California gets a real estate Valentine in February! Those who were hoping for sweet news on the state of our real estate market - especially in neighborhoods with more upscale listings - will be heartened by some rather lovely statistics that were recently reported.

Southern California home sales, for example, continued to outperform prior year levels for the 18th consecutive month, and that positive activity was led by gains in many properties in the mid-to-high price ranges. Better than average sales gains are being seen in luxury markets including Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and Newport Beach - markets that had relatively low sales volume a year ago.

Meanwhile foreclosure inventories are shrinking, buyers are taking advantage of low mortgage rates while they last, and the market for jumbo loans has regained its luster to give a needed boost to sales of pricier homes. Investors - including many absentee buyers and those who are paying all cash for their purchases - have also returned in recent months to fuel a surge in sales.

At the same time Fannie Mae, the largest mortgage company in the USA, is offering special financial incentives to buyers, and that perk has been good for sales. The company sold almost twice as many of its foreclosures in the third quarter of 2009 as it did in the previous quarter, and that kind of news means that the progress in the housing market is not just limited to the high-end, but represents important broad-based stability.

Please don't hesitate to call or send me an email if you'd like further information regarding the market.

Sincerely,