TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics – last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
This week looks a lot like the last couple of weeks, sales-wise. But the weather! We are having extremely warm weather for this time of year when we are usually socked in with fog. Even the Giants won a game against the Dodgers in extra innings with a walk-off home run!
See the report on our
website.
- Janis Stone
DRE# 00517072
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending August 8, 2009
Last week we had great housing news with the announcement that May home prices posted their first monthly increase since the summer of 2006 (based on the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Schiller 20-city index).
We also learned that sales of newly built and existing homes rose in June for the third consecutive month. New home construction, though still weak, is the best it has been since the fall.
This week the good news continued. As announced by the Mortgage Bankers Association, Mortgage loan application volume increased 4.4 percent compared to the previous week. On an adjusted basis, the Index increased 4.1 percent compared with the previous week and 18 percent compared with the same week one year earlier. In addition, the Refinance Index increased 7.2 percent from the previous week. The Index has climbed about 35 percent above its recent low at the end of June. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 0.9 percent from one week earlier.
Also interesting to note is this week’s release of the National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index revealed an increase of 3.6% during the month. That was 6.7% higher than June 2008. It was the fifth straight month of increases, the first time that has happened since July 2003. The jump was much higher than expected with a consensus of industry experts put together by Briefing.com forecasting an increase of just 0.7%.
NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun had this to say, “Historically low mortgage interest rates, affordable home prices and large selection are encouraging buyers who’ve been on the sidelines.” It seems all of these incentives, much like the Cash for Clunkers program in the auto industry, is finally pushing people off of the fence.
Read the entire article
here.
Mortgage Weekly Update – Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
If ever there was a week to sing that old Disney® song, it was last week when Americans received some good employment news. Despite a worse-than-expected ADP National Employment report – which isn’t known for its accuracy – the Initial Jobless Claims report came in on Thursday with some good news. According to the report, Americans filing for unemployment benefits came in at 550,000, versus the 580,000 expected. In addition, the four-week moving average declined for the sixth consecutive week.
The markets received more evidence of an improving job market on Friday. The Labor Department reported 247,000 jobs lost in July versus economists’ expectations of 328,000 jobs lost. As you can see in the chart below, this is down pretty sharply from June’s lower, revised 443,000 jobs lost and the smallest loss since August 2008. Even better, the Unemployment Rate dropped to 9.4%, from the prior month’s reading of 9.5%. This reading broke a streak of 9 straight monthly increases and gave a lot of credibility to the good news in the job market.
Read the entire article
here.
Condo Buyers Find It Tough To Get Mortgages
San Francisco Chronicle reported this on Wednesday. We report on our website at
www.sfresidence.com.
Janis Stone
DRE# 00517072
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics – last week in review
Even with summer here, the San Francisco market does not seem to be letting up. Our office has been staying consistent and office reports are that August could be one of our record months.
See the report on our
website.
- Janis Stone
DRE# 00517072
Help Build Hope for Humanity!
We at Coldwell Banker in Northern California have a great story to share with our friends, family and clients about our partnership with Habitat for Humanity.
Over the past 10 years that we have supported Habitat for Humanity, we have raised $1.9 million, helped build 95 homes, volunteered more than 41,000 hours of labor to home construction projects and most importantly, brought so many local families and homes together.
Read more
here.
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending July 31, 2009
There was no new report for this week from Rick Turley, however we released our market statistics for
July's activity as well as our monthly
newsletter.
- Janis Stone
DRE# 00517072
The Goldman Report for July 7, 2009
Note: While Avram Goldman is no longer with Coldwell Banker, he is a friend and associate at Pacific Union with an excellent handle on San Francisco Real Estate:
Across the Great DivideAlthough average sales price has been increasing since the beginning of summer, it is once again showing a decreasing trend with the vast majority of sales under the million dollar mark.
The deep divide is reflected in Marin, which is one of the highest priced counties in the Bay Area. In July there were 1210 single family listings—621 under a million of which 38% of them were in escrow, 359 in the one to two million dollar range of which 19% were in escrow, and 230 over two million of which only 7% were in escrow. If you looked at all of the listings over one million, only 14.6% are in escrow or about one in seven listings.
