IT IS A HAPPY NEW YEAR--IF YOU PLAN ON BUYING OR SELLING REAL ESTATE IN 2015

Indeed it is!  In case you've missed the headlines, dating all the way back to early December, which proclaimed, "A More Balanced Market," all the way to Saturday, January 23rd's, "Home Sales Projected To Increase As Prices Level," 2015 is poised to be, "everyone's" market.  Just what is meant by that?  A more balanced market is also a more neutral market, favoring neither buyer nor seller.  As much as a buyer or seller may wish for "their" market, it isn't healthy and it excludes many potential customers to the market.  Meaning that a hot buyer or seller market, generally excludes people who WANT to do something, and because it is not a balanced market, you only get the people who HAVE to do something.  This leaves a lot of people not jumping in the pool, so to speak, which isn't much of a party.  The annual price appreciation for Orange County homes in October was 10.2%, compared with 18.7% a year earlier (Source: CoreLogic and DataQuick).  Appreciation is expected to level off even more this year, down to 4% to 6%, according to the National Association of Realtors. Recall the headline just mentioned, "As Prices Level Off..."  In fact, pending home sales are rising in the U.S.  Signed contracts for previously owned homes rose slightly in November, even through the holiday and only 17 working days to the month.  In fact, contracts were up 4.1% from November 2013 (NAR).  After the robust recovery of 2013, many dropped out of the unbalanced market, so essentially, 2014 became a recovery year independent of most economic factors, such as remaining low interest rates and a growing economy.  The real key to success for 2015, is that we are looking at the beginning of a sustained recovery and growth cycle.  Sellers are aware that homes are taking longer to sell, which means more inventory will hit the market.  Buyers are able to look through more homes, which is increased competition for sellers.   Prices are expected to level, allowing more buyers to enter the market, which increases the affordability index. All of which is a wonderful recipe for a substantial year in real estate, truly a WIN/WIN for all.