As the week came to a close last Friday, the duly-respected public pollsters at Rasmussen Reports issued their most recent homeowner sentiment sampling—one that confirmed what many Costa Mesa homeowners had surmised from the snippets of information that’s been echoed around the country: the belief that home values are more than just holding in many areas— supplanting fears of a stall (or reversal). On Sunday, Rasmussen refined their commentary to a straightforward, “Housing Market Confidence Improves.”

The data first arrived in the polling firm’s daily email update, which top-lined a survey of over a thousand U.S. adults. The query compared U.S. homeowners’ “confidence in the resale value of their homes” with their answers to the same question last…

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Clicking on an unfamiliar computer icon last week triggered one of those new Artificially Intelligent bots to offer its services. The message that popped up was generous: “Ask me anything!”

Since the topic of the day had been disagreements about the direction Costa Mesa home affordability was exhibiting (CBS News had just headlined “Affordable homes in the U.S. are becoming fewer” while ATTOM Data Solutions contended “U.S. Homeownership Slightly More Affordable in Q1 2023”), it seemed opportune to accept the computer’s invitation for an inquiry about affordability.

Here are the reasons the bot gave for why someone should consider buying a house, whether or not affordability headwinds were increasing. In a twinkling, it came up with five…

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A brief review of the national picture is more encouraging for Costa Mesa home sales than has often been the case of late—but is also a bit of a mixed bag:

  • Existing home sales reversed a 12-month decline by rising a strong 14.5% in February, which marks the largest increase since mid-summer of 2020.
  • The National Association of Realtors® announced a housing inventory of 980,000 units at the end of February, which amounts to a hefty 15.3% rise from the previous year. Even so, overall the housing supply shortage remains a significant factor for Costa Mesa home seekers.
  • Median existing-home prices (all housing types) were essentially flat: the $363,000 figure was down .2% from the previous year. The data from March may reverse that.
  • …

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Given the warmer weather, longer days, and blossoming flowers, it’s easy to see why this time of year brings out earnest buyers, including those serious about buying a home in Costa Mesa. Buying that Costa Mesa property can be a daunting task, especially for first-time buyers—and today’s changing market doesn’t make it any easier.

If you’re thinking of buying a home in town this spring, here’s a list of navigation tips to keep in mind as you search for your new home:

  1. Define your budget. Before you start your search, determine how much you can safely afford to spend. Account for all of your monthly expenses including expected mortgage payments, property taxes, and insurance. Then, once you have determined what you think is your budget…
  2. Get…

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For both existing and new homes, last week revealed some preliminary indications that an uptick in activity was underway. The hints worth musing over arrived in the National Association of Realtors®’ latest rundown on U.S. housing activity. Key findings:

  • Existing home sales registered a 14.5% increase in sales. That was the largest monthly increase in percentage since July 2020.
  • Pending home sales (that is, contract signings) rose by 8.1%. That constituted the second monthly rise in a row, although it was a step down from last year’s number.

The statistical release was accompanied by projections based on the trends the data indicated:

  • NAR “anticipates the economy will continue to add jobs throughout 2023.”
  • They project that the…

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Unsettling developments in the banking industry had been front-and-center in the national press for all of last week, so the headline in Realtor News was definitely effective clickbait. For any Costa Mesa house buyer or seller concerned that a financial spillover might disturb their own plans, the promise would have been irresistible:

“How 3 Recent Bank Failures Could Impact Housing Market” would be hard to skip past if your Costa Mesa house is already up for sale (or soon will be). The thing is, what seem to be disruptive events may not prove to work out that way when all is said and done—despite all the scare-inducing coverage (Realtor’s ‘bank failures’ story was illustrated by a cartoon depicting black-suited bankers disappearing beneath stormy…

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Here’s a new real estate riddle:

In any Costa Mesa house sale, what is the least expensive element that can also be the costliest?

There are many possible answers to the first part of the riddle. If the roof is openly deteriorating, the Costa Mesa house’s sale will usually depend on attending to that—a 5-figure expense in many instances. If the kitchen appliances are failing, they might need replacing. If the curb appeal is significantly lower than the neighborhood average, it might mean an expensive exterior paint update or correcting the long-neglected landscape.

There can be any number of costly elements that could be a part of a Costa Mesa home’s sale—but that fails to satisfy the riddle’s second half: that of being the least expensive.…

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Most people know the answer to a question like, “Will home sales suffer if mortgage rates go up?” The answer is, “DUH! Of course—it’s sure to cut down on sales.” Even though that’s hard to argue with, the obvious cause-and-effect connection can be seriously misleading. It can even lead to an expensive mistake.

Everyone acknowledges that the effect of rising Costa Mesa mortgage rates will be to discourage potential buyers—especially for the 42% of U.S. buyers who depend on a home loan. When that payment goes up a lot, it happens that much more. Duh.

Yet for homeowners mulling over the idea of adding their own property to the Costa Mesa listings, that particular ‘duh’ can lead to a secondary conclusion that could be misplaced—namely, “If fewer…

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When a real estate novice makes an initial foray into the world of buying their first Costa Mesa house, the first task is pinpointing how much they can afford. First-time buyers are especially prone to one beginner’s mistake: it’s easy to overlook the bagful of ancillary costs that are part of any home purchase. These peripheral charges carry percentages that may look minor—but taken together, are anything but.

Whether you call them “closing costs” or “settlement fees,” including them in preliminary budgeting is mandatory. That’s why government-sponsored Freddie Mac makes the list of included elements part of its “Understanding Costs” web educational site. Nine are named—and although they include some that apply only when outside financing is…

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When those who deal in area real estate study Costa Mesa home design trends, they usually point to the ebb and flow of interior décor choices—like the recent ascension of mixed textural elements or the growing preference for warming neutral colors. But when Homes and Gardens published their list of the “10 interior design trends” that will shape home spaces in 2023, no such minor fine-tuning was at the head of its list. This year, a more consequential shift was declared.

At first blush, their first place choice sounds like some pop philosophical notion—but H&G nixed any such thought, deeming their Number One trend “anything but a fashionable fad.”

The new leading trend is “The Influence of The Natural World.”

This might seem to be a…

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