are more -- was $267,570, according to the California Assoc. of Realtors.

And though that was a 30.4% decrease from May of last year, it was a 4.2% increase from April. It was also the third consecutive rise and the largest monthly increase for the month of May since 1979, C.A.R. officials said.

The rise is being fueled by affordability at the market's low end as first-time homebuyers continue to pick up deals on once foreclosed homes, said CAR's Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young.

"We've had this incredible burst in sales,... and it's in areas with numbers of foreclosures where we are seeing the activity."

Attracted by still-low mortgage rates and tax credits, buyers -- including a heavy spike in investors -- bought 556,590 homes in May.

"We are seeing an amazing number of multiple offers on everything priced competitively," said Tom Adams, a Monrovia-based real estate agent. One of his listings in La Mirada was already in escrow and pulled another 40 offers.

What Mark & Lauren have to say: "Don't believe the news hype, or the doom and gloom they spread. Overall, the national economy is struggling, as we know. But local markets are individual and should be looked at to see if there's good opportunities. We believe that the deals are out there for many of our friends and family!"