Well, here we are at the end of another year. It’s been a wild ride. The real estate market always has a flurry of activity in and around Fountain Valley. Supply and demand, prices and mortgage rates, are the determining factors. As you’ll note, from some of my clients’ sales, as the seasons changed, and rates rose, buyer demand softened, but prices remained strong. When Fountain Valley residents, Randall and Dianne Thompson asked me to list the home they inherited in Huntington Beach, it was January. Mortgage interest rates for a 30-year fixed were averaging 6.25%. The property, a fixer in original 1962 condition, garnered 45 offers and sold for $200,000 over the $850,000 list price.
February came and went but not before mortgage rates rose to an average of 6.54%, and not before the Gibbs family received 34 bids to purchase their home on Santa Clara Circle. It too was a popular fixer-upper and sold for $1,025,000.
You may remember the column I wrote about Marianne Gentry, whose beloved husband, of fifty years, passed away last year. After applying $26,000 of lipstick to prepare the house for the market, my partner, Nick White and I, delivered twenty-one purchase contracts to her. The home on San Rafael Street, near FV Library sold for $91,000 over list price. She was able to pay off her reverse mortgage and other debts and move to her happily ever after, in assisted living.
April brought with it an up tick in mortgage rates with an average 30-year fixed rate of 6.71%. That did little to deter the eleven home buyers, who bid on Jon and Bridget’s home on Mount Cherie Circle in the Pheasant Run tract, just across the street from Ellis Park. The list price was $1,539,000. It sold for $1,675,000.
Seven months after this family welcomed a new granddaughter, they started packing for their move to watch her grow up. Mortgage rates were now hovering around 6.84%. The home, just north of Talbert Avenue, and West of Santa Mariana Street, was beautifully remodeled and offered over 2,100 square feet of living space. Seventeen prospective buyers competed for it. It was listed for $1,369,000 and sold for $1,500,000.
After Forty-nine years as a nurse, Susan was ready to retire. Her family in Oregon, awaited her with open arms in August. Her single level end unit in the Tiburon North community, east of Newhope Street, was listed for 718,000. She received two bids to purchase it. It sold for full list price.
As the October leaves began to dance from their branches, this retired couple contemplated the idea of less home maintenance. They chose to purchase a beautiful, Fountain Valley townhome. I listed their two-story home, with almost 2,600 SF of living space, in the very tony, Pheasant Run neighborhood, north of Ellis Avenue and west of Ward Street. Mortgage rates had risen to an average of 7.79% for a thirty year fixed loan. Three sets of buyers jumped at the opportunity to purchase the property. Listed for $1,550,000. The bids netted a sales price of $1,670,000.
Our Fountain Valley Police Officers, have been a great support of my business, and so it came to pass that one of the officers referred me to sell his parent’s newly remodeled, Huntington Beach home, east of Newland Street and south of Atlanta Avenue. Mortgage rates hovered at eight percent before settling at an average of 7.6%. The home with three bedrooms and over 2,000 SF of living space, was listed for $1,639,000 and accepted the all cash offer for $1,650,000. It closed escrow on November 8th.
As this column goes to press, average mortgage rates, with CA credit scores 700-719 are around 8.339%. Only those with crystal balls can determine what 2024 will bring. I don’t have one. Peace to you and yours.