Hi folks!

Can’t believe the year is half over already and that 4th of July is upon us!!  Below are the lists of Big Bear’s “Sold” and “Pending” properties for the month of June.  Along with prices continuing to rise, interest rates have started to go up also.  On a monthly payment basis, this is actually even more important than an increase in prices.  Interest rates have gone up in just the last few months from around 3.5% to almost 4.5%.  While 4.5% is still historically very low; this increase of more than 25% has pretty significant effects on monthly payments.  For example, looking at a $400K home with 20% down, the monthly payment on a 30-yr mortgage would be approximately $1437 at 3.5%.  At 4.5%, the payment on the exact same home would be $1621.  That change is approximately equivalent to the change that you would see if you bought a $450K house instead at the 3.5% rate!!

Some of you may have noticed that we’ve started including short sales in the foreclosures list.   We did this because bank-owned properties (REO’s) are almost non-existent anymore up here (especially in the 92315 area).  This way, it gives a few more choices (though still not a lot) for those still looking for a “distressed” sale.  If any of you don’t know the differences between a resale, short sale, and REO, please give us a call or read the article below that we wrote last year:

Have a great weekend and an awesome 4th of July!!   See you on the Lake!!!