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Health & Fitness

Real Estate Stats for Laguna Niguel—the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

What's happening in Laguna Niguel Real Estate?

What’s happening in Laguna Niguel real estate? Here are some interesting statistics. Active home inventory in our city is down 15 percent from mid-August. Homes are selling if they are priced right, especially now, with the super-low interest rates.

Believe it or not, I saw one lender quoting 2.99 percent on a 15-year mortgage with one point. Even FHA rates were advertised at 3.75 percent. (By the way, many complexes have lost their FHA approvals this year, making it even more difficult to buy a condo).

Short sales are still having a downward effect on home prices. Agents list short sales at below market values to attract attention and the buyers offer even lower. This sets up a stand-off with the banks which becomes a tug-of-war until the bank either forecloses or gives in—and then there is a new “low value comp” for the neighborhood.

Find out what's happening in Laguna Niguel-Dana Pointwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For homes under $600,000 the percentage of short sales had been running around 50 percent, but seems to have dropped to 40 percent right now. For homes between $600,000 and $1 million the percentage of short sales is quite steady at 15 percent. There are 19 foreclosures active on the market under $600,000, and five foreclosures active between $600,000 and $1 million.

There has always been a pattern of real estate activity in our area which consisted of a springtime wave of increasing listing activity which tapers down over the summer, followed by a fall wave of activity in October and November. The distressed sale market definitely skews these patterns somewhat.

Find out what's happening in Laguna Niguel-Dana Pointwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Here are some real estate tips for buyers.

Remember that the list price of a short sale is a fictitious price until the bank comes back with a number. This number is normally not known until an offer is submitted to the bank and processed.

Secondly, everything in real estate has to be in writing. If it is not in writing you cannot prove it.

Offers are not accepted until they are signed by the receiving party and returned to the maker. Anything verbal can suddenly disappear and you will never be able to prove it.

Lastly, don’t forget that short sales and foreclosures are generally sold “as-is.”

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