Loan Activity for October

The charts for October are giving me something to feel good about. In each of the areas we chart the refinance business took a move upward for the first time in the last few months. You may be saying, It didn't have anywhere else to go! I on the other hand certainly was hearing that it could have gotten a lot worse. I think that this move upward is showing us that the lenders are figuring out how to handle what hit them. The underwriting requirements and the sources of funds are getting ironed out. That is all very good news. I think we will start seeing an increase in sales in the not to distant future as well. The fact that lenders are getting things moving again will certainly give some much needed confidence to the buyers that are out there. The next people to jump on board will be the investors from Wall Street who will then begin creating even more sources for loans. This will be particularly important for many jumbo loan customers. I would love to hear any comments you might have. See You In Escrow!

October Sales Activity For Santa Barbara's South County

CORT and Dataquick got to the numbers out to us quickly this month. That can only mean 1 thing, there weren't many sale transactions in Santa Barbara County. There were 109 transactions from Goleta to Carp. That compares to 151 transactions in 2006. That is almost a 28% drop in transactions for the month. The areas that were most affected were Santa Barbara and Goleta. Goleta's number dropped 56% from 48 transactions in 2006 to 21 transactions in 2007. Santa Barbara's number of sales wasn't off as significantly but it was down 17% going from 76 in 2006 to 63 in 2007. Carpinteria remained unchanged while Montecito was down 2 transactions from 16 to 14. What does it all mean? My CORT records go back to 1997 and there hasn't been 2 back to back months like September and October of 2007 during that time span. We are living in historic times! I am not expecting November and December to really change things with respects to how many transactions are closing here on the South Coast, but I am feeling pretty darn confident that 2008 will be a better year for closed escrows. Tomorrow I will post the North County charts. See You In Escrow!