There are many reasons why this could be occurring. Loans over the conforming limits are still more difficult to obtain, as lenders continue to require larger down payments, interest rates continue to be higher than conforming loans, and lender appraisals make for more challenging negotiations. Many sellers on the market are still testing the waters because either lower asking prices would put them under water or they think that their homes are unique and unusual, believing that buyers would be willing to overlook comparable homes that have sold for less. Today’s
WSJ article confirms these observations.
Read the entire report
here.
Mortgage Weekly Update – Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
“ENERGY AND PERSISTENCE CONQUER ALL THINGS.” Benjamin Franklin. And indeed, Bonds and home loan rates definitely showed some serious energy and persistence this week, despite some serious headwinds, including additional supply flooding the market from this week’s big Treasury auctions.
The Treasury unloaded an enormous supply of paper onto the markets this week…and remember, anytime there is more supply than demand, it means prices will naturally decline. And when Bonds are concerned, when prices decline, home loan rates go up. The heavy supply hitting the market caused some wild volatility for rates midweek, but overall home loan rates managed to find some improvement by the end of the week. However, it won’t be long before another enormous supply of Treasuries comes on the market. In just two weeks, we’ll be looking at a fresh round of auctions…and the size of those auctions will be announced on August 5th. This announcement date of August 5th, and the following week’s auction dates of the 11th, 12th and 13th will probably have high volatility and provide a headwind for Bonds. It used to be that the dates of economic news would be circled on the calendar as the ones to watch for greater movement in Bond prices…but right now, the supply issue has become so important that it now may be the most dominant current factor in Bond pricing and home loan rates.
In other news, Advanced Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the 2nd Quarter came in better than expected, while the 1st Quarter GDP was revised lower. GDP measures the total market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a given year. Overall, GDP has fallen four quarters in a row for the first time since government records started in 1947. The report also showed consumer spending is down, as consumer savings increased to the highest level since 1998.
Read the entire article
here.
August 2009 Report San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for July 2009
Our July San Francisco real estate market statistics are now
online.
- Janis Stone
DRE# 00517072
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending July 19, 2009
YOU’VE GOT TO GO THROUGH “LESS BAD” TO GET TO GOOD
It seemed everywhere you looked this week, the media was reporting on some sort of positive indicator relating to the real estate market. For starters, Good Morning America ran a story on Tuesday about the state of the housing market. You can see the interview here:
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8190034 Liz Ann Sanders, the Chief Investment Strategist for Charles Schwab, and Mike Santoli, Assoc Editor of Barron’s were interviewed. Essentially they both indicated there are enough cumulative signs from indicators to say that things are not only “less bad”, but we are starting to see some pockets of improvement in the housing market. Among the vital signs they said to watch for in calling a recovery are; Index of Leading Economic Indicators, currently up three months in a row; drop in new unemployment claims (the four week average is down 93,000 from the peak, and never before has there been this large of a drop while still being in a recession); and the spread between short term (set by Fed) and long term (driven by the market) interest rates, which is widening. Additionally an opinion was shared that if the Dow stays above 8,000 – this would be a good indicator that we’re on the road to recovery. This week we danced over the 9,000 mark, closing today at 9,171; making it the best July for the Dow in over 20 years.
Our industry was the first to be hit by the economic downturn and if all continues on this path, we will be the first out. We probably won’t see housing numbers start to appreciate across the board anytime soon. What we are seeing right now are signs we typically see at the bottoming-out of a down market. Speculators and investors are competing with first time home buyers. Those individuals are going to continue to gobble up the inventory—both REOs and non-bank sellers at the entry price level. In many metros across the country, there are very low levels of inventory at the low end. I was on the phone this afternoon with the Coldwell Banker president for Arizona. They were hit hard, and early, with foreclosures. He told me that today the Phoenix Metro area has under 2 months supply at their entry level, <$250k – yet a 7 years supply of inventory at their estate home level of $2M+.
Also this week the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Schiller 20-city index was released and in it, home prices in May posted their first monthly increase since the summer of 2006. Prices rose from April in 13 of the metro areas tracked, notably Cleveland, Dallas, Boston and the Bay Area. The news followed reports showing sales of newly built and existing homes rising in June for the third consecutive month. New home construction, though still weak, is the best it’s been since the fall.
