OMG check out the pics

Here's a "classic" realtard listing. 17551 Dry Run Ct in Woodcrest. This home was purchased for $350k as a shorty in March 2010. I guess the buyer didn't like the country living or maybe it was picked up as a flip (doubtful). But in any case it hit the market last weekend listed for $499k! This guys thinks he can make $150k in a year in this market. I can't tell if this guy put the pool in or if it was in before. The previous listing did not mention a pool. I kinda think he added the pool and is trying to recoup the cost of that AND his other costs.

So what makes this listing "classic"? Well, 10 of the 12 pictures are UPSIDE DOWN! (just like 40% of the homeowners in the IE). Oh and the all caps and spelling errors. In addition the statement that the lot will make a great vineyard or DRIVING RANGE? Really a driving range, have you ever played golf? Most of this lot is pretty unusable. It's basically a gulley with the only flat spot being where the home is.

What are this guys chances? Basically zero at this price. A much nicer, larger home just sold down the street (with a way nicer pool) for $420k. Most of the nicer homes in Bridle Creek are selling for about $125 s/ft. So this guys price should be close to what he paid at $365k. The listing does not quite qualify for the ass clown award but it's pretty damn delusional none the less.

Short Sale Fraud

If you have been looking for any length of time I'm sure you've seem plenty of suspicious short sales. I know I have. The FBI seriously needs to set up a hotline so people can report this crap.

Anyway here is an article from the PE


In the wake of failed attempts at loan modifications, delinquent homeowners increasingly are taking what many consider the next best step to avoid foreclosure: a short sale.

The trend, while also potentially beneficial for lenders, has increased the risk of abuse and fraud, according to real estate experts.

A national report released last week said the red flag is when houses sold short -- for less than enough to cover the mortgage -- are quickly resold for much more, meaning that the original lender probably received less than fair market price.

The potential threat to lenders is increasing with the popularity of short sales. Short sales enable the homeowner to continue to occupy and maintain the home, preserving its value for the lender. By contrast, homes sold in foreclosure are frequently abandoned and exposed to vandalism.

Nationally, the number of short sales in the market has nearly tripled between the second quarter of 2008 and the second quarter of 2010, CoreLogic reports.

The same mushrooming of short sales has occurred in Inland Southern California.

"Two or three years ago, 90 percent of our sales in southwest Riverside County were bank-owned properties, and today about 55 percent are short sales, while bank owned homes are down to about 25 percent," said Gene Wunderlich, government affairs director for the Southwest Riverside County Association of Realtors.

CoreLogic, which issued a report last week about the risk of short sales to the lending industry, described "suspicious transactions" as when a house sold short is resold less than a month later for a price that's at least 10 percent higher or resold less than three months later at a price that's at least 20 percent higher or resold less than six months later at a price that's at least 40 percent higher.

California, with the largest volume of short sales of any state, also has the largest percentage of suspicious transactions in the nation at 34.5 percent, CoreLogic reports.

Wunderlich said there are investor groups active in Southern California that seem to be organized to milk short sales. "Some are negotiating the resale before they close escrow (on the short sale)," he said.

There is nothing wrong if an investor buys a short sale home, fixes it up and then sells it for a solid gain, the report said.

But in analyzing sales by investors, CoreLogic found that "nearly one in six suspicious short sales is resold on the same day, making legitimate increases in value doubtful."

"Lenders are incurring tremendous unnecessary losses in these situations," said CoreLogic. "Short sales that are resold on the same day have an average of 34 percent ($56,947) gain between sale prices."

John Giardinelli, general counsel to eight real estate boards, including four with members in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, said the boards are educating brokers about how to avoid becoming an instrument of fraud in these situations.

The key, he said, is to make sure all the appraisals and other documents provided to the bank seller of a house are "absolutely accurate" and that all financial arrangements are disclosed in the closing escrow papers.

In some cases, Giardinelli said, investment companies have offered brokers two commissions on the same house, one when the bank-repossessed house is sold to the investors and another when it is flipped to a pre-arranged buyer.

Price per zip code for Riverside

Here is the April price data (per zip code) for SFRs. Sorry the data gets compressed. For some reason it does not like my spreadsheet.
It's city, zipcode, sales numbers, price (x 1000), change from last year and price per sq/ft

