‘More Homes Than Buyers’ In Lake Havasu City
A reader sent in this rare report on Lake Havasu City. “There are almost 1,100 single-family homes on the market in Lake Havasu City, the largest number of homes for sale in about three years.”
“‘There’s no simple answer, other than we have more homes on the market than buyers,’ said (realtor) Carl Flusche. ‘We’re starting the summer season so we’ll probably have a few good months and hopefully sell off some of this inventory.’”
“Home prices are on the rise as well, with the average price for a single-family home selling for $307,383. That’s up 23 percent from last year when the average price was $250,908. Meanwhile California home sales fell in March, the sixth month in a row of slumping sales in that state, down 12.5 percent from the same time last year.”
“It’s conventional wisdom among builders and Realtors that Lake Havasu City follows the trends of southern California, generally six months to one year later. But Bill Ullery with DBU Homes said slumping California sales and higher Havasu lot costs have not slowed local construction. ‘With the increase in the price of lots here, the type of house that’s going up is quite different now. You don’t put a $120,000 house on a $170,000 lot,’ said Ullery. ‘Our business is almost all large custom luxury homes now.’”
“‘My sense is that a lot of the customers coming in from southern California, about two-thirds of our market, are coming in with adequate financial resources,’ Ullery said.”
“Instead low-to-moderate income buyers seem to be moving north, Ullery said, and many Lake Havasu City residents mirroring the actions of the Southern Californians, selling their Havasu home high and buying a bigger home cheaper in the proposed subdivisions in the unincorporated areas of Mohave County, Bullhead City or Kingman.”
‘But Bill Ullery said slumping California sales and higher Havasu lot costs have not slowed local construction.’
This should be interesting. There is plenty of land, so of course they won’t stop building, which will eventually drive prices down. I think many of these Californians were speculating, because there are plenty of places to stay in LHC.
Hey Lake Havasu City, you know what, I have a bridge to sell you…
Oh, you already bought one? Sorry
“‘There’s no simple answer, other than we have more homes on the market than buyers,’ said (realtor) Carl Flusche.
Simple answer: Lower the price.
“‘There’s no simple answer, other than we have more homes on the market than buyers,’ said (realtor) Carl Flusche.
Gee wiz….Who gave this guy a real estate license….
Woo-hooo!! Summer Selling Season!! is coming. I can’t wait for Fall Selling Season!! Too bad Spring Selling Season!! didn’t pan out.
“‘My sense is that a lot of the customers coming in from southern California, about two-thirds of our market, are coming in with adequate financial resources,’ Ullery said.”
I wonder really how true this is. Sure they can come in and slap down a big was of $ to give the appearance of having ‘adequate financial resources’. Perhaps that $ they appear to have is home equity money pulled out of their primary residence … or some other loan.
My realtor friend told me last year about CA investors buying properties and having $ for them …. some paying all $. I wonder how many really have that $ in the bank versus how much is borrowed from another source. By the ranks of the swelling inventory over the past 7 months, my guess is the latter is a large percentage.
referenc in original post is CA investors buying properties in the PHX area.
Who else is sooooooo tired of hearing about Californian’s spreading out like locusts and raising property values everywhere in their wake?
Will someone shoot them with the silver bullet, or drive a stake through their dead hearts already. Maybe a wreath of garlic, or a cross, or holy water…anything…to make them stay home.
I have a post on the California foreclosure data that Melody found.
‘First-quarter foreclosure activity in California increased to the highest level in more than two years, the result of slower home-price increases. Lending institutions sent 18,668 default notices to California homeowners during the January-to-March period. That was up 23.4 percent from 15,122 for the prior quarter, and up 28.7 percent from 14,501 for 2005’s first quarter, according to DataQuick.’
‘Last quarter, San Diego County saw home values rise 4.8 percent, while its default activity jumped 59.7 percent. From the table at the bottom of the link: Orange County, up 42.8%. Riverside up 64.3%. Ventura up 65%.9%. Napa up 62.1%. Santa Barbara up 43%, and Sacramento up 48.9%’
I just posted another on on your foreclosure blog…
Read about Wake County Seeing High Percentage Of Home Foreclosures.
“In fact, in the past seven years the number of foreclosure filings on homes and businesses has jumped 300 percent statewide. In Wake County, filings have risen 263.5 percent.”