Read the entire article
here.
Fast Facts from CAR and Freddie Mac – June 2009
New statistics for California real estate activity for May are now online at our website. Read the report here.
- Janis StoneDRE 00517072
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics – last week in review
Our office is kicking butt and taking names. During the summer we are normally on a slow down in sales, but this last week was phenomenal. SFResidence alone closed 4 deals this month and put a couple more into escrow. Things seem to be picking up for the San Francisco market as buyers see opportunity and sellers are becoming more realistic!
See the report on our
website.
- Janis Stone DRE 00517072
Mortgage Weekly Update – Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
IT’S THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS…OR IS IT? As we look back at last week, think about this for starters – the housing industry received some welcome good news, as Existing Home Sales came in better than anticipated, and marking the third straight month that Existing Home Sales have increased. And perhaps even better, the supply of unsold homes on the market dropped from the prior reading of 9.8 months down to 9.4 months – which is the best level seen in over a year. With home loan rates still at low levels and homes priced to sell – this is a great time for potential homebuyers to stop thinking, and go ahead and take some action.
Despite that bright spot of news, last week’s Consumer Sentiment report – which measures consumers’ attitudes and expectations concerning both present and future economic conditions – showed that consumers still think the economy has a ways to go, as the report did come in a bit weaker than anticipated. According to the report last week, Consumer Sentiment came in at 66 for the month of July, down from June’s reading of 70.8. Take a look at the chart below for an interesting historical perspective on this report.
And one of the major reasons for the decline in Consumer Sentiment was ongoing concern over unemployment – and last week, Initial Jobless Claims reportedly rose by 554,000. While this number was high, it was essentially in-line with expectations of 557,000.
The big news that many headlines featured was the number of Continuing Claims, which fell from 6.31 million the prior week to 6.22 million. And although this drop was reported as positive news, we need to remember that a large number of people are still unable to find jobs, but are no longer being counted in Continuing Claims because their unemployment benefits have expired. The bottom line is that it will be hard for the economy to really turn higher with momentum until the labor market starts to turn around.
Stocks had a good week, with the Dow closing above 9,000 on Thursday for the first time since January 6th, as well as finishing the week with its strongest two-week span for blue chips since 2000. Since Stocks moving higher can drain money away from Bonds, the rally in Stocks – combined with the announcement of next week’s Treasury’s auction of $115 Billion in Notes – put selling pressure on Bonds toward the end of the week. Despite some volatile mid-week action, home loan rates closed out the week near the level where they had begun the week.
Read the entire article
here.
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics – last week in review
As summer chugs along, so does the market. We are seeing a lot of steady activity which is a pretty good sign, though prices are not at the level they were several years ago.
See the report on our
website.
- Janis Stone DRE 00517072
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending July 12, 2009
Data Quick Releases Its June Figures With Promising ResultsDataQuick Information Systems released its June monthly report on the Bay Area Thursday (
http://www.dqnews.com/Articles/2009/News/California/Bay-Area/RRBay090716.aspx) to some interesting month-end figures, including increases in sales and median home prices. In fact, the company reported; “Home sales in the Bay Area jumped to their highest level in almost three years, the result of improved mortgage availability and a perception among potential buyers that prices have bottomed out. The median price paid for a home increased month-to-month for the third month in a row.”
Among the highlights of the story:
- A total of 8,644 new and resale houses and condos sold across the nine-county Bay Area in June.
- That was up 16.1 percent from 7,447 in May and up 20.4 percent from 7,178 in June 2008.
- Home sales have increased on a year-over-year basis the last ten months.
- The median price paid for all new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area was up 3.1 percent from May, although down 27.4 percent from June 2008. It was the highest since last October.
- The current median is 47.1 percent below the $665,000 peak reached in June 2007. It hit a low of $290,000 in March this year. About half the downturn appears to be price declines, the other half is the absence of high-end home sales in the statistics, which pulls the median down.
