2011 was a rough year in real estate, there were some deals and discounted homes to be found but for the large part most people struggled throughout the year with a struggling economy.  Home prices picked up slightly and found some stability around those 2003-2005 type of prices but we are far and short from where we used to be.  And, it doesn’t seem like we’ll ever push prices up the high again, or at least not for some years ahead.

What about home sales? Well there up a bit from last year, but that isn’t saying much when our economy is still very sluggish and struggling.  As prices have stayed pretty conservative there have been a lot of buyers coming into the market with large investments to purchase cheap property for the future.  There hasn’t been a big pick up in smaller, first time buyers and such because of difficulties obtaining quality mortgages.  There has been the lowest number of FHA mortgages in California this year compared to the last 5 years.

The best plan currently is upkeep your properties well and try to push for renters if you cannot get a sale going.  Renting has gone up in California and we’ve seen more and more owners find good success with getting renters in the current economy. 

If you have any questions or concerns about appraisals or FHA requirements, please feel free to email us at anytime and we’ll respond promptly.