About the last thing area homeowners need now is to spend time worrying about the effect the pandemic will have on their Costa Mesa home values. Given that memories of the Great Recession have yet to fade, a replay of that decline in home values might seem logical.

So, it was reassuring to read Claire Trapasso’s calming analysis pointing out the multiple reasons why a housing crash is viewed as highly unlikely in today’s circumstances. Professor Trapasso’s analysis highlighted a number of points, including these five:

  •          Mortgage Stability. Housing market fundamentals “couldn’t be more different” than those that prevailed in the 2007-2009 meltdown when “just about anyone could get a mortgage.” Today, stricter borrower qualification…

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For Costa Mesa mortgage interest rate chroniclers, this month began with the culmination of a trend that’s been playing out for quite some time. It’s “the other shoe” that finally dropped. The headlines confirmed the numbers that government-owned mortgage backer Freddie Mac posted: 

“Mortgage Rates Dip to New Record Low.”

The 3.23% national average on the 30-year fixed-rate hit was, literally, an all-time low. It represented a drop of a tenth of a percent below the previous week’s mark (and nearly a full percentage point below what had been posted a year earlier). 

In other words, the come-hither phrase advertisers have been long spouting—"home loans near historic lows”—was suddenly passé: rates were now surpassing historic lows! There were,…

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The “Real Estate News” tab in Realtor.com is a reliable source for information that real estate followers—especially active Costa Mesa home buyers and sellers—can turn to for the latest takes on real estate market activity. Since it comes from the National Association of Realtors®, it’s not where you’d turn to for a completely impartial view—nonetheless, the underlying information it dispenses is dependably accurate.

Since that’s the case, the leading article from a couple of weeks back had been discomfiting. “Gallup: Only 50% of Americans Believe It’s a Good Time to Buy a Home” isn’t exactly supportive for anyone who’s been weighing the pros and cons of a real estate purchase right now. The basis for the piece was, indeed, slightly unnerving. A…

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Like many other local professional people, we Costa Mesa Realtors® have been working in a challenging (you might say, “topsy-turvy”) business environment. It’s one that nobody had foreseen—much less prepared for. It has taken multiple adjustments to navigate through some awkward restrictions, but since the need for shelter can’t always be put on hold, they were necessary. As in many localities across the country, even while honoring the most stringent Shelter in Place restrictions, highly motivated buyers and sellers have been able to work with their agents to negotiate and finalize transactions. 

But now the path ahead is somewhat more predictable. It’s becoming evident that we are nearing a new phase—one where we will cautiously back into what…

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At first blush, the idea of listing your Costa Mesa house during today’s emergency conditions would seem impractical—but it turns out to be entirely doable. There are even some plusses.  

Some sellers apparently agreed. Last week’s Forbes magazine offered an interesting view from one area where home sales rose significantly in March. A local agent there realized a human dimension that seemed to be affecting clients during this period. As people spent more time at home than ever, they were also appreciating how important having the right home base really was. As the agent observed, “I can’t think of a time when people around the world have depended on their homes more completely than they do right now.” 

One usual concern that might disappear has…

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 Last week Yahoo’s Finance page led with a commentary that posed the question, “Why Aren’t Homeowners Taking Advantage of Low Mortgage Rates?” Although the premise (“mortgage rates have plunged back to the lowest levels in at least half a century”) may have been slightly overblown, Costa Mesa home loan shoppers could indeed have found published rates that were at bargain-basement levels.

The author, Doug Whiteman (the editor-in-chief of MoneyWise), calculated that, at end-of-March rates, 11 million U.S. homeowners could have saved at least $3,200 per year by refinancing. Even though many existing Costa Mesa home loans already reflect low rates, with last week’s national 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaging 3.33%, you’d think refinance lenders…

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For the next wave of Costa Mesa home buyers—as well as for homeowners who intend to offer their Costa Mesa properties for sale—the past week produced little to clarify what to expect from future Costa Mesa market conditions. Even so, as California’s state and county officials scrambled to offer guidance on public health and safety issues, there was also a growing national awareness of the simultaneous need to preserve a viable economic future.   

Throughout the week, New York City dominated much of the nation’s attention. As its heroic health workers braced for a potentially catastrophic viral surge, it was not surprising that almost unnoticed came a ruling affecting its real estate disposition. It illustrated one aspect of the dilemma facing…

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