The Union Tribune reported some negative AND postive news on the housing market yesterday. The "bad" news is that the number of sales declined again, the 34th month in a row. No real surprise there.

However, the good news (well, more so if you are a seller) is that housing prices rose across all three categories of housing - resale homes, resale condos, new condos and homes.

Here's a link to the full article. I suspect we will continue to see more buyers coming into the market as has been happening for the last couple of months. Stay tuned for more updates.

BUYERS:  would you like to have some statistics on the market in your area?

SELLERS:  do you want to know what market conditions are like BEFORE you list? Or to find out WHY your home is not selling and how to fix that problem?

• If you are in the San Diego County area and want this information, just let me know and I will get it for you
• If you are out of the area, let me know where you are and I can find someone to help you obtain this information (or as the agent you are working with)

You don't have to be a statistics fanatic to want to this information. WHY?

• Because an informed consumer can make the best decision regarding a purchase or the listing price on their home
• If you don't know what is going on in the market, how will you know that the home you wish to buy is priced correctly, or what you should reasonably offer?
• If you are selling, how can you possibly decide on the price to list your home at TO SELL QUICKLY and FOR TOP DOLLAR if you have no clue about the market and what comparable homes are selling for

Here is just a sampling of some things you might want to know. And the information can be in the form of a table, a graph, or simply a written summary of the market.

The graph is for the inventory in Carlsbad over the last 6 months.

Here is a table of summary statistics for Carlsbad for February:

The statistics do NOT have to be elaborate, but you should have the information that wll allow you to answer the questions that you have, and to make an informed decision. Here are some other things to know about:

• # of homes active on the market (in your price range)
• # of homes sold in last 6 months
• Sale price/List price ratios of homes that are active and that have sold
• Days on market (DOM)
• Price per SF of living space of sold comparable homes
• Price range of sold homes that are comparable

You get the idea. You agent will know what kind of information may be helpful, and you will possibly have some other ideas as well.

DON'T make the decision to buy or sell solely on statistics, but they are an important part of becoming an educated consumer.

The headlines have blasted us with negative information about the housing market in San Diego throughout 2006

Be careful when reading the headlines, and don't draw your conclusions from them. Rather, read the entire article, as you will often find the news to be more positive than the headlines would lead you to believe. After all, negative news tends to sell papers.

If you want the lowdown on the housing market, read my post on the year-end housing market stats for San Diego. The news is pretty positive (although house prices are still high), and encouraging for the year ahead.

Jeff

I will be posting a summary report in January based on my review of the MLS statistics for the towns I service here in Southern California. The purpose, of course, is to give readers who are interested in this area of the country a better feel for what has been happening here over the last 12 months in the housing market.

Our city newspaper just reported a fairly positive overview of the housing market on a more global level today. Here is some more news on the housing market!

Do you have specific questions about a communtiy here in the San Diego area? Let me know and I will get you the information you need.