Tagged : Real Estate Market

Sometimes perfectly logical assumptions just don’t pan out.

For homeowners who had planned to sell their Costa Mesa home this year, the sudden advent of the COVID-19 pandemic looked like the worst kind of bad news—what pundits call a “black swan”—the kind of out-of-the-blue event that thoroughly disrupts normal prospects. Sure enough, unemployment numbers soared, and businesses in any number of fields ground to a halt. As if those conditions weren’t damaging enough, for Costa Mesa home sellers, even showing Costa Mesa homes became close to impossible as everyone grappled with finding the best ways to deal with the changing conditions.

Few would have believed that already by summer’s end, residential real estate sales could possibly rebound as

  Ask a typical Fountain Valley consumer to name the two most important purchases people make, and you’ll almost always hear “new house” and “new car.” They’re often lumped together, but they shouldn’t be. They aren’t all that similar.

  The rationale for buying a new car is clear: automotive technology advances nearly every model year, improving fuel economy and safety. Add in that intoxicating new car smell, and the preference is all but automatic. Used cars may be economical, but as for the thrill factor: nyah!

  Similarly, when the question is put to a cross-section of typical Americans, new homes get the nod over existing ones. The percentage of those who “strongly” or “somewhat” prefer buying a newly built home weighs in at 41%. That’s a

L3 Real Estate Orange County, CA Featured Open House for

Saturday -  January 13th, 2018

987 Trenton Way, Costa Mesa 1-4

8201 Kingsdale Ln, Huntington Beach 1-4

Sunday - January 14th, 2018

987 Trenton Way, Costa Mesa 1-4

8201 Kingsdale Ln, Huntington Beach 1-4

We are built on a philosophy of Heritage & Hustle L3 is a full service real estate agency with a regional office located in the heart of#CostaMesaoffering a wide-array of custom services to meet their clients’ needs with roots in the community since 1976. It’s L3 mission to provide trusted, convenient, responsive service to ensure clients enjoy their real estate experience. L3 was originally formed to offer personal, concierge-level service as

Last week’s “Moneywatch” article on CBSNews.com was a surefire attention grabber. It promised to reveal a single “must do” tip for first-time homebuyers. The main point covered familiar ground—but within the supporting information were some facts that could nudge some Newport Beach renters into becoming first-time homebuyers.

Although the headlined “Don’t Buy a Home Without Doing This First” tip was good enough advice (“build your budget”), the details for how to accomplish that were hardly groundbreakers:

• Experts advise holding mortgage payments to a maximum of 28% of gross income.

• Budget for more than just the mortgage amount: allow for upkeep and extras, remembering that “rent is the most you will pay, but the mortgage

It’s irresistible: peering into the new year, trying to guess what the Newport Beach real estate landscape will look like in the coming 365 days. At the close of an outstanding 2017, although it’s always a little foolish to assume too much about details in a world that changes as rapidly as ours does, I think there are some more-probable-than-not real estate good news/bad news scenarios likely to come our way:

GOOD NEWS:

• New-home sales increased an astounding 17.5% in November, creating “the exact kind of new-home sales numbers the market has been desperate for” according to Economist Aaron Terrazas. Builders report that they are selling homes before they even start building them, while (per the Wall Street Journal) “The housing market is

This holiday season finds Huntington Beach’s streets and stores humming with as much activity as has been seen for some time—which brings us to a particularly upbeat year’s end. Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa that’s spelled out in overhead banners, this is the one time of year when the commercial activity that marks all the big holidays is accompanied by a special spiritual overlay.

The hustle and bustle that’s led up to this week may have kept most of Huntington Beach’s parents, grandparents and everybody else busy collecting gifts and preparing for the gatherings we reinvent annually, but it’s nearly impossible not to also call to mind some of the indescribable wonder from childhood days.

That must have been in mind when, nearly a

L3 Real Estate Orange County, CA Featured Open House for

Saturday -  December 16th, 2017

987 Trenton Way, Costa Mesa 1-4

Sunday - December 17th, 2017

987 Trenton Way, Costa Mesa 1-4

2844 N Anchor Avenue, Orange 1-4

We are built on a philosophy of Heritage & Hustle L3 is a full service real estate agency including property management with a regional office located in the heart of #CostaMesa offering a wide-array of custom services to meet their clients’ needs with roots in the community since 1976. It’s L3 mission to provide trusted, convenient, responsive service to ensure clients enjoy their real estate experience. L3 was originally formed to offer personal, concierge-level service as an alternative to

Last week’s real estate news didn’t rate front page headlines, but I spotted three items of interest—two of which have implications for Costa Mesa real estate values. Both fall in line with upbeat news about the economy that permeated the airwaves. Holiday shopping (online and otherwise) was strong as consumer optimism peaked—probably related to expectations for a tax break.

The two stories that related to Costa Mesa real estate values stemmed from the periodic HPI report. That’s the “Home Price Index” put out by researchers at CoreLogic. Last week’s announcement showed national single-family residential sales and prices rising in October. That made it the fourth month in a row for 6%+ price rises—the longest such winning streak since June of