Blog Archive – November 2022

 

Note: Some of the links below may take you to a blank page with the verbiage, “This is not a valid link.”  These links have expired from the Ventura MLS and are no longer accessible.  Ojai MLS links are not affected in this way.

Wednesday, November 30, 2022
11:40 a.m.
There is a new “coming soon” listing on the market:

 

413 W. Matilija Street – $1,379,000 (coming soon, 12/2)

 

 

 

Prior “coming soon” listings now on the market:

 

 

Pic of the Day

 

Monday, November 28, 2022
11:30 a.m.
Prior “coming soon” listings now on the market:

 

 

Updated interest rates:

30-yr fixed:  6.62%

15-yr fixed:  6.02%

30-yr Jumbo:  5.95%

30-yr FHA:  6.12%

30-yr VA:  6/15%

 

 

 

Pic of the Day
Construction humor

 

Friday, November 25, 2022
10:30 a.m.
There are four new (or “coming soon”) listings on the market:

 

325 Descanso Avenue – $1,297,000

 

 

950 Woodland Avenue #110 – $223,900

 

 

150 Monte Via – $719,000 (coming soon, 11/30)

 

 

1225 S. Rice Road #45 – $260,000 (coming soon, 11/26)

 

 

 

Here’s the list of things to do in Ojai!

 

 

Pic of the Day
Buy a Samsung or we’ll kill you?

 

Wednesday, November 23, 2022
9:55 a.m.
There are three new (or “coming soon”) listings on the market:

 

254 S. Pueblo Avenue – $1,799,000

 

 

2728 E. Ojai Avenue – $6,100,000

 

 

2980 Grand Avenue – $2,600,000 (coming soon, 12/2)

 

 

 

Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving; enjoy the long weekend (if you have Friday off)!

 

 

Pic of the Day

 

 

Tuesday, November 22, 2022
9:45 a.m.
Four new (or “coming soon”) listings have arrived on the market since Friday:

 

510 Pleasant Avenue – $1,395,000

 

 

950 Woodland Avenue #63 – $225,000

 

 

165 Ojai Drive – $829,000 (coming soon, 12/9)

 

 

699 Highland Drive – $1,300,000 (coming soon, 12/1)

 

 

 

Pic of the Day
Typical rich neighbors, flaunting their wealth

 

Friday, November 18, 2022
10:40 a.m.
There is a new listing on the market:

 

11262 Sulphur Mountain Road – $1,300,000

 

 

 

Here’s the list of things to do in Ojai; have a nice weekend!

 

 

Pic of the Day
The insubordinate tree

 

Thursday, November 17, 2022
10:55 a.m.
There are two new listings on the market:

 

2460 Valley Meadow Drive – $2,850,000

 

 

ojai real estate

62 W. Calle El Prado – $835,000

 

 

Prior “coming soon” listings now on the market:

 

 

Pic of the Day
Oh, you have a complaint? Please see our manager on the 2nd floor.

 

Tuesday, November 15, 2022
10:30 a.m.
Five new (or “coming soon”) listings have come to the market since last Friday:

 

561 Saddle Lane – $14,500,000

 

 

213 Sunset Avenue – $1,125,000

 

 

710-718 S. La Luna Avenue – $4,920,000

 

 

1186 Forest Avenue – $775,000 (coming soon, 11/30)

(There is no link available for this listing)

 

 

1198 Woodland Avenue – $999,000 (coming soon, 11/17)

 

 

 

Pic of the Day

 

Friday, November 11, 2022
11:30 a.m.
One new listing has come to the market since Wednesday:

 

170 Don Antonio Way – $279,000

 

 

A quick mortgage rate update:

 

Heading into this week, we knew that yesterday’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) would be critically important.  CPI is one of two key inflation reports in the US.  It did not disappoint!  As inflation has become the dominant force of the financial market, CPI has become the king of economic data.  No other economic report has caused more volatility for the bond market.  Because bonds dictate interest rates, we can also say CPI has caused just as much volatility in the mortgage world. 
 
As the 10-year Treasury Bond is a key indicator for mortgage interest rates, needless to say, they had a good day yesterday.  In fact, they had the best day on record.  10-year yields dropped the most in a single day since 2009.  
 
The BIG question: How long will this continue?  One stellar report is only half of the equation.  The Fed has been transparent in telling us that it will take consecutive reports for them to ease rate policies.  Regardless, today was a big victory in the rate landscape.

[Thanks to Martin Rosenblum at Motif Mortgage for his insight (805) 377-5432.

 

Current interest rates:

 

30-yr fixed:  6.62%

15-yr fixed:  6.00 %

30-yr Jumbo:  6.10%

30-yr FHA:  6.20%

30-yr VA:  6.25%

 

 

 

Here’s the list of things to do in Ojai; have a great weekend!

 

 

 

Pic of the Day

 

Wednesday, November 9, 2022
10:40 a.m.
There is a new listing on the market:

 

487 Gridley Road – $2,490,000

 

 

 

Pic of the Day
How about you just knock $250 off your commission?  (Go KW!)

 

Monday, November 7, 2022
11:55 a.m.
There are five new listings on the market:

 

307 Fox Street – $654,000

 

 

2027 Los Encinos Road – $1,395,000

 

 

32 Barbara Street – $625,000

 

 

1138 Mariano Drive – $950,000

 

 

1975 Maricopa Highway #66 – $250,000

 

 

 

Here’s an update on the current state of the market from a mortgage broker’s point of view – and one of the most respected professionals that we recommend – Emily Wilson of Heritage Financial here in Ojai:

 

 

 

 

Bring on the rain!  We’ve received .12 inches thus far according to my rain gauge, with more expected during the day today and tomorrow.

