In the month of May, we saw a few more properties go into escrow and more new listings than in April. However, the Memorial Day weekend did not bring as many home buyers as expected with less than 50% occupancy in town.

The real estate market in Mammoth continues to be soft, although May was marginally better than April for new escrows. According to appraiser opinions, our prices are off by about 16%. The interesting statistics to watch at this point are the number of properties going into escrow weighted against the number of new listings. In April we saw 30 new escrows and 98 new listings. In May there were 36 new escrows and 122 new listings.

Even though the market is soft, as a buyer, the strategy is different depending on whether you are financing the purchase or paying cash. If you are financing, then interest rates play an important factor in the timing of your purchase. Although the market has not rebounded yet, waiting for price to drop even further may not outweigh the benefit of taking advantage of interest rates now while they are low.

The sub-prime market has not had much of an affect on home buyers in Mammoth. Those with good income and credit are not having any tougher of a time securing financing but the worry of rising interest rates makes a purchase now, if you find the right property for you, a good time.

On the other hand, if you are a cash buyer, you may think that with rising interest rates, you are in a better position to negotiate since the costs for the buyer who has to finance is much higher. This is a legitimate conclusion to draw so long as you keep in mind that if your timing is off and there is a quick turnaround in the Mammoth market due to a major announcement, you will then be competing with buyers in a sellers market and your negotiating power diminishes.

The bottom line is that if you are in the market to purchase a property in Mammoth or the surrounding areas and you find a property you want to buy, don't take the chance of losing it by wanting to wait for the price to drop 1-2% over the next couple of months. This is especially true if the property you want is a unique one, most notably in location.

For more information, contact: Walter Molony, 202/383-1177, molony@realtors.org

Pending Home Sales Index Shows Market May Be Stabilizing WASHINGTON, June 01, 2007 - A forward-looking indicator based on pending home sales shows the housing market could edge down but appears to be in the process of leveling out, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index*, based on contracts signed in April, stood at 101.4, down 3.2 percent from an upwardly revised March reading of 104.8, and is 10.2 percent lower than April 2006 when it registered 112.9. The revised March index was 10.0 percent below a year earlier.

Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, said the current index appears to be a fair representation of overall housing market conditions. "It looks like we may be leaving a period of market disruptions, and for the past two months the pending home sales index has been similar in year-ago comparisons, which means home sales might ease but should be fairly stable in the months ahead," he said.

"In April, existing-home sales declined in part because some subprime lenders went out of business and disrupted the market, but the impact appears to be diminishing and mortgage applications have risen in the last month," Yun said. "This tells us that some borrowers who originally planned to finance with subprime mortgages are finding suitable loans in the conventional market, which will help to stabilize home sales."

"On the other hand, psychological factors seem to be holding buyers back as they look for clear signs that the market has bottomed - that varies from one area to another."

The index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.

An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined as well as the first of five consecutive record years for existing-home sales.

Annual changes in the index are more closely related to actual market performance than are month-to-month comparisons. As the relatively new index matures and seasonal adjustment factors are refined, the month-to-month comparisons will become more meaningful.

The PHSI in the Midwest rose 2.3 percent in April to 98.1 but was 4.4 percent below a year ago. The index in the South increased 0.7 percent from March to 116.0, but was 10.4 percent below April 2006. The index in the West fell 10.2 percent in April to 91.4 and was 11.7 percent lower than a year ago. In the Northeast, the index dropped 10.4 percent from March to 89.3 and was 15.4 percent below April 2006.

The National Association of Realtors®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing more than 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

# # # * The Pending Home Sales Index is based on a large national sample, typically representing about 20 percent of transactions for existing-home sales. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity from 2001 through 2004 parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months. There is a closer relationship between annual index changes (from the same month a year earlier) and year-ago changes in sales performance than with month-to-month comparisons.

The forecast will be revised June 6, and existing-home sales for May will be released June 25. The next Pending Home Sales Index will be on July 3.

There were a total of 39 sales in all areas in the month of May (24 in Mammoth). Mammoth's statistics showed a 8.3% DECREASE in units sold and 19.69% INCREASE in dollar volume. The overall statistics for all areas showed a 10.26% INCREASE in units sold and a 25.56% INCREASE in dollar volume. With volume in both units and dollars sold increasing, it may be indicative that the buying market has conceded that now IS a good time to buy and starting to move on making the purchases. Interest rates are still good but that may not last for much longer. It's time to jump on a property if you see something you like.

