Merry Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas to all this beautiful December Day! This year I have been absolutely blessed. I have gotten in a lot of travel, My Grandbaby is doing well, my children are healthy and I paid all the bills. Lol about the last part but that hasn't always been the case. There are still a few lingering issues out there but overall this has been a great year. Thank You all for your part in it!

In my travels this year,  I have seen

                                                      Germany

Love this Woman's pose! - Photo Bomb!

But really - How are they doing this?????

Science Museum - Bremen, Germany

Oregon

Okay - the sunset is from California - but I'm sure they could see it in Oregon too..

Italy

You just can't beat the colosseum at night

You may recall that I've been to Italy before but it's still amazing there - very close to my heart. Germany was a first for me, I love the German people. They are really friendly, and punctual - which I love! Oregon's southern coast was beautiful, all the jagged rocks jutting out of the ocean - so cool! However, there's no place like home and I'm so happy to live in such a beautiful base.

We hiked in Lassen

and Whiskeytown this year.  Just Beautiful.  Add in a Business trip to Los Angeles, a couple of jaunts to Lake Tahoe and Monterey and it certainly has been the traveling year.  Let it not be said that I did not live, because I truly believe that life is not meant to be spent in one place.

Real estate in Redding has slowed a bit this year but we are seeing a return to a more "normal" growth rate.  In 2014 Prices rose on average about 8% over 2013. Right now, Inventory is down, there are currently 981 Active listings in our MLS. Feel Free to call me anytime for statistics for your neighborhood or just to see what your home would sell for!

(This year I closed 18 sides - so all this traveling has not slowed me down!)

Oh yea - almost forgot, got a puppy for Christmas, - He's exhausted.

Time Flies When You're a Grandma!

Pretty much lately this is how my day goes. Wake up, have coffee (because really, who can function without coffee? - not me), Go to work, work like a fiend, go home, eat, pass out. Wake up and do it all over again. Except on Sundays. Sundays are the best. Grandbaby days. I live for Sundays. - I could bore you all endlessly with the details of how the little tyke is doing but that would probably be too long for me and too agonizing for you. So, we'll just suffice with one little pic and move on to Real Estate.

This is us watching ourselves.

For the first time in many years Real Estate seemed to come back to life last year. Multiple offers, rising home prices, many many homeowners back in an equity position. YAY! To me it seemed like some were thinking the housing bubble had reared its ugly head again. Nay-sayers warning of crashing prices doom and gloom.  Where do these people come from? It's like they are afraid to be happy. What we really experienced was a return to Normal. Normal. - What does it cost to build a house? It costs about $135-$150 per square foot to build a house. - just a regular house - not a mansion mind you - those cost more. But a regular, average joe house costs about $135-$150 to build. If you find a 1400 sq ft house and it costs $180K that equates to $128 a square foot. I personally think anytime you can buy something for less than it cost to make it its a good deal. - Now, does that help our economy in the long run, are you smelling a housing bubble? I think not.

 The following chart is courtesy of Bob Sprenkel - a local Redding area appraiser

Time Period	Area	Average Sale Price	Average Price/SF	Price/SF 0 – 10 Yrs	Price/SF 10 – 30 Yrs	Price/SF 30+ Yrs
Q3 2011	Redding	195,797	107.01	128.68	115.07	87.89
Q4 2011	Redding	181,025	103.01	123.41	111.69	86.14
Q1 2012	Redding	191,593	104.80	137.12	108.37	86.49
Q2 2012	Redding	195,276	109.34	133.17	117.09	89.52
Q3 2012	Redding	205,356	113.74	133.47	121.67	95.86
Q4 2012	Redding	216,633	117.46	139.57	124.12	97.17
Q1 2013	Redding	214,550	119.08	143.65	124.53	97.62
Q2 2013	Redding	231,254	129.42	148.05	138.54	109.87
Q3 2013	Redding	236,121	132.74	148.63	143.10	113.03
Q4 2013	Redding	228,028	133.07	156.43	142.80	114.02
Jan 2014	Redding	237,506	136.53	155.37	149.94	116.50

Reminder: These averages are for Redding only per Shasta MLS data. When you get outside of Redding, the averages are generally lower.

The easing in the Redding market the past two months can be seen in the following statistics per Shasta MLS:

(The search criterion was for houses in Redding between 1500 -2000 SF.)

12/01/2013 – 01/31/2014

• Average sale price $226,014
• Average cost/SF $130.02

06/01/2013 – 11/30/2013

• Average sale price $234,869
• Average cost/SF $135.71

Check out the numbers - What do you think? Ok - Stats for today---859 total residential listings in Shasta MLS - 361 of those in Redding. 210 Pending sales (Redding only) and 5 under 100K, 49 under 150K, The rest are 200K up.

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