(Newswire.net — March 23, 2016) — Across the nation, real estate is performing very well. Lenders are more willing to dole out mortgages and buyers are more willing to borrow funds. Some states are performing better than others, though – and this year, California is at the top of its real estate game. The Golden State is currently leading the nation in jobs, economic growth, and real estate.
A Steady Increase in California Home Sales
After a great 2015, current economic forecasts in California predict an increase of 6.3 percent in existing home sales, which will come out to approximately 433k units. As the perfect complement to this growth in home sales, the GDP is supposed to grow 2.7 percent this year, at a rate 0.3 percent higher than last year’s growth.
Median home prices rose 6.5 percent and will continue to increase over the next five years, and the number of foreclosed homes decreased by nearly 24 percent in December of 2015. This is the lowest number of foreclosures since 2006, before the market crashed.
What’s perhaps most optimistic for the state of California is that home sales aren’t just increasing on the coast. A high number of home sales are also moving inland, and places like Lake County and other counties in Northern California are doing particularly well. This is a sign that people are buying more than just vacation homes, and the economic forecast is looking great.
The economy seems to be following suit with the unemployment rate decreasing from 7.5 percent to a projected 5.5 percent in 2016. This is an excellent outlook compared to how the economy is slowing down around the world, and consumers are looking to California for their real estate investments.
California’s Market is ‘Hot’
Realtor.com recently updated their list of 20 hottest housing markets in the United States, and California dominated the list. Twelve of the top 15 places listed were in California, including San Francisco, San Jose, Vallejo, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Stockton, Oxnard, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Modesto, and Eureka.
These rankings are based on several factors, including the best availability for buyers and highest demand for sellers. Realtor.com used data based on past search results and number of hits to determine which markets were receiving the most attention in the nation.
“Our initial readings on January affirm the positive growth we expect to see in the residential real estate market in 2016,” says Jonathan Smoke, chief economist for Realtor.com. “Our traffic, searches and listing views exhibited the January ‘pop’ we saw last year, which made for a strong spring. In addition, a large number of prospective buyers have been telling us since the second half of 2015 that they plan to purchase in the spring and summer of 2016.”
Now Is a Good Time to Buy
With 12 cities on Realtor.com’s list and median home prices on the rise, California has a hot market. Now is the time to buy, particularly if you’re looking to flip a home for profit. The current availability in the state is excellent for buyers, and with predictions that home values will rise in the future, you can expect to turn a fairly high profit.
The economy is also such that it’s making room for further growth. It’s ranked as number four in the nation, according to Business Insider. Unemployment is down, especially in areas near the Silicon Valley where there’s high demand for tech jobs and business ventures. All in all, California has hit a gold mine in real estate, and as a result, people are flocking to the state in droves.