Market upswing!

Besides being an oboist-writer-producer, I’m also a realtor — and have been for three years. Things look bleak in the US, especially in California. At least that’s the party line. But today, I went into my real estate office (Keller Williams in Burbank) for the first time in a week. What I saw blew me away.

In our office, there’s one person who updates whiteboards with listings, and another with sales. There are quite a few listings, which isn’t surprising. But last time I was in, the sales board was 3/4 full — which was surprising in itself. But what was astonishing was that today, the sales board was not only full, but the poor gal assigned to update had had to fashion a whole *new* board out of cardboard! There are at least 60% more listings in the last week than had been posted all month.

Seems counterintuitive, yes? But mortgage rates are now below 5%, and home prices are still plummeting. Bad if you want to unload something, great if you’re buying your first home without having to sell another (if you’re a renter). Still better for first-timers is that there’s the $8,000 tax credit from Obama’s tax stimulus plan to sweeten the deal.

None of this will do older wealty folks too much good in areas like Beverly Hills that haven’t dropped yet. But in places like Burbank and environs — Toluca Lake, Studio City, Altadena, La Crescenta — it’s still beautiful living at the base of gorgeous mountains in LA, but with reasonable prices, and often in safe neighborhoods where you can walk everywhere and have a sense of community.

If you want to know more about SoCal real estate, please visit my Keller Williams website and don’t hesitate to contact me through it. If you are ready to buy, now’s the time!