It is beginning to feel like Autumn!  The climate has gotten wonderfully cooler and truthfully, this is my all-time favorite time of the year.  Halloween is nearly here and the bedroom community of Temecula has a great deal of youngsters (mine included) who are eager for halloween costumes, sweets, and mean parents who love to terrify their youngsters.  Ok, maybe that is just in my house but my 5 year old son has triple dared me to scare him!

I hope this update discovers you and your loved ones in good health and getting ready for the holiday.  As we get into fall, I anticipate the number of Temecula Valley properties sold to drop as opposed to the Summer months. Even though we do not have the serious drop off related with cooler climates, we do see a seasonal slow down usually beginning in the Fall and running through to Spring when we shoot back into high gear.  Let's see if the numbers show this:

It seems like we are seeing some decline from Temecula home sales in August 2011.  The total number of active listings stayed just about the same however the average listed selling price dropped from $362,800 to $354,700.  That is a fall of $8,100 or a 2.2% change. 

More importantly we noticed a larger fall in number of Temecula houses sold from 171 in August to 140 in September, an 18% drop in the amount of Temecula Valley houses sold month after month. Moreover we also see a decrease in actual sales price from $303,100 in August to $287,700 in September, with a decrease in sold home costs of about 5.1%.  That is amajor move and might display considerably declining demand from purchasers. Again, this is not too unique but I am a little stunned by the 18% decline in Temecula Valley house closes.  It is more than I assumed and I am interested to see if it is imitated when I do both my Murrieta and Menifee Market Reports later today. 

One thing I have undoubtedly seen is a significant increase in people refinancing. One advantage of doing this update today is that earlier this morning President Obama rolled out an expansion on the current limits of the Making Home Affordable Act.  That will drive even more refinances when it takes affect in the next month or two.  More refinances equals less short sales plus less supply.  With interest rates this low, we may perhaps see a severe spike in purchasing activity following the New Year.

And that closes my October 2011 Temecula Valley Real Estate Trends Report.  As always, if you have questions or concerns, feel free to shoot over an email.  Please have a great month of October and an excellent Halloween!