Why would anyone, and I mean anyone want to pay more then $100K for a house in LHC? Damn place should be one large mobile home park with the average unit priced below $50K. Miles from amenities, good medical facilities, summer heat extreme (high utility bills), etc.
I couldn’t agree more. The lake is nice, but who in their right mind would ‘bid up’ this place? I was out there last summer and homes were going up everywhere. 1,000 houses seems like a lot for this town. Keep in mind, the speculators even over-ran Yuma.
And Bakersfield - yuk!!!
About 2 1/2 years ago I went to LHC to do an underwriting survey on a golf course community. It was increadibly hot even for Phoenix standards. Guy I meet with said the houses were going up 10K a month. I think it was houses on the golf course but still! Lake Havasu? You have got to be kidding!
How many people in LHC ???
I don’t know what the population is but one time I stayed overnight at LHC and it was 115 degrees at 12 o’clock at night .
OT News from Ameriquest. 3,800 job cuts, 229 branch closings…
http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/02/news/companies/ameriquest/index.htm
Good find! Thanks for the info
OT Sorry if already posted.
Ameriquest parent company to lay off 3,800 people
Orange-based parent company ACC Capital Holdings also plans to close branch offices around the country as it shifts to a business model centered on Internet and telephone sales.
By ANDREW GALVIN
The Orange County Register
ACC Capital Holdings, the Orange-based parent of Ameriquest Mortgage Co. and Town and Country Credit, said it would lay off 3,800 people, about one-third of its retail mortgage staff, and close branch offices around the country as it shifts to a business model centered on Internet and telephone sales.
“We are moving strategically and decisively to remain a leader in an industry that is undergoing fundamental changes,” said Aseem Mital, chief executive of ACC Capital, in a statement.
The company, which is among the nation’s biggest subprime mortgage lenders, will immediately close its 229 retail branch offices.
ACC Capital said it will “centralize its retail branch network into existing regional mortgage production centers in California, Arizona, Illinois and Connecticut” and “consolidate many corporate functions” at its Orange headquarters.
Adam Bass, vice chairman, said in a statement that the changes are “the best strategy for improving our cost structure and increasing our ability to price loans competitively.” Laid off employees will get assistance, he said.
The layoffs come as the mortgage industry is struggling with higher interest rates and a decline in refinancings. Ameriquest laid off 1,500 people last November. Other local mortgage companies also have laid off workers in recent months.
The OC will suffer. We had conversations on this blog last summer about the soon to be layoffs and their effect on that local economy.
The word immediately really stands out in my mind!
I KNOW. Thats why its huge. They are saying were done here. No waiting to hang on. Last cycle these guys keep going for years and years. This time they are saying screw it we are done.
They are sending many of their work outside the country. This is the only way it make sense. Otherwise how some company can close ALL branches as part of being the leader in their Industry. It is not even 6 month that business for them has come down…
Our chance to experience the “benefit” of Globalization from this side of order.
I tried to take a look at some of those branch locations online… already plucked them all off and no matter what State you search for an office in, it gives the following message:
* Your area is serviced by our National Customer Center.
To reach your Ameriquest mortgage specialist and find out how we may be able to help you, please call us toll-free at 1-800-218-6612.
An Ameriquest representative will be available to answer your call 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Monday thru Friday, Pacific Time.
It would be funny to call them and ask where the nearest branch is so you can meet face to face with a mortgage broker.
I read the OC Register article and didn’t see the word immediately.
sorry…I re read it again..it’s in the 3rd paragraph…my bad.
I thought this was old news from a few months ago.
That was the layoff of 1500 in Nov.
My parents just moved into their brand new home in Lake Havasu. Total cost to build including land was 225k. They sold their house in Riverside in July and paid cash for their new dwelling. It took every bit of their equity to build the new house. Now they are living on social security and a part-time job my Dad took to make ends meet. They looked at buying a resale but the prices were so much more than to just go ahead and build. My brother lives there so they had a place to stay while the construction was going on. People in LHC are smoking dope, literally. It’s a nice place to visit but not worth living there full-time or even buying a vacation home.
Shannon;….What I find most interesting about your parents is that they had to use all their equity out of their CA. house so they could own LHC (225K) free and clear….It appears they moved their from a standpoint of survival since they only have their social security and your dad’s part time job for income…My point being, it is inconsistant with the common perception that all these people comming from California have “Boat Loads” of money…..I just helped a elderly woman sell her condo and she took her 100K to Klamath Falls Or., for the same reason..”Survival”
I think this Ameriquest deal is a big story. WOW. Front page of the OC Regsister online and probably on every door step tommorow morning.
