August sales by zip

Here's the sales numbers and median prices by zip code. These are for houses only so the median is a little higher than you might otherwise see.

		SFR	Price	% chg	$/Sq Ft
Countywide		###	$235	-40.50%	$120
Banning	92220	44	$150	-44.90%	$113
Beaumont	92223	69	$235	-25.40%	$116
Blythe	92225	6	$183	-20.70%	$138
Cabazon	92230	1	$157	-37.60%	$107
Calimesa	92320	7	$235	-33.80%	$163
Canyon Lake	92587	34	$246	-50.30%	$121
Cathedral City	92234	69	$220	-32.80%	$125
Coachella	92236	21	$200	-26.70%	$96
Corona	92879	66	$285	-38.60%	$159
Corona	92880	117	$363	-35.00%	$133
Corona	92881	34	$371	-36.40%	$158
Corona	92882	116	$332	-34.90%	$167
Corona	92883	78	$346	-20.00%	$145
Dsrt Hot Springs	92240	81	$126	-49.60%	$80
Dsrt Hot Springs	92241	3	$183	-26.60%	$84
Hemet	92543	25	$110	-51.80%	$85
Hemet	92544	55	$173	-33.10%	$106
Hemet	92545	89	$185	-37.40%	$92
Homeland	92548	4	$195	-55.20%	$89
Idyllwild	92549	18	$290	-12.10%	$257
Indian Wells	92210	10	####	23.70%	$348
Indio	92201	66	$205	-38.60%	$117
Indio	92203	50	$250	-42.30%	$105
La Quinta	92253	69	$340	-27.90%	$166
Lake Elsinore	92530	111	$190	-46.90%	$112
Lake Elsinore	92532	44	$260	-50.20%	$101
Mecca	92254	3	$85	-66.00%	$67
Menifee	92584	98	$246	-31.80%	$110
Mira Loma	91752	34	$359	-27.10%	$138
Moreno Valley	92551	79	$185	-51.30%	$107
Moreno Valley	92553	116	$150	-51.60%	$103
Moreno Valley	92555	84	$240	-38.10%	$96
Moreno Valley	92557	88	$185	-47.50%	$113
Mountain Center	92561	1	$199	-70.70%	$100
Murrieta	92562	124	$285	-31.20%	$119
Murrieta	92563	159	$280	-29.60%	$108
Norco	92860	37	$445	-23.90%	$163
Nuevo	92567	15	$205	-54.40%	$135
Palm Desert	92211	27	$361	-9.90%	$173
Palm Desert	92260	17	$358	-16.00%	$175
Palm Springs	92262	32	$390	-9.80%	$233
Palm Springs	92264	21	$740	18.20%	$288
Perris	92570	41	$220	-35.90%	$113
Perris	92571	133	$178	-48.10%	$95
Rancho Mirage	92270	21	$603	-29.90%	$229
Riverside	92501	28	$225	-39.20%	$153
Riverside	92503	89	$237	-38.50%	$146
Riverside	92504	49	$210	-38.40%	$156
Riverside	92505	51	$234	-49.20%	$153
Riverside	92506	40	$265	-50.10%	$179
Riverside	92507	35	$240	-36.40%	$164
Riverside	92508	41	$290	-29.40%	$132
Riverside	92509	75	$216	-38.30%	$139
San Jacinto	92582	32	$200	-43.70%	$84
San Jacinto	92583	50	$150	-48.10%	$87
Sun City	92585	29	$220	-38.10%	$112
Sun City	92586	30	$167	-25.80%	$108
Temecula	92590	1	$910	-5.50%	$220
Temecula	92591	76	$295	-29.50%	$137
Temecula	92592	111	$330	-24.10%	$128
Thousand Palms	92276	4	$172	n/a	$108
White Water	92282	1	$109	-55.30%	$73
Wildomar	92595	40	$239	-44.00%	$116
Winchester	92596	43	$275	-26.90%	$101
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY		SFR	Price	% chg	$/Sq Ft
