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Health & Fitness

Upon Further Review of Last Year in Chatsworth Real Estate

Activity in Chatsworth real estate may not be what you think.

Professional football referees say, “Upon further review....”  all the time.  Indeed, the phrase is now imprinted into our collective consciousness.  We are always engaged in further review.  Real estate is no different.  Real estate professionals are always reviewing sales data, ethical issues, and housing trends.  

Now that we are squarely in the jaws of the new year I thought we could engage in further review of the past year.  You know, the one in which you constantly heard that the real estate sky was falling. 

Upon further review, it appears that the sky did not fall.  At least not the sky over Chatsworth.  The sun still is rising in the east, and setting in the west.  The moon comes up at night.  People sold homes.  People bought homes.  And lenders lent money.  Really.  

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What wasn’t happening, at least not as often as it did during the housing bubble’s peak back in 2006, was that people weren’t buying homes they couldn’t afford, and lenders weren’t lending money to people who couldn’t pay it back.  Migrant farm workers were no longer getting home loans to purchase $800,000 homes, and Las Vegas strippers were no longer qualifying for mortgages on five separate rental properties.  (True stories).

What did happen last year was that people with solid wage earning capacities and histories (which admittedly, and sadly, is millions less than it should be) qualified for historically cheap, 30 year, fixed rate loans.  As I am writing this blog the 30 year fixed loan interest rate is right around 3.85%.  When I bought my first home back in the 1980s my interest rate was 13%.

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So, what are some of the numbers regarding home sales in Chatsworth for the past year?

Well, like I said, homes did sell.  In fact, 391 of them did.  Of those, 182 were traditional sales, 105 were involved in some part of the foreclosure process, 92 were short sales (meaning that the homes sold for less than what was owed), four were involved in probate, and one was sold at auction.  Seven home sales were not accounted for.  

Of the Chatsworth homes that sold last year, 256 were single family residences and 135 were either a town house or a condominium.   The average sale price of any home sold in Chatsworth last year was $393,400.  The average sale price of a single family residence last year was $438,429.  The average sale price of a condo or town home was $247,942.   

All of these figures were gleaned by me from statistics compiled by the Crisnet MLS, part of the Southland Association of Realtors.  

So, if you bought your home in 2006, these statistics probably aren’t making you smile.  But you still have a home, and you’re probably still getting a great deduction on your taxes.  And, who knows, you could be smiling in a few years.  I bought my home in 2008 and I’m not exactly jumping for joy.  But I am looking forward to my tax return this year.  And even if I don’t have a lot of equity in my home when I pass away, my home will still be part of the estate I pass on to my children.  

And if you bought your home last year, you very well could be smiling within a few years.

Regardless, take a minute to look up.  The sky is still there.

Happy New Year!!

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