Absolutely! Tip of the iceberg Crisp!
“Instead low-to-moderate income buyers seem to be moving north, Ullery said, and many Lake Havasu City residents mirroring the actions of the Southern Californians, selling their Havasu home high and buying a bigger home cheaper in the proposed subdivisions in the unincorporated areas of Mohave County, Bullhead City or Kingman.”
Wrong! I can give a report from the Bullhead Area. The inventory has been growing for the past few months now in Bullhead, Fort Mohave and Mohave Valley. I see realtors in the same old tired open houses every week, the only car in the driveway is the Caddy.
These people are on some serious drugs trying to sell a home that cost 70K in 96 for 275K. Yesterday a couple of thousand Illegal boarder Jumpers shut down Hwy. 95 and scared the hell out the old people that left CA. to get away from this crap. Prices are coming down but home for home exceed those of LHC. A plus for LHC is you can get a house on a decent size lot there not the typical 55×90 here.
OT:
But this should be good news for some
http://ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1126399.php
That should help kick the OC housing market to the curb. Maybe 500 more houses on the market. Or in foreclosure.
None of it matters though. The stock market hit a 5 year high today…if it were worried about a housing crash, would it have done that?
You need stories of bankrupcies, layoffs, record foreclosures (we’re on our way but it’s still low), consumption spending crashing.
if it were worried about a housing crash, would it have done that?
The market does not give a squat about the housing market….It was a pony they could ride until it ran out of gas….They just go find a new pony…
If the housing market ruins the economy and brings on recession, it would care! It’s saying it’s no big deal.
Yeah, but it is a big deal. This economy depends on the consumer. The consumer has been borrowing in order to keep up the consumption. The prime source of the borrowing has been home equity. Take that away and you sink the economy.
It is a big deal!
Common guys/gals….The market is fluid…It does not depend on any industry or economy for that matter…It moves to the highest rate of return…Whatever or Wherever it may be….Now, if you are telling me that a USA recession will bring a world wide recession then I can agree with you….
In the WSJ today they had an article about the building inventory at many companies. GM, Intel, WalMart - these aren’t dinky companies that won’t have much affect on the economy. Once their inventory problems start to get noticed and priced into the stocks, the stock market is will be following the housing market. Why the stock market is discounting the ever depressing news about the consumer is beyond me.
No, when there are stories of bankrupcies and record foreclosures — that’s a SIGN OF THE BOTTOM.
At the top everyone is drunk with their own genius. Were are just starting to tip over the edge. The bottom could be a decade away.
Lyon going private at $109 a share
Damn, I thought he was going private at 100….
Why do “they” keep telling us our economy is strong? One is 138 in Colorado are in foreclosure and can’t even pay their utility bills… It’s all over the place and yet, out economy is strong.
Someone knock some sense into me….
Melody..
Our economy is teetering badly. What keeps the numbers looking good is the flood of liquidity and wide open credit availability. In other words, we are living on borrowed money not on our powerful earnings. How long can they keep it up is the question. Our consumption driven economy depends heavily on the availability of home equity to provide the borrowed funds to maintain the consumption. Clearly, there is less and less home equity and the trend is scary. The economy will hit the wall before long and it will be a bloody mess but we will survive and be the stronger for it.
Thanks for making me feel sane
Remember Ameriquest is privately held. They aren’t dopes, and they have no shareholders to lie to. It is their money, and they are taking it off before someone rolls a 7. Smart folks.
I have owned a home in LHC since 1998. When I bought, it was actually cheaper to buy a new house for 100K, and store the boat there than to drag it out and stay in hotels eat out etc.., at least if you go often. Also closer to Powell and Mead.
All the other joesixpacks must have had the same idea at about the same time because the prices have more than doubled since then.
I know of a great deal of speculation going on out there, yet there are many like myself that bought early enough that a haircut of 50% won’t hurt, as long as they planned on keeping it.
As for cooling bills. My home is 2400 square foot with a huge garage. I’ll note that I have extra insulation, special glass, and situated on the lot so that only one window sees any sun, but my cooling bill is about $60.00 in the summer. And I leave it on when I am not there at about 87 degrees.
I also know a couple that borrowed on their home in California, and bought three spec homes and all three are high end and for sale at around $750,000. I think they will be sorry.