Belmont Heights & Alamitos Beach Report for May 2008

Wondering how we can tell the future and report on May when it isn't even over? Trust me I completely understand. What I thought I would do today is report on what is currently available in Belmont Heights and Alamitos Beach. That way instead of looking back we can look forward and maybe get the information out to a few people who want to take some action in their lives and either buy or sell their Belmont Heights home or Belmont Heights Condo. We are going to be reporting on Alamitos Beach as well because according to how the MLS breaks up the areas Belmont Heights and Alamitos Beach are in the same area. If you want to see what is available you can always check out the free mls by clicking on the icon in the right hand side bar.

So let's see what we what we have going on so you can make a decision about what you want to do.

Belmont Heights & Alamitos Beach Report for May 2008

• Total Active Properties - 119 Active Homes and Condos
• Total Properties in Escrow (Pending & Backup) - 32 (16 in Backup & 16 in Pending)
• Average Price - $702,000
• Most Expensive: $1,799,900
• Most Affordable: $210,000

So what does this all mean? Let's look at the fact that there are 32 properties in escrow. That means that there are only 3.7 months supply of property. That would be the Belmont Heights & Alamitos Beach market in a buyers market. Remember under 6 months is considered a buyers market. Now the great part is you can still get a place to live for $210,000 in a great area. You may not get to wait to make your decision as a buyer and as long as you are pricing your home competitively you will have a chance at a pool of motivated buyers.

Good luck and happy buying and selling in Belmont Heights and Alamitos Beach.

Belmont Shore Real Estate Sales for March 2008

Belmont Heights Sales for March 2008

OK so the month is not over yet but we thought for St. Patrick's we would give an update on an area that we get tons of questions on and happens to be located close the the water and in high demand.

So what is going on in Belmont Heights in Long Beach this March? Well we currently have 66 active homes listed for sale and 8 properties that are in some stage of escrow. What does all of this mean?

• 12% of the properties are in some stage of escrow. This is quite good for not only the time of year but in comparison to other areas of the city.
• We have a 8.25 months supply of homes. This would put Belmont Heights not quite in a sellers market but in an even market for sure.
• List to sales price ratio continues to stay above 96%. This is the average discount that a buyer is receiving which is just above 4%. This is great for both the buyers and the sellers.

Belmont Heights continues to draw attention as a highly desirable place to live in Long Beach. At a recent open house in the area over 150 people went through a house on Mira mar 3 weeks in a row! Real estate is local to the area not just the city and Belmont Heights continues to be in demand.

Still Few Choices in Belmont Heights

We tend to hear from the media that the real estate market is falling apart and there choices for homes abound. Now of course there are areas of this fine city, Long Beach, that have more inventory choices than others. Downtown Long Beach and North Long beach represent over 50% of the available inventory in Long Beach but no where near 50% of the purchases that occur in the city. Let's take a look at what is going on in Belmont Heights.

Belmont Heights Real Estate Update

• 61 single family homes are available for sale
• Average price for a home is $983,000
• Only 25 homes that are $775,000 or under
• 12 properties are currently in escrow

The city is average about a 10% purchase rate of homes meaning about 10% of the available home inventory is sold every month. In Belmont Heights it is almost 20% or twice the average of the rest of the city. Real estate is local even within the same city and you have to know what is going on in your particular part of the city. While the general press reports that every area is having problems it is not true and it would be wise to look at what is available and what properties are selling for prior to listing or making a purchase. Real estate is a long term investment and the future of real estate continues to look bright especially in beautiful Belmont Heights.

Higher Rents give increased value to Multi-Units

Traditionally in the 4th quarter there are a number of duplex and 4-plex listings that become available as people try to sell their investment properties prior to the end of the year. With a tightening market the multi-units have now come much more in-line with traditional investment numbers. If you have been wanting to get a multi-unit in prime areas of Long Beach, this may be some of the best opportunity to have in years!