 

 

 

Pic of the Day

 

Friday, November 4, 2022
10:35 a.m.
There is a new listing on the market:

 

501 N. Fulton Street – $1,195,000

 

 

Starting today, I’ve created an additional category for “new” listings on BBIO.  It’s called “Recently cancelled or expired listings, back on the market.”

I’ve created this new category after 11 years of fighting a tactic that could be perceived as manipulating “the system.”  This commonly occurs when a listing either cancels or expires, then is brought back to the market as a “new” listing – even though it may have been on the market just a day or two before.  It’s a way to trick not only the MLS, but also some third-party websites (such as Redfin and Zillow, etc.) into also thinking it’s a “new” listing, thus bumping the listing “up to the top” so to speak.  While an expired listing that comes back on as “new” isn’t necessarily a misleading tactic (after all, some listings just run their course, expire and then come back on the market) – on some listings it appears the agent intentionally omits the “Street,” “Drive,” or “Avenue” designation – which also fools the MLS into thinking it’s a brand new listing.  I’ve always bristled at this, and in addition, it tends to screw up important market data metrics by re-setting the “Days on Market” metric back to zero.  My intent isn’t to call out any particular office or agent (the occurrence is fairly common), but just to inform you that a “new” listing isn’t necessarily all that new.

As previously noted in the blog, I used to use my judgement as to what qualified as “new” in these scenarios.  But it was an undefined and nebulous criteria, which also made me uncomfortable.  So from here forward, any such “new” listing will be listed on BBIO under this new category.

 

Recently cancelled or expired listings, back on the market:

 

 

Prior “coming soon” listings now on the market:

 

 

I noticed that the Lake Casitas water level went down to 30% today.  I’m glad to see that there appears to be rain headed our way (possibly starting late Sunday).  I’m hoping we can stave off a reading that begins with 29% over the next few days.  Once it gets into the 20% range, that just feels so much worse.

 

Here’s the list of things to do in Ojai.  Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

Pic of the Day

 

 

Thursday, November 3, 2022
1:35 p.m.

I’ve got an abundance of info for you today; the daily update, the Ojai Market Data update, and an interest rate update.  So buckle up and hang on!

There are two new listings on the market:

 

1115 McNell Road – $3,400,000

 

 

1108 S. La Luna Avenue – $2,250,000

 

 

Federal Reserve Hikes Rates By 0.75%
 

It is important to know that the Fed Funds Rate (the thing the Fed “hikes” when you hear about the Fed hiking rates) applies to overnight loans among large financial institutions.  The Federal Reserve doesn’t set mortgage rates, and mortgage rates DID NOT go up three-quarters of a percent.

With that in mind, the bond market, which is more closely associated to mortgage rates, has long since assumed the Fed would hike 0.75% today and when the 0.75% hike actually happened, it didn’t have any impact on the rest of the bond market. 

As markets were volatile today, the more important events for bonds/rates are yet to come.  If Friday’s jobs report shows higher unemployment or if next week’s Consumer Price Index data shows lower inflation, rates could easily find their footing and move lower.  Unfortunately, the data can cut both ways (i.e. if it’s stronger than expected, rates would likely move higher).

 

Current rates:

 

30-yr fixed:  7.30%

15-yr fixed:  6.75%

30-yr Jumbo:  6.35%

30-yr FHA:  6.82%

30-yr VA:  6.85%

 

 

Here’s your real estate market update for Ojai valley listings, including sales that occurred in October:

 

~ 28 new listings came to the market in October, compared to 34 in September.

 

~ 13 residential properties sold in October, compared to 19 in September (does not include land parcels, commercial properties, or mobile homes).

 

~ Of the 13 properties that sold in October, 3 sold above list price, 2 sold at list price, and the remaining properties sold below list price.  For comparison, in September, 6 of the 19 listings sold over full price, one at list price, and the remaining below list price.  The average number of days on the market for properties sold in October was 32 days (42 in September).  (Note: For purposes of these statistics, “list price” is the original list price of the home and does not take into account any subsequent price reductions or increases after the home was initially listed on the market.)

 

~ The average sales price for homes in October was $2,160,462 while the median sales price was $1,150,000.  The lowest sales price for a home in October was $735,000 while the highest sales price was $10,250,000.  This sale obviously skewered the averages, especially considering that only 13 properties sold.  If I remove the $10,250,000 sale as an outlier, the average sales price for October was $1,486,333 and the median sales price was $1,070,000.

 

~ As of today there are 55 single-family residential homes available on the market, one of which is in “coming soon” status (does not include land, commercial property or mobile homes).  For comparison, there were 63 active listings on the market on October 5th (the date of our last market update).  Of the 55 active listings on the market at this time, 21 of them are listed under $1,000,000 (there were 26 such listings on October 5th).  If I remove the outlier listing that is priced at $79,900,000 in upper Ojai, the average list price for homes on the market today is $1,838,750 ($1,817,140 in October), while the median listed home price is $1,349,000 ($1,359,500 in October).

 

~ During the month of October there were 22 price reductions on residential listings (16 in September).

 

 

 

 

 

Pic of the Day
This only works with an east coast accent

 

Tuesday, November 1, 2022
12:15 p.m.
There is a new “coming soon” listing on the market:

 

227 S. Montgomery Street – $1,389,000 (coming soon, 11/4)

 

 

Prior “coming soon” listings now on the market:

 

 

 

Pic of the Day
Levi Strauss’ humble beginnings

 

 

 

 

Click here for archived September, 2022 posts