[quote=SD Realtor]…The only real mystery is why the lack of inventory.[/quote]
I don’t see any “mystery” here. Prospective sellers who hung on during the millenium boom, have equity and didn’t participate in the cash-out/HELOC party during the millenium boom have no doubt improved their properties over the years. Unless they purchased before 1997, a lot of them STILL can’t recover ANY of their cost of the improvements they made with their own money if they sold now. This is true in many micro-markets in SD County. It is not yet time for many homeowners in this category to sell unless their property is located in a “hot” zip code (where they can possibly now get up to 20% over asking price, possibly countering in a multiple-bid situation).
Many of the millenium-boom-era purchasers and owners who took “cash out” during this era and who still own their residences still cannot recover all of the cost of improvements or “cash-out” portion they took out of the property (some of which was no doubt used for improvements to said property), pay a RE commission and their portion of closing costs and still be “above water” at closing. If the market still seems to be rising and they are able to continue with their mtg payments (likely “modified” to lower monthly payments by now), they feel they can wait for a “better day” to sell.
In the “hot” areas, many prospective sellers may still have minor children in school since “schools” (and nothing else) seem to be the sole reason why these areas currently have a “hot” market and the sole reason for these prospective sellers’ purchase of the property in the first place.
And lastly, prospective sellers who have annual property taxes of less than $1000 are thinking twice about what their taxes would be if they bought another CA property which was NOT in a county participating in assessment transfers pursuant to Prop 60 (if they haven’t already taken this benefit). OR these same owners may just want to leave their unencumbered, low-taxed CA real property to their heirs, whether they currently occupy it or not. As well they should as long as the law allows this.
What say Piggs? If you had plans to move in the next 1-3 years, would you sell your home now … or wait? And if you would wait, how long would you wait to list it?