• Belmont Heights - 17 available multi-units under $1,000,000
• Example of inventory Available: Triplex that has been completely remodeled, ~7 Blocks from the beach, has a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom front house and 2 studios. - Current Rent total: $4,045 a month

This would be a great opportunity for someone who wants to owner occupy a neat property and get some rent. There are definitely some wonderful options out there to explore and with rents increasing it will give property owners increased yields over the years.

How many properties are actually available?

As many consumers monitor the market activity for the past month with under 200 properties being sold for the month of September, it could be easy to say that there are plenty of Long Beach homes and condos available and one should wait there time for the prices to fall as there are plenty of choices out there. On the other hand, it could be more useful to look at what properties are actually available....

• If you are looking in Belmont Heights for a home under $700,000, then you have just 13 options


• If you are looking for a 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom condo in a nice area of the Eastside, under $240,000, then you have just 6 choices


• If you would like a home in North Long Beach under $500,000 then you have 321 options

As you are looking through the inventory of available properties, keep an eye out for the property that best meets your needs and your budget. With ALL of the choices available throughout the Long Beach MLS, realize that in most cases, you can purchase just 1 so pick the one that meets your needs and remember, there may not be as many as you think that you actually like :)

Walk for Life Helps Everyone

If you didn't know the Avon Breast Cancer Foundation is having their annual walk that starts in Long Beach this weekend now you know! This is a great cause and everyone was already walking early this morning. It is a great group of people who are raising money for breast cancer.

So if you are down near the queen mary or you are near downtown long beach this weekend you might want to take a moment to cheer them on. They are covering 39 miles so they will be they will walk through Belmont Heights and Belmont Shore so please cheer this great walkers on!

If you want more information on this great event please check out Avon Walk.

Belmont Shore Real Estate Sales for August 2007

If you live near the water in Long Beach you may live in the communities of Belmont Shore, Naples, or Belmont Heights. These communities feature homes and condos of all shapes and sizes. But that isn't what this post is about. This post is all about the numbers and what has been happening in those areas. So let's take a look at sals figures for August!

All stats were taken from the SoCalMLS system which covers the Long Beach area. If a property was sold without going through the MLS it will not be reflected in these figures.

August 2007 for Belmont Heights, Belmont Shore, & Naples

1. New Listings - 59
2. Total Active Listings at the end of the Month of August - 212
3. In Escrow Properties - 15 (9 Pending, 6 Backup)
4. Closed Sales - 10

So what does this all mean? Well it means that things are still selling near the water. In fact buyers have some great choices. Now if you think you will be getting an ocean front home for $200,000 I am sorry to dissappoint but sellers have shown flexibility with buyers who want to buy their homes and aren't just fishing for an offer.

Belmont Shore Real Estate - Any buyers available?

You know right now if you own belmont shore real estate and you need to sell you are in for an interesting ride. Now let me be very clear. One can always sell real estate it just depends on what price you are willing to take for your property that decides on how many days your property is going to stay on the market. So what is happening in Belmont Shore in Long Beach, CA. Well let's look at the numbers and see what they say! All of the numbers below come from the realtor MLS that serves the area which is SoCalMLS.

As of Today 05/30/2007

• Total Active properties in Long Beach: 1,894
• Total Active in Belmont Shore: 91 - 4.8% of the properties available in Long Beach
• Total New Listings in May in Belmont Shore: 30
• Total New Listings that went into Escrow (Pending or Backup) -2
• Months Supply (Active in area\Amount into escrow) - 45.5 months!

Now I can see what is going to happen. I am going to get some hate e-mail on saying that there is 45 months of inventory in Belmont Shore. Now the area I am using in the MLS also includes Belmont Park and Naples. So in fairness these numbers come from these three areas that are very close to each other. These areas also have many high end properties in excess of 1 million dollars. These homes tend to average longer days on market. So I don't think that there is really 45 months worth of inventory. I would tell the high end buyer that they have a few choices out there. 1 million doesn't buy what it used to but it buys quite a bit.

So what does this all mean. It means that as interest rates continue to increase it is not as easy as it used to be to afford that executive home. So take caution with your pricing high end luxury seller. And to the buyers of these homes we say enjoy the selection but don't expect to get a 1 million dollar home with the ocean view for 50 cents on the dollar!