Countywide		###	$205	-41.40%	$128
Adelanto	92301	45	$115	-50.10%	$78
Angeles Oaks	92305	3	$114	46.80%	$143
Apple Valley	92307	61	$157	-38.40%	$95
Apple Valley	92308	61	$135	-51.50%	$101
Barstow	92311	19	$120	-33.30%	$77
Big Bear City	92314	24	$208	-29.70%	$193
Big Bear Lake	92315	42	$333	-2.10%	$269
Bloomington	92316	29	$195	-48.00%	$138
Cedar Glen	92321	3	$125	48.80%	$121
Cedarpines Park	92322	4	$112	31.20%	$116
Chino	91710	38	$350	-24.70%	$195
Chino Hills	91709	53	$478	-16.90%	$225
Colton	92324	35	$153	-53.60%	$126
Crest Park	92326	1	$775	103.90%	$325
Crestline	92325	25	$171	-31.40%	$137
Fawnskin	92333	2	$233	-73.30%	$198
Fontana	92335	68	$189	-51.40%	$137
Fontana	92336	150	$311	-28.50%	$140
Fontana	92337	62	$230	-40.10%	$145
Forest Falls	92339	2	$185	38.10%	$102
Grand Terrace	92313	10	$238	-33.00%	$153
Green Valley Lake	92341	1	$225	-9.30%	$153
Helendale	92342	12	$202	-30.60%	$96
Hesperia	92344	54	$210	-42.90%	$85
Hesperia	92345	99	$164	-42.50%	$99
Highlands	92346	62	$200	-40.30%	$131
Hinkley	92347	2	$37	-33.60%	$44
Joshua Tree	92252	12	$108	-42.90%	$92
Lake Arrowhead	92352	18	$349	-16.00%	$323
Landers	92285	1	$144	2.50%	$109
Loma Linda	92354	14	$281	-34.70%	$191
Lucerne Valley	92356	3	$145	-28.20%	$125
Lytle Creek	92358	1	$110	-54.20%	$107
Mentone	92359	5	$225	-30.90%	$154
Montclair	91763	23	$264	-32.30%	$195
Morongo Valley	92256	4	$167	-21.60%	$115
Needles	92363	2	$190	36.70%	$117
Ontario	91761	32	$310	-23.50%	$182
Ontario	91762	20	$260	-36.60%	$176
Ontario	91764	38	$225	-36.20%	$183
Phelan	92371	19	$214	-37.10%	$111
Pinon Hills	92372	8	$199	-33.40%	$109
R Cucamonga	91701	35	$385	-20.20%	$195
R Cucamonga	91730	29	$310	-29.30%	$201
R Cucamonga	91737	30	$416	-38.20%	$224
R Cucamonga	91739	53	$500	-15.60%	$174
Redlands	92373	21	$370	-17.10%	$212
Redlands	92374	30	$223	-34.40%	$144
Rialto	92376	73	$185	-41.40%	$122
Rialto	92377	33	$236	-42.90%	$136
Running Springs	92382	16	$155	-34.00%	$147
San Bernardino	92404	58	$133	-54.90%	$110
San Bernardino	92405	41	$130	-40.10%	$97
San Bernardino	92407	52	$190	-43.70%	$123
San Bernardino	92408	5	$203	-35.70%	$130
San Bernardino	92410	32	$105	-67.00%	$103
San Bernardino	92411	27	$90	-59.10%	$89
Sugarloaf	92386	7	$162	-41.10%	$157
Twentynine Palms	92277	22	$93	-10.60%	$82
Twin Peaks	92391	5	$79	-64.40%	$125
Upland	91784	24	$530	-13.10%	$211
Upland	91786	18	$325	-33.00%	$204
Victorville	92392	103	$159	-46.80%	$85
Victorville	92394	36	$160	-41.30%	$82
Victorville	92395	56	$159	-36.50%	$95
Wrightwood	92397	5	$225	-4.30%	$184
Yermo	92398	1	$325	174.30%	$99
Yucaipa	92399	44	$275	-21.00%	$143
Yucca Valley	92284	44	$125	-47.20%	$90

How much would you owe?

