Is the Upper End of the Real Estate Market Recovering?

August 18, 2009

As the data-wonk that I am, I have begun to track in the IMRMLS the real estate transactions in the over $400,000 category. This is a segment of the market that has been impacted by lender's tightening of qualifying standards, and by the conforming loan limit of $417,000 in our region. To obtain a "jumbo" loan a buyer needed to be willing to accept interest rates that were at least 1 percentage point higher than conforming rates, sometimes 2% higher and sometimes no loans at all were being offered by lenders.

Here are some numbers that reflect this segments stagnation.

Closed in the month of July 2009

Banning Beaumont........over $400,000/1 out of 137..From these numbers it is clear that......Listed over $400,000/30 out of 535

Bloomington...................over $400,000/0 out of 44..........Listed over $400,000/4 out of 78

Colton..............................over $400,000/0 out of 69..........Listed over $400,000/9 out of 127

Fontana..........................over $400,000/4 out of 400........Listed over $400,000/21 out of 515

Grand Terrace..............over $400,000/0 out of 10...........Listed over $400,000/0 out of 18

Highland........................over $400,000/3 out of 87............Listed over $400,000/16 out of 182

Loma Linda...................over $400,000/2 out of 22...........Listed over $400,000/11 out of 58

Mentone........................over $400,000/0 out of 13...........Listed over $400,000/3 out of 24

Moreno Valley..............over $400,000/0 out of 409.........Listed over $400,000/9 out of 592

Redlands........................over $400,000/8 out of 61............Listed over $400,000/89 out of 224

Rialto..............................over $400,000/0 out of 168.........Listed over $400,000/1 out of 260

Riverside.......................over $400,000/40 out of 512.......Listed over $400,000/207 out of 1079

San Bernardino............over $400,000/0 out of 366.........Listed over $400,000/21 out of 829

Yucaipa/Calimesa.......over $400,000/3 out of 55............Listed over $400,000/70 out of 233



With so few transactions taking place in this segment of the real estate market, appraisals also become a challenge as the comparable sales are very scarce. It will be interesting to watch these numbers to see if an upward trend is occurring.