By | | Orange County RegisterFor seven years, a handful of homebuilders offered solar as an optional item to buyers willing to pay extra to go green.Now, California is on the verge of making solar standard on virtually every new home built in the Golden State.The California Energy Commission is scheduled to vote Wednesday, May 9, on new energy standards mandating most new homes have solar panels starting in 2020.Show Caption ofIf approved as expected, solar installations on new homes will skyrocket.Just 15 percent to 20 percent of new single-family homes built include solar, according...…By | | Orange County RegisterFor seven years, a handful of homebuilders offered solar as an optional item to buyers willing to pay extra to go green.Now, California is on the verge of making solar standard on virtually every new home built in the Golden State.The California Energy Commission is scheduled to vote Wednesday, May 9, on new energy standards mandating most new homes have solar panels starting in 2020.Show Caption ofIf approved as expected, solar installations on new homes will skyrocket.Just 15 percent to 20 percent of new single-family homes built include solar, according...WW…

By | | Orange County RegisterSouthern California home prices leveled off last month as buyers reacted to higher mortgage rates and rising inflation, causing sales to plunge 16% from year-ago levels.Last month’s sales tally was one of the lowest for May in records dating back to 1988.“The market’s changed,” said Katherine Orth of Sierra Madre, a broker-associate with DPP Real Estate. “It’s not like a bubble bursting. It’s more like a punch in the stomach. … The sellers are coming to the realization the party is over.”The median price of a Southern California home – or the price at the...…By | | Orange County RegisterSouthern California home prices leveled off last month as buyers reacted to higher mortgage rates and rising inflation, causing sales to plunge 16% from year-ago levels.Last month’s sales tally was one of the lowest for May in records dating back to 1988.“The market’s changed,” said Katherine Orth of Sierra Madre, a broker-associate with DPP Real Estate. “It’s not like a bubble bursting. It’s more like a punch in the stomach. … The sellers are coming to the realization the party is over.”The median price of a Southern California home – or the price at the...WW…

By | and | | Orange County RegisterThis coronavirus lockdown chopped Southern California home sales in half last month, resulting in a record-low May tally after the doors slammed shut on one of the most promising spring selling seasons in years.But agents and market watchers say the worst may be over, with sales starting to revive andrecord-low mortgage rates drawing buyers back into the market to compete for a paltry number of homes for sale.“For three weeks, maybe a month, buyers were canceling escrows. Escrows fell apart at the last minute with loans approved,” Ray Millman, a longtime...…By | and | | Orange County RegisterThis coronavirus lockdown chopped Southern California home sales in half last month, resulting in a record-low May tally after the doors slammed shut on one of the most promising spring selling seasons in years.But agents and market watchers say the worst may be over, with sales starting to revive andrecord-low mortgage rates drawing buyers back into the market to compete for a paltry number of homes for sale.“For three weeks, maybe a month, buyers were canceling escrows. Escrows fell apart at the last minute with loans approved,” Ray Millman, a longtime...WW…