If we actually had to cut a check for our share of this freakin financial bailout how much would yours be? The total cost is estimated to be 700 billion dollars. That's a number that is so big it's hard to wrap your head around. They might as well say it's 700 gazillion, because to the average guy on the street a billion is incomprehensible.

Assuming there are 300 million people in the US then each person would owe $2333. So the share for my family of 5 is over $11k.

700 billion is a staggering number. Where is it going to come from. The US is already 10 trillion in the hole (give or take a trillion). A trillion is another number that is so big mortals cannot begin to understand it. It's like one of those scribbles a theoretical physicist writes on a board to explain why the universe weighs more than it should.

And the biggest question of them all is "how is this bailout going to help me?". Well it's not going to help you or me. Other than hopefully keeping the US out of another great depression the average Joe gets no benefit from this. The banks benefit, Wall street benefits, but the average Joe gets squat....again. This is not going to help the foreclosure crisis. It's likely to make it worse. There is now ZERO incentive for banks to save a loan. Why would they? when they can just unload it on the taxpayers.

I'd like to see a few added provisions to this bailout. I'd like to see some of that 700 billion spent on tracking down every last person that helped create this mess. From hedge fund managers right down to the strawberry picker that lied on their mortgage application. If the government is going to buy all the toxic waste from the banks with our tax dollars then I want the banks to offer low interest loans to home buyers. If our tax dollars are being spent to fix this mess then we should be able to get a low interest loan (as long as we can actually qualify). It seems only fair that we should get some benefit after bailing out the banks.

This whole thing just pisses me off. It's hard to believe that our so called leaders could not see this mess coming. Did they think we could all just keep spending more and more for ever. Did they think that houses doubling in price every 5 years was a good thing. Did any of them stop and ask themselves who would be able to afford to live in the US in 20 years if this kept up.

Foreclosure numbers will soon plummet

Wait for the news next month. The numbers of foreclosures will plummet to the lowest amount in many months. The media and the NAR/CAR will surely spin this for all it's worth. But is this a sign of recovery. Eh..NO, it's a sign that the new California law SB1137 has taken effect. This law makes in more difficult and time consuming for lenders and banks to foreclose. It requires them to contact each borrower in person and assess each ones financial situation and explore options to avoid foreclosure. This is already having the effect of cutting the number of daily transactions drasticly. One of the reasons the foreclosure numbers were probably so high last month was that the banks were sending out as many notices as possible before this law took effect.

However, this is only a temporary delay. Once the banks get the notices out the numbers will shoot back up. In fact there is likely to be a huge increase as all these backlogged foreclosures will hit the market at the same time. I'de look for the numbers to shoot back up at the end of the year, Nov/Dec time frame

Housing downturn takes toll on job rolls in other sectors

Unemployment continued its climb in Inland Southern California in August and is approaching the level of the 1990s, when the area was reeling from the loss of two major military bases.

The jobless rate in Riverside and San Bernardino counties rose to an estimated 9.2 percent last month from a revised 9 percent in July, the state Employment Development Department reported Friday. Unemployment in the Inland area was 6.4 percent a year ago.

Unemployment in July was first estimated at 8.9 percent, and has now been revised to 9 percent. It got as high as 11 percent in 1993. (Any bets on how high it will be this time??)

"All of this is about housing," Inland economist John Husing said. "The mortgage market has set up this chaos on Wall Street."

Ed Milson, a self-employed masonry contractor from Mentone, was forced to shut down most of his operations in the spring. Jobs used to bring him between $20 and $25 an hour, but he said now all he can find is stopgap work paying less than half that much.

"The slowdown just hit us hard," said Milson, 57, who was looking for alternatives at a job fair in San Bernardino earlier in the week sponsored by state and county agencies. "We had a couple of jobs that went south and we couldn't keep it going."

There were an estimated 166,500 unemployed people in the Inland area last month, compared to 114,500 in August 2007. The jobless rate is the highest for any August since 1995.

