Elena Zimina's Real Estate

Calif. median home price: June 2015 :  California: $489,560 Calif. highest median home price by region/county June 2015: San Francisco, $1,339,290 Calif. lowest median home price by region/county June 2015: Tulare, $194,170

Calif. Traditional Housing Affordability Index : Second Quarter 2015: 30 percent (Source: C.A.R.) Mortgage rates: Week ending 8/13/2015 (Source: Freddie Mac) • 30-yr. fixed: 3.94% fees/points: 0.6% • 15-yr. fixed: 3.17% fees/points: 0.6% • 1-yr. adjustable: 2.62% Fees/points: 0.3%

info   CASH SALES ACCOUNTED FOR 32 PERCENT OF ALL HOME SALES IN MAY 2015 Cash sales made up 31.9 percent of total home sales in May 2015, down from 35.1 percent in May 2014, according to Corelogic. The year-over-year share has fallen each month since January 2013, making May 2015 the 29th consecutive month of declines. Month over month, the cash sales share fell by 1.7 percentage points in May 2015 compared with April 2015. Due to seasonality in the housing market, cash sales share comparisons should be made on a year-over-year basis. The cash sales share peaked in January 2011 when cash transactions made up 46.5 percent of total home sales nationally. Prior to the housing crisis, the cash sales share of total home sales averaged approximately 25 percent. If the cash sales share continues to fall at the same rate it did in May 2015, the share should hit 25 percent by mid-2017. REO sales had the largest cash sales share in May 2015 at 56.1 percent and was the only sales category...

Mortgage applications increased 4.7 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. The Refinance Index increased 6 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3 percent from one week earlier.  Refinance activity was the highest since May when rates were last at this level. The increase in purchase activity was also notable for this time of year, up 23 percent relative to a year ago.

CALIFORNIA HOME SALES REACH HIGHEST LEVEL IN TWO YEARS, EXPERIENCE FIRST DOUBLE-DIGIT INCREASE SINCE MAY 2012 Sales of existing, single-family homes in June reached the highest level in two years and experienced the first double-digit increase since May 2012. The median price of an existing, single-family detached California home edged up in June from both the previous month and year for the fifth consecutive month.

CALIFORNIA PENDING HOME SALES CONTINUE ANNUAL INCREASE FOR SEVENTH STRAIGHT MONTHS   California pending home sales continued to gain steam in June, registering seven months of continued annual increases and the fifth consecutive month of double-digit increases. The share of equity sales – or non-distressed property sales – declined slightly in June to make up 92.4 percent of all home sales, remaining near the highest level since late 2007.