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Signs of Stabilization in Big Bear Real Estate My Dad used to tell me “it is better to be chasing your tail than twiddling your thumbs,” and for a lot of Big Bear real estate agents, myself included, that recently has been the case. The Big Bear real estate market has been gaining momentum this spring and that speaks well for the chances of having a busy summer selling season as well. It has been very refreshing to see so much demand for nice, well-priced homes in Big Bear. Recently three... Read Full Post

Time Flies in Big Bear Real Estate As we are already approaching the end of the first quarter (it's truly amazing how time flies), let’s check in on the Big Bear real estate market. Lately when folks ask me, "Mike, how is the market up in Big Bear?", I answer "it is unbelievable." Which, although it is true, often leaves them guessing, so I will elaborate. For sellers, it is a tough market and only those seriously motivated to price well achieve a sale as a result. The competition from bank... Read Full Post

The January Effect Hits Big Bear Real Estate With January in the books and winter back in full force here in Big Bear, let’s take a look at how Big Bear real estate started off 2009. Overall for the Big Bear real estate market, January of 2009 was much improved when compared to how 2008 started off. The total number of residential closings was up 60%. Sales under $250k were up a whopping 86% and between $250k-$500k they were up 89%. This strong showing in January provides a great indicator ... Read Full Post

Interest on the Rise for Bank Owned Foreclosures in Big Bear The Big Bear real estate market has seen increased interest and activity in bank owned property and foreclosures. This makes perfect sense as the active foreclosure inventory is often priced well below current market value. Bank Owned Real Estate aka Big Bear Foreclosures - June through December 2008 Of the 459 residential transactions that closed in this time period, 117 or 25% were bank owned foreclosures. (However, see below as n... Read Full Post

The "Perfect Storm" of 2008 Will Be Hard to Forget For Big Bear real estate, 2008 was a year that will certainly be hard to forget. The analogy of a 'perfect storm’ comes to mind in trying to describe the array of unprecedented events that transpired last year. For real estate in Big Bear the year started out slower than molasses on a very, very cold day. The deed recordings for January (44) and February (43) were roughly half those of 2007 which, by historical standards, was also a very sl... Read Full Post

Winter Arrives in Big Bear with a Bang The wait for winter is over!! Snow has been falling in Big Bear all day with at least 15 inches of new snow on the ground at lake level, much more up at the top, and it is still coming down as I write this late Monday evening. They predict another substantial storm to roll though late Tuesday into Wednesday so we could easily have two feet or more of snow on the ground before this weekend. That should make for a fantastic holiday season. Big Bear Real Es... Read Full Post

Hello to all those interested in Big Bear real estate. I hope your Thanksgivings were all fun-filled feasts spent with family and good friends. I believe at this point I have eaten turkey in more ways, a blender was involved at one point, than I ever thought imaginable. Let’s catch up on what is happening in the Big Bear real estate market. Some interesting numbers to report from October: Closings were up compared to last year at this time in ALL prices ranges. (I sort these in increments o... Read Full Post

These are interesting times indeed for the Big Bear real estate market. There certainly has been no shortage of astounding developments of late, many of which will directly or indirectly affect Big Bear real estate. My last blog post highlighted the effects of an increase in interest rates for a buyer in this market. Unfortunately, this scenario played out shortly after we published when the 30-year fixed rate jumped close to 7%. That increase has proven so far to be a temporary blip and rate... Read Full Post

As usual there has been no shortage of real estate related news lately, much of which affects our unique Big Bear real estate market. To describe the overall market as ‘nervous’ these days would be an understatement. However there have actually been some very encouraging developments of late with respect to the possibility of home prices stabilizing sooner rather than later. The biggest of these came about when Federal Government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. For potential buyers ... Read Full Post

The question on everyone’s mind who is considering buying Big Bear real estate these days is “where are we now in the cycle?” In reality, looking back is the only way to accurately determine the top or bottom of any market. As they say, hindsight is 20-20 and that certainly holds true for Big Bear real estate. Trying to assess the present and postulate on what may occur in the future is always speculative. But analyzing historical data to see what has actually occurred and comparing tha... Read Full Post