Local governments in the Inland area trimmed 7,000 positions from its payrolls in August, and Husing said this was the latest blow from the housing meltdown. Sales tax revenues are down because fewer people are buying the big-ticket items, such as furniture, major appliances and barbecues, that are usually associated with home purchases.

"The discretionary budget of cities is heavily dependent on retail sales," Husing said. "Now it's a new fiscal year and cities are cutting back."

"This high unemployment rate means these people are not going to be spending much money, and if they're homeowners it means it could be the next wave of people looking at foreclosures," Adibi said. "This slowdown is not hurting companies as much as it is the self-employed."

And in related news.....

Weekend Warrior RV manufacturer goes out of business

Weekend Warrior Trailers Inc., which in 2005 had 1,000 Inland employees, has gone out of business, an official supervising the company's liquidation said Friday.

The demise of Weekend Warrior makes it the second large Inland recreational vehicle manufacturer to go out of business in less than a year. National RV, also based in Perris, shut down in November. A smaller company, Ontario's Alfa Leisure, closed its doors in the spring.

Owner Mark Warmoth said in July that he'd closed two of Weekend Warrior's four factories, and that the company remained in trouble. He blamed poor economic conditions that have hurt the entire industry.

IE unemployment hits 9.2%

Unemployment in Riverside and San Bernardino counties climbed to 9.2 percent in August, up from a revised 9 percent the month before, the state reported this morning.

There were 166,500 unemployed workers in the Inland Empire last month, compared to 114,500 in august 2007.

There are 25,000 fewer jobs in Inland Southern California than there were 12 months ago, according to the state Employment Development Department. Construction hiring is off more than 13 percent, but almost every sector of the region's economy has scaled back its hiring.

OT; When your daughter borrows your camera

When your early 20's daughter borrows your camera you never know what you'll find on the memory card!

Looks like it was a helluva party!

Mystery of the world wide brick shortage solved!

This guy has them all. And he has put them to use turning his house into the biggest chimney in Corona.



If the Chimney and the pillars holding up the balcony aren't enough brick for ya you'll be happy to know there's more in the back yard. He has built the BBQ from bricks, put a little wall around the pool and surrounded the big tree with a brick planter.

Still can't satisfy that brickwork craving. Well fear not, he has more in the bedroom!

I don't know if there is more in the rest of the house since there are only a few pictures and 3 of those are of that victorian-esque monster chimney. I bet there is more in the kitchen or family room. Oh, and his price of $980k indicates that one or two of those bricks might have fallen on his head.

Another record price drop

The median price continues to plummet. In Riverside it has fallen 5% in the last month from $260k in July to $247k in August. In San Berdu the drop was 6.5%, from $230k in July to $215k in August. As you can see sales are much better than last year BUT last year was the worst since they began keeping records and this 30% below average. The only reason that sales number looks good is because they are comparing it to last year.

Here's the August Report from DataQuick.

Southern California home sales downshifted slightly in August from July, but were higher than a year ago for the second consecutive month. The median sales price continued to tumble, declining the most where buyers were the most active, a real estate information service reported.

The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties was $330,000 last month, down 5.2 percent from $348,000 in July and down a record 34 percent from $500,000 in August 2007, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick.

Last month's median stood at the lowest point since November 2003 when it was also $330,000. The median peaked at $505,000 in the spring and summer of last year.

"It's the most common and pressing question we hear from Wall Street and Main Street: When will the housing market hit bottom? We see tentative signs that sales - not prices - have hit bottom in some inland markets. That's where home values have fallen the most, stoking a lot more demand," said John Walsh, MDA DataQuick president.

"Some expect prices to bottom out soon, too," he continued. "That may happen, but history suggests that few of us will time the bottom precisely. Foreclosure activity remains high, credit is still tight, affordability remains strained on the coast and the job market is soft. Our take remains that a lot of buyers and sellers who don't have to act now are just sitting tight, holding out for a better time to make their move."

A total of 19,366 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in Southern California last month. That was down 4.7 percent from 20,329 in July but up 9.1 percent from 17,755 in August 2007.