Town Council Meeting Update - June 6, 2007 Public Hearing:

Town Council voted to approve resolutions to revise Affordable Housing Mitigation In-Lieu fees, planning and engineering application fees and engineering application fees for grading/improvement plans. Council also voted to approve an ordinance governing the collection of fees for long-range planning services and amended a Municipal Code governing the collection of a security deposit required before the issuance of a grading permit. Resolutions adopting the May 2007 Masters Facilities Plan, Level of Service Goals, approval of the May 2007 DIF Justification Report, an ordinance amending Municipal Code 15.16 and a resolution reducing Development Impact Fees (DIF) for Multi-Unit Transient and lock-off units passed by a vote of 4-0, with Councilmember Sugimura not participating because of a conflict of interest.

Town Council Voted to REDUCE Development Impact Fees

After years of discussion over the amount of Development Impact Fees, Council approved a reduction in the fees for all land use categories. The presented compelling arguments about the state of the local economy and responded by providing an additional discount in the multi-unit transient category and for lock-off units to create an incentive to kick start construction Mammoth Lakes. There will be a loss of Development Impact Fee revenue reductions, so new and alternative financing programs will have to be found the lost DIF revenue for projects on the 2007 Masters Facilities Plan.

Developing the Mammoth Brand - Update

Siegel + gale are in Phase 3 of the brand development road map for Mammoth. Key steps in this phase include developing and testing three positioning hypotheses against existing Mammoth winter/summer customers and prospects in moderated focus groups. Town and Mountain staff recently observed several focus group sessions in both LA and San Francisco. The focus groups consisted of people that have visited Mammoth in the past two years, Mammoth prospects (who would consider visiting Mammoth - if not already - in the future) and Mammoth summer visitors. All the sessions were extremely insightful, professionally moderated and lasted for two hours. Siegel + gale will analyze the results and prepare a comprehensive review of the positioning recommendations to the Brand Council later this month.

Mammoth Lakes Summer Transit Map

A new summer transit map is in production and will be in distribution when Town Trolley operations commence on June 15. The transit map includes summer service lines and information for the Town Trolley, Lakes Basin Trolley, Mid-Town Lift, Old Mammoth Lift, Mammoth Mountain Bike Park Shuttle, Reds Meadow Shuttle, Dial-a-Ride, YARTS and CREST. Maps will be made available on the buses and trolleys, as well at the Mammoth Lakes Welcome Center, at The Village Mountain Center, select local businesses and online at www.visitmammoth.com .

Wilderness Camps

Enjoy the Mammoth outdoors in these exciting camps that include day hikes, outdoor games, exploring, map reading, and lots of fun. Each day includes a different day-hike along with a variety of outdoor activities and concludes with an overnight campout at a local campground. The camps are available: July 9-13, July 23-27, and August 13-17. Camp cost is only $130/child and daily schedules are available at the Parks and Recreation Office at time of registration.

Airport Project Team Update - May 30, 2007

The Airport Project Team meets weekly and is advisory to the Town and MMSA. The airport project team is also intended to assure an open and transparent public process. Members of the team are: Rob Clark, Town Manager; Karen Johnston, Assistant Town Manager; Bill Manning, Airport and Transportation Director; Pam Murphy, MMSA; and John Walter, Advocates for Mammoth. The following is a report on the May activities of the Team.

EIS Status: The FAA is reviewing preliminary results of the noise analysis section of the EIS. This review is taking longer than expected because of the technical nature of the model and need to assure that it is highly accurate. The next step will be for the FAA to consult with the National Park Service. It is expected that these consultations will occur during the month of June. The EIS consultant will also be able to draft chapters of the EIS that are related to the noise analysis.

TSA Consultations: The team is working with TSA to address security needs both within the airport terminal and on the airport property in general. In addition, staffing options are under consideration to address the limited number of flights and remote location. TSA is expected to make a site visit during the month of June.

FAA Funding: The FAA has advised the Town that it will provide funding during the current year for the AWOS (automated weather observation system), replacement beacons, and engineering for runway resurfacing for a total of $450,000. They are giving high priority to fund a $6.8 million resurfacing project the following year. The project does not in anyway expand the runway or change its configuration. The pavement has exceeded its expected useful life and is becoming impractical to maintain. The project will provide a new lift of asphalt on the existing runway to provide an additional 20 years of useful life.

Real Estate Happenings:

* The Tallus fractional ownership project's sales office will be staffed with Coldwell Banker Mammoth agents coming this July. Stop by to learn about fractional ownership.

* The Snowcreek Village is moving forward and we expect to see the resultant activity in the next 18-24 months. * The "1" Hotel is planned to break ground next summer but is reliant on construction costs decreasing. The DIF reductions were imperative to there even being a chance, as Rusty Gregory put it, for the development plans to move forward.