The National Association of Home Builders has been at it for decades: systematically conducting some of the most precise public opinion sampling that describes U.S. attitudes toward home purchases, construction trends, and all manner of residential real estate matters. Since they’ve been at it for so long, their reports can authoritatively trace the ups and downs of the shifts in opinion that can influence the Costa Mesa market.

Over the past few months, NAHB’s “Eye on Housing” site has made for interesting reading, allowing more focused details of trends that are only touched upon in national media. Some recent findings on a wide range of subjects:

  • Attitudes toward homeownership. Completed at the close of 2021’s second quarter, the most…

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The latest national polling of real estate professionals yields a convincing picture of a market that's stubbornly remaining in the sellers' corner. If so, this August's home hunters shouldn't be surprised to find competition for the Costa Mesa homes for sale—and reason to take the two most often-cited preparatory steps for maximizing chances of landing a property they've decided on.

The National Association of Realtors®' latest member survey reaffirms the continuation of buyer competition, in part due to the limited number of available listings. That may be good news for sellers: nationally, homes typically sold in 17 days—a full week faster than last year's average of 24 days. Buyers, on the other hand, often faced stiff buyer competition for the…

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Last week could have been misleading for busy Costa Mesa real estate investors who were too rushed. If they were pressed for time, skimmed headlines or only the first paragraph or two of reports and opinion pieces might have left them with false impressions. Some of last week’s news could have been somewhat dismaying—needlessly so.

Take last Monday. Realtor Magazine’s “Home Seller Profits Take Surprising Turn” was the lead story, opening with “Profit margins for home sellers took an unexpected dip in the second quarter…”. If a phone call had interrupted at that point, it would have been hard for any investor to feel good about the “surprising turn” and the “unexpected dip.

Similarly, Costa Mesa real estate holders whose smartphones or iPads…

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As Costa Mesa residents strive to resume life and career in anything like their pre-pandemic forms, one phrase that used to appear a lot less frequently keeps popping up: “the new normal.”

The American Enterprise Institute just invoked that phrase in a report that has implications for area house hunters and home sellers alike. The report from the AEI Housing Center takes a unique look at a home finance statistic they believe is a valid indicator for the direction of residential real estate activity as a whole: rate lock data.

Since mortgage interest rates can rise and fall from day to day, future Costa Mesa home buyers often secure “rate locks” from home loan providers. Locks guarantee that, when a mortgage is issued, its interest rate won’t…

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For those who are on the fence about whether this summer is the right time to sell your Costa Mesa home, last week’s Realtor.com website provided some video guidance. Their video brief noted five signs that it might be time to start looking for your next home:

  1. If the price per square foot for comparable Costa Mesa homes is on the increase, it means “the market is hot”—hospitable to sellers and a good time to sell.
  2. You have tired of barely being able to make ends meet—so cashing out now to facilitate a move to less stress-inducing quarters would make good sense.
  3. Your family has grown, but your Costa Mesa house hasn’t (as when a starter home is no longer adequate).
  4. Maintenance costs are more than you bargained for (in both cash and time…

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Like most of the rest of the news, midsummer real estate reporting usually draws little attention. It’s what journalists call the ‘silly season,’ when unimportant or just plain silly stories fill in for real news. This is the time of year when newsgatherers feel it safe to head off to the Hamptons or Martha’s Vineyard—especially since their alternative is a steamy July in Manhattan or D.C.

On our local scene, Costa Mesa weather reporting usually gets a larger slice of TV newscasts. Since outdoor family activities depend on coordinating with the weather, it’s the segment more viewers tune in for.

By last Friday, though, Costa Mesa real estate followers who persist in tracking national trends found an unusual number of late-July stories…

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For many Costa Mesa residents, “The American Dream” is often loosely thought of as synonymous with homeownership, even though a number of other attributes probably deserve equal consideration. Another strong contender is the rags-to-riches stories where hard work and creativity (and usually a goodly dose of luck) result in fame and fortune.

That it’s peculiarly an American dream is more than a myth: it’s an observation that’s demonstrated staying power over time. Notions have to be based on more than a grain of truth to last long in the popular mind. Perhaps it’s peculiarly American because of our particular mix of social and economic mobility—not to mention the considerable physical mobility that makes moving from one community or state to…

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The decision to go ahead and list your Costa Mesa house is often governed by personal and professional developments, but when the timing isn’t dictated by individual circumstances, the performance of the real estate market in general can be decisive. When a pronounced downturn is in the headlines, most homeowners will hold off for a while. Likewise, when a healthy market is being widely ballyhooed, more sellers will list their Costa Mesa houses—it’s only natural.

Too, the seasonality factor can also affect the decision. Although July is sometimes thought to be included in the ‘busy season,’ by now, most of the buyers who have planned to be settled into their new homes by the end of summer have finalized their choice (or are in the process of doing…

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With U.S. home prices at record levels, it’s reasonable to speculate about the future of Costa Mesa real estate—particularly whether it’s such a good idea to buy right now. Most everyone recalls the last time real estate prices set records—and the drop-off that followed.

Once the U.S. market hit bottom, even though history teaches that it was an ideal time to buy, most regular consumers didn’t even want to think about anything connected with real estate. That, of course, was when the big corporate players (aka, the ‘smart money’) moved in to buy up distressed residential properties by the thousands. It’s a familiar story.

The future of Costa Mesa real estate prices is always a mystery, but lately there have been more than a few signs that…

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For a lot of families that are well-positioned to start serious house-hunting this summer, one question may give them pause: are Costa Mesa home prices just too high to be reasonable? The answer seems largely speculative, but there are objective benchmarks that point to an answer.

Back in the spring of 2018, author Aaron Terrazas compiled a thoroughgoing analysis of what seemed to be a serious threat to U.S. residential real estate’s immediate future. Impending mortgage rate hikes looked likely to “threaten housing affordability and inventory.”

As Terrazas wrote, then-current mortgage interest rates were “very low by historical standards.” His analysis described this rare circumstance which had kept monthly payments relatively affordable “even…

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