RIVERSIDE COUNTY SFR Price % chg $/Sq Ft
Countywide 2,790 $189 -3.10% $99
Aguanga 92536 3 $240 4.30% $111
Banning 92220 46 $123 23.00% $78
Beaumont 92223 69 $172 -8.90% $80
Blythe 92225 11 $100 -32.70% $74
Cabazon 92230 5 $64 2.40% $56
Calimesa 92320 4 $169 4.20% $104
Canyon Lake 92587 30 $193 -5.60% $97
Cathedrl Cty 92234 62 $144 -7.10% $91
Coachella 92236 38 $123 -12.10% $67
Corona 92879 39 $252 -4.90% $146
Corona 92880 74 $345 -5.50% $121
Corona 92881 28 $319 -6.30% $152
Corona 92882 50 $286 2.00% $154
Corona 92883 42 $305 -3.20% $120
Desert Ctr 92239 1 $90 50.00% $51
Dsrt Hot Spr 92240 83 $89 -11.50% $56
Dsrt Hot Spr 92241 8 $107 69.00% $68
Hemet 92543 32 $77 -7.20% $56
Hemet 92544 64 $110 -4.10% $65
Hemet 92545 87 $132 -5.70% $68
Idyllwild 92549 16 $235 3.30% $142
Indian Wells 92210 10 $765 -1.30% $199
Indio 92201 83 $153 -4.80% $86
Indio 92203 74 $190 -9.50% $92
La Quinta 92253 115 $320 -16.90% $135
Lake Elsinre 92530 65 $155 -3.10% $89
Lake Elsinre 92532 46 $190 -9.80% $78
Mecca 92254 1 $75 16.70% $54
Menifee 92584 72 $198 -0.10% $91
Mira Loma 91752 28 $269 -5.80% $141
Moreno Vly 92551 50 $142 1.40% $90
Moreno Vly 92553 70 $135 0.00% $91
Moreno Vly 92555 56 $203 1.00% $82
Moreno Vly 92557 60 $150 -6.30% $99
Mountn Ctr 92561 1 $275 107.50% $157
Murrieta 92562 91 $248 -4.40% $110
Murrieta 92563 76 $241 -1.70% $95
Norco 92860 16 $366 20.00% $157
Nuevo 92567 4 $142 -26.20% $71
Palm Desert 92211 45 $270 -15.60% $136
Palm Desert 92260 33 $295 -13.20% $153
Palm Sprngs 92262 49 $260 -25.20% $147
Palm Sprngs 92264 23 $346 -23.30% $181
Perris 92570 35 $150 8.70% $76
Perris 92571 76 $152 -4.70% $73
Rancho Mrg 92270 42 $535 -0.90% $209
Riverside 92501 25 $170 1.50% $111
Riverside 92503 85 $184 -8.30% $123
Riverside 92504 63 $158 -12.20% $118
Riverside 92505 26 $210 15.50% $119
Riverside 92506 49 $270 24.40% $147
Riverside 92507 17 $205 -4.70% $119
Riverside 92508 40 $261 -5.60% $108
Riverside 92509 64 $161 0.00% $119
San Jacinto 92582 41 $153 -4.70% $59
San Jacinto 92583 38 $123 -2.00% $65
Sun City 92585 25 $180 3.20% $85
Sun City 92586 51 $133 6.00% $88
Temecula 92590 5 $600 -4.00% $172
Temecula 92591 52 $261 3.40% $123
Temecula 92592 103 $280 2.20% $119
Thousand P 92276 7 $145 81.30% $80
White Water 92282 2 $76 -12.10% $54
Wildomar 92595 27 $210 0.00% $94
Winchester 92596 53 $236 -7.50% $92

April not a good month

Data Quicks April report is out and it's a stinker! Sales numbers continue to be pathetic and the median price took a hit last month too. On to the report.....


The prospect of a near-term resurgence in Southern California’s housing market continued to wither last month as home sales fell to the lowest level for an April in three years. Prices trended sideways or down slightly, depending on location, as credit remained tight and distress sales and investor activity continued to dominate the market, a real estate information service reported.

A total of 18,344 new and resale houses and condos sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in April. That was down 5.5 percent from 19,412 in March, and down 9.2 percent from 20,205 in April 2010, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. April marked the 10th consecutive month in which Southland sales fell year-over-year.

On average, sales between March and April have increased 0.9 percent since 1988, when DataQuick's statistics begin. April sales have varied from a low of 15,303 in 1995 to a high of 37,905 in 2004. Last month’s sales count was 25.4 percent below the average April sales tally of 24,606. The last time April sales were lower was in April 2008, when 15,615 homes sold.

The 1,024 sales of newly built homes last month marked a 1.9 percent gain from a year earlier, but it was still the Southland’s second-slowest April for new-home sales since at least 1988.

The median price paid for all new and resale Southland houses and condos purchased last month was $280,000, down 0.2 percent from $280,500 in March, and down 1.8 percent from $285,000 in April 2010. The median has declined year-over-year for two consecutive months, and hasn’t posted an annual increase since last December, when it rose 0.3 percent from a year earlier.

The median’s low point for the current real estate cycle was $247,000 in April 2009, while the high point was $505,000 in mid 2007. The peak-to-trough drop was due to a decline in home values as well as a shift in sales toward low-cost homes, especially inland foreclosures.

“The market's in a rut at a time it would normally be building momentum. Two of the more likely forces that could get it going again are more robust job growth and home price reductions. At the moment, the latter appears to be the more likely short-term catalyst,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

	Sales Volume			Median Price
All homes	Apr-10	Apr-11	%Chng	Apr-10	Apr-11	%Chng
Los Angeles	6,688	6,025	-9.9%	$329,500	$320,000	-2.9%
Orange	2,669	2,485	-6.9%	$430,000	$430,000	0.0%
Riverside	4,023	3,470	-13.7%	$200,000	$190,000	-5.0%
San Bernardino	2,744	2,403	-12.4%	$150,000	$147,500	-1.7%
San Diego	3,292	3,277	-0.5%	$325,250	$321,750	-1.1%
Ventura	789	684	-13.3%	$382,000	$357,500	-6.4%
SoCal	20,205	18,344	-9.2%	$285,000	$280,000	-1.8%