Last night I saw the movie Avatar. What a treat! For those of you that have not seen it, check out the trailer and you will hear the line, “son, you are not in Kansas anymore”. That prompted a thought- provoking concept that required a new post.
If we look at the latest Case Schiller report, the first thing we notice is that there was an improvement of 0.5% in home values nationwide, YTD Nov 2009. If we drill down the data it becomes quite obvious that the west led the nation with a 2.9% improvement in values. California is one of the most badly-hammered states of the Great Recession. My local paper, San Diego North County Times announced a 7% improvement in home values for our area. If you are familiar with North County San Diego, then you know that La Costa, La Jolla, Del Mar, and Carlsbad are generally all in the $1 million plus range.
More often than not we get multiple reports contradicting each other within minutes from the major agencies like Reuters and CNBC. And the fact that national trends are primarily broadcast on the major news programs highlights the importance of focusing on the local numbers (see earlier post “San Diego Real Estate Outlook 2010”). One of the best tools we have to gauge our local markets is social media. Although brilliant in its global reach, it’s also indispensable in keeping one’s pulse on the local micro-economy. Several years ago it was paramount for the mortgage professional to be licensed in every possible state, but today I believe we need to have extraordinary knowledge of our immediate neighborhoods to succeed. (Not to mention the nugget that 60-70% of mortgage professionals have jumped ship, which presents a huge opportunity).
Social media, having gained the momentum that it has, definitely means we are not in Kansas anymore. One cannot prevent progress, or ignore its impact on the global, as well as the micro-economy.
Michael Mekler is an active loan officer. Reach Michael via email at mmekler@fhaexpert.net or call toll-free to 1-888-218-0094
