Is the market GOOD, BAD or UGLY in YOUR neck of the woods ?

Here is the report from my neck of the woods which is Sherman Oaks, California located 15 miles north west of downtown Los Angeles:

260 active listings.
39 pending sales.
64 average days on the market.
$1,087,500 median sales price.

Prices are soft and homes are taking longer to sell.

WHATS GOING ON WITH THE MARKET IN YOUR AREA? :beer:

1 million average!!! my god is everyone a millionaire now??? how can home prices keep going up like that? . What is the foreclosure rate up there?

This information is from www.dqnews.com :

California Foreclosure Activity Up

La Jolla, CA.——First-quarter foreclosure activity in California increased to the highest level in more than two years, the result of slower home price increases, a real estate information service reported.

Lending institutions sent 18,668 default notices to California homeowners during the January-to-March period. That was up 23.4 percent from 15,122 for the prior quarter, and up 28.7 percent from 14,501 for 2005’s first quarter, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

Foreclosure activity hit a low during the third quarter of 2004 when 12,145 default notices were recorded. Defaults peaked in 1996’s first quarter at 59,897. DataQuick’s default statistics go back to 1992.

“A number of factors are driving defaults higher,” said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick’s president. “The main one right now is that home values are rising more slowly than they have been the past couple of years, which makes it more difficult for homeowners to sell their homes and pay off the lender. Other factors that influence default activity include the amount of equity people have in their property, the type of mortgage they used and how long they’ve had that mortgage.”

Statewide, the annual rate of home price increases hit a high of 22.8 percent during the second quarter of 2004. Since then, price appreciation has cooled to an annual gain of 12.4 percent in the first quarter of this year. Last quarter, San Diego County saw home values rise 4.8 percent, while its default activity jumped 59.7 percent. San Bernardino County saw home values rise 26.2 percent and defaults increase 17 percent

DataQuick, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts. The numbers count recorded notices of default, the first step of the formal foreclosure process.

The median first-quarter default amount on a primary mortgage last quarter was $9,220 on a loan of $280,000. On second mortgages and lines of credit the median amount owed was $3,386 on a loan of $56,760.

Only about five percent of homeowners who find themselves in default actually lose their homes to foreclosure. Most are able to stop the foreclosure process by bringing their mortgage payments current, or by selling their home and paying the home loan(s) off.

On a loan-by-loan basis, mortgages are least likely to go into default in the Bay Area. The likelihood is highest in the Central Valley and Inland Empire.

While foreclosure properties tugged property values down by almost ten percent in some areas nine years ago, the effect on today’s market is negligible, DataQuick reported.

Notices of Default
houses and condos

County/Region 2005Q1 2006Q1 %Chg
Los Angeles 3,535 4,211 19.1%
Orange 775 1,107 42.8%
San Diego 960 1,533 59.7%
Riverside 1,307 2,148 64.3%
San Bernardino 1,427 1,670 17.0%
Ventura 261 433 65.9%
SoCal Total 8,330 11,102 33.3%
San Francisco 104 127 22.1%
Alameda 516 564 9.3%
Contra Costa 576 605 5.0%
Santa Clara 500 527 5.4%
San Mateo 188 186 -1.1%
Marin 64 76 18.8%
Solano 269 294 9.3%
Sonoma 139 157 12.9%
Napa 29 47 62.1%
Bay Area Total 2,385 2,583 8.3%
Santa Cruz 67 108 61.2%
Santa Barbara 93 133 43.0%
San Luis Obispo 70 75 7.1%
Monterey 79 129 63.3%
Coast Total 309 445 44.0%
Sacramento 763 1,136 48.9%
San Joaquin 451 586 29.9%
Placer 126 239 89.7%
Kern 406 461 13.5%
Fresno 494 540 9.3%
Madera 55 79 43.6%
Merced 135 153 13.3%
Tulare 211 212 0.5%
Yolo 42 48 14.3%
El Dorado 62 54 -12.9%
Stanislaus 291 451 55.0%
San Benito 27 49 81.5%
Yuba 23 48 108.7%
Sutter 31 28 -9.7%
Central Valley Tot. 3,117 4,130 32.5%
Mountains Total 110 96 -12.7%
North Calif Total 250 312 24.8%
Statewide 14,501 18,668 28.7%

How much for just a 300 sq ft garage???