And the Good News Is...

November 20, 2008

It's getting to be more and more difficult to find good news on TV. Reporters seem to be reveling in stirring up as much "doom and gloom" news as they can – after all it's been proven that bad news sells better than good. Our addiction to news tickers and 24 hour coverage was solidified during horrific news events of the last decade. But there IS positive news to be found if you dig hard enough.

28 Metropolitan areas showed increases in median existing single-family home prices from the same quarter in 2007. Areas such as Elmira NY, Tulsa OK, Wichita KS and Urbana IL.

But even in areas where average home sales have dropped drastically, there is good news. Buyers who have been shut out of the home ownership market, are now finding that they can afford to buy. And they ARE buying. Three states where the ‘housing bubble' has burst are seeing some of the highest increases in sales. The largest sales gain during the third quarter was in Arizona, up 28.3 percent from the second quarter, followed by California which rose 28.1 percent and Nevada, up 26.2 percent. These areas have seen some of the strongest sales gains with some reports of multiple bidding.

And there's also good news for sellers. The typical seller purchased their home six years ago and is still experiencing net equity gains, even in today's depressed markets. The national increase in value since the third quarter of 2002 is 18.3 percent, which is a median gain of $31,000. Even with the current downward price distortion, 90 percent of metro areas are showing six-year price gains.

So while we are definitely in turbulent economic times, there is GOOD NEWS to be found if you look for it. Hopefully, some home buying incentives will be passed soon to stimulate even more home ownership. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said that, "A pattern of sharply higher sales in areas with large price declines is well established," Yun said. "Affordability conditions have consistently been a major factor in driving sales. Historically during recessions, buyers have responded to incentives and it's important for government to keep that in the forefront of stimulus decisions."

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Local Information for Visalia, CA

Latitude: 36.3241 -- Longitude: -119.307347

Other Area Cities: Visalia Exeter Farmersville Tulare Porterville

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This area now known as greater Visalia was once the domain of the Yokut Indians. The abundance of wildlife, seeds, acorns and roots made it a relatively easy existence for these original inhabitants of the valley. The first men of European descent to enter the valley most likely came as part of expeditions of the Spanish Military and the Coastal Missions. Historical records indicate that Pedro Fages reached the central San Joaquin Valley in about 1772 and was the first to make a written record of this area. When the railroads came through the California Central Valley creating such cities as Tulare, Fresno, and Modesto, Visalia was passed by. While cities like Fresno and Modesto experienced bursts of growth in the first half of the 20th century, Visalia remained small. Throughout the 1980s until the mid 1990s Visalia experienced a massive increase in population, growing from around 25,000 in the 1970s to over 110,000 today. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

California 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Visalia	California	United States
Population	91,565	33,871,648	281,421,906
Median age	31.7	33.3	35.3
Median age for Male	30.2	32.2	34
Median age for Female	33.3	34.4	36.5
Households	30,883	11,502,870	105,480,101
Household population	89,943	33,051,894	273,643,273
Average household size	2.91	2.87	2.59
Families	22,901	7,920,049	71,787,347
Average family size	3.37	3.43	3.14
Housing units	32,654	12,214,549	115,904,641
Occupied units	30,883	11,502,870	105,480,101
Vacant units	1,771	711,679	10,424,540

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