August's sales total was 30 percent lower than the average for that month and marked the third-lowest for any August since 1988, when MDA DataQuick's statistics begin. August sales peaked in 2003 at 39,562.

Sales have picked up most - sometimes at double or more last year's pace - in inland communities where home values have plummeted and foreclosures have soared. Foreclosure resales made up 45.5 percent of all Southland resales last month, up from 43.7 in July and 10 percent a year ago. The figure represents the percentage of homes resold in August that had been foreclosed on at some point in the prior 12 months.

Foreclosure resales were highest in Riverside County, at 65.2 percent of resales, and lowest in Orange County, at 33.4 percent.

A funny smell in Norco

No it's not horse poo, it's the smell of desperation. It comes from homes with listing prices only a fairy god mother could grant. Since all the fairies moved up north there's no hope, yet they still try. I've noticed more than a few of the ridiculous listings are owned by REALTORS (Remember the million dollar fake grass house in Victoria Grove).

Why do they bother? Are they low in meds. Is it hope, desperation or just plain stupidity that drives then to list homes at double the price of the comps. As so called "professionals" (that's what the radio ads call them), they should know there houses can't possibly sell at those prices. There's no way they will appraise that high. There's no way anyone could get a loan and people with enough to pay cash are usually smarter than that (that's how they got the cash).

Let's take a look at the latest gem I've found. 3845 Mount Shasta Dr in Norco. This is one of the newer homes built back against the hills in Norco. This home was built in early 2005 and sold new for $816k. That's pretty close to the peak so this REALTOR paid top dollar. Like most REALTORS he went on an upgrade spree, adding a pool, a stable and lots of landscaping. From the pictures this looks like a beautiful house. But he has listed it for $849k. Great price in 2006, not so great in late 08. The house is 3176 sq/ft and has 5 bedrooms and 3.5 baths. At his asking price that works out to $267 sq/ft.

What's his competion? On the same street there are currently 3 REO properties listed. They range in price from $477k to $499k and all three are bigger than the REALTORS place. The average price of the 3 REO's is about $130 sq/ft. Realtard is asking $267 sq/ft, that's more than double on a price per square foot basis!

In the last 3 months there have been 3 sales on the street. One was a model match to his and it sold back in July for $485K. A second of those sales is also a model match and it posted at $392K (although this might be the bank). I might even bite at that price! And the last sale, remarkable also a model match posted in at $475k. That's the comps. 3 recent sales with an average price of about $450k and 3 REO's still for sale all listed in the high $400s. Even factoring in his pool and stable he is about $350k too high. If you are interested he will consider a "lease option". hahahaha

And about the picture, no I did not pick a picture of the back yard because I like the pool. I picked it because there is NO picture of the front of the house. Isn't that taught on day one of REALTORS school? Take a freaking picture of the front of the house!

The weekly tumble

This weeks median listing price from housingtracker.net shows the prices are still heading towards the cellar. The median for the core areas dropped $5k this week. The high and and the low end dropped a bit less. The telling number is the inventory, it's up 10% in the last month.

These are the numbers for the core areas of Riverside Including Arlington, Bloomington, Box Springs, Canyon Crest, Casa Blanca, Colton, Corona, Crestmore, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Jurupa, La Sierra, Mira Loma, Moreno Valley, Norco, Perris, Rubidoux, Woodcrest

Trend	09/14/2008	1 month	3 month	6 month	12 month
Median Price	$240,000	-4.0%	-12.7%	-27.3%	-42.6%
Inventory	15,443	+9.9%	+4.2%	+7.0%	+0.7%

Date	Inventory	25th Percentile	50th Percentile (Median)	75th Percentile
09/14/2008	15,443	$177,900	$240,000	$339,000
09/07/2008	14,569	$179,900	$244,900	$340,000
09/01/2008	13,852	$180,000	$248,000	$345,000
08/29/2008	13,590	$180,000	$249,000	$349,000
08/21/2008	13,661	$184,900	$249,900	$349,900
08/14/2008	14,047	$185,000	$250,000	$349,900