The year has proven to be a flat spot, most realtors, homeowners, and appraisers are hoping that the bottom has been found.  That next year will be the transition back into a successful and growing Southern California real estate market, but for now, we all need to be careful about what transactions we are participating in and know that the market could flip on us at anytime.  A lot of homeowners are still being forced to sell due to bad mortgage deals and looming foreclosures.  All adding more inventory and instability to the market, here are some of the numbers that resulted.

• May home sales were down 5.8% from April and down 14.4% from May a year ago.
• The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home sold in California slipped 0.7% in May to $291,760 from $293,800 in April. May’s median price was down 10.9%  from the $327,460 in May 2010.
• The Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes was 5.4 months in May, the same as April, but longer than 4.5-month supply last May. The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.
• The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 51.8 days in May, up from 37.8 days for the same period last year.

You can see how the “shadow inventory” held by banks is becoming more apparent and visible on the market, this is helping the home prices tank downward.  With extended sales times of up to 6 months, even when so many realtors are screaming “buy, buy, buy”.  There is still major uncertainty in the market,but on the financial side of mortgages and lending to the home buyers and cash players.  If they are being honest, then NO one has any idea what our market is gonna do next.  Despite all of the advertising junk and people throwing around the ever fun, but no less ridiculous, “the market is so low, it HAS to come back up!”.

Keep up on the statistics and trends, try to be as informed as possible and protect your investments this year in Southern California real estate.  Look to hire a qualified, FHA approved appraiser to help you understand the REAL value of a home or property, big mistakes will really hurt in this economy.