Read the rest of the report here.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
INFLATION, ALL WE NEVER WANTED…! Or so the Go-Go’s song “Vacation – All I Ever Wanted” could have been re-written this week, as whispers and glimmers of future inflation as well as some positive economic news roiled the Bond market. Overall, home loan rates worsened by about .25% across the board.
Inflation at both the wholesale and consumer level came in hotter than expected via the Producer Price Index (PPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) reports, the latter shown in the chart below. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by more than expected, and was the biggest increase in a year, mostly due to higher gasoline prices.
However, a look back over the past year shows a drop in overall CPI of 1.4%…why is this? It was a year ago that a barrel of oil was $147, and today that barrel stands at $60, up from the $30 range seen earlier this year. But even when stripping out food and energy, the most recent Core CPI rose 0.2%, higher than the 0.1% anticipated – and year-over-year, Core CPI prices were up 1.7% after rising 1.8% in the 12 months ended in May. On the wholesale side, even excluding volatile food and fuel prices, Core PPI rose quite a bit more than anticipated as well. And remember, inflation is bad for Bonds and home loan rates. If this trend continues, it could have a big impact on rates later this year.
Read the entire article here.
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
It gets old repeating the same thing over and over every week. The good news is, the news is good! We all know the real estate market is having its challenges and San Francisco is no different. Unlike the market several years ago where multiple offers meant over asking price sales, now they mean just the opposite. Most often multiple offers are close to each other and almost always under the listing price. The challenge is for the listing agent to get the best price he or she can for their client. That's the importance of having a successful agent with experience. See the report on our
website.
- Janis Stone DRE 00517072
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending July 5, 2009
Realtor.com Survey Tells A Lot About Today’s Housing MarketEarlier this week Realtor.com released a survey discussing some of the key factors which are motivating buyers in today’s market. It was an interesting read and I thought I’d share the highlights:
- “Price declines and low interest rates are motivating millions of home buyers to shop for bargains in the most affordable housing market in 28 years, yet at the same time only one in ten of today’s home owners say they have delayed selling their home due to those same market conditions.”
- “Affordability is clearly driving more than two thirds (65.2%) of potential buyers back into today’s housing market. Nearly one of five prospective buyers (19.6%) say foreclosure bargains in their communities would motivate them to purchase a home, the most important reason they’re interested in buying in the near future.”
- “An additional 15.5 percent said they’re motivated to buy soon because they think prices are as low as they will go and another 15.5 percent said they were motivated to buy before interest rates rise. For 14.6 percent of first time home buyers, the Federal $8,000 tax credit is the impetus to purchase a new home in the future.”
- “In the past year, the Housing Affordability Index maintained by the National Association of Realtors has increased 29 percent overall and 19 percent for first-time homebuyers, and is higher now than at any time in the 28 year history of the index.”
- “Value is clearly motivating potential home buyers, and today’s new level of affordability is still an under-appreciated reality that needs to be explored,” said REALTOR.com President, Errol Samuelson. “The variety and quality of homes currently within reach of the average American family is much greater than most people realize. Making credit available to responsible borrowers and building consumer confidence in the economy are now key factors in restoring vitality to the nation’s housing market.”
Now, let’s take a look at this week in real estate: The key takeaways—inventory is low with multiple offers in the lower price ranges, and improved activity in the higher priced markets.
Read the rest of the report here.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
"EVERY DARK CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING...BUT LIGHTNING KILLS HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE EACH YEAR WHO ARE TRYING TO FIND IT." Larry Kersten. Now that's pessimism! Interestingly enough, in recent weeks - Traders have been searching to find a silver lining or at least a glimmer of light in the dark economic reports - trying to find something to be optimistic about. Last week - the economic report calendar was lean but volatile, as Traders sought for morsels of good news amidst the gloom. All in all - home loan rates improved slightly in the early part of the week, but then worsened towards the end of the week.
Remember first that when Stocks move lower, some of that money can move over into the Bond market, helping Bond prices move higher and home loan rates move lower. Last week, Bonds benefitted early on from Stocks trading sluggishly, partially due to other world equity markets being pressured lower under concerns for the overall global economic recovery - but the economic news calendar was thin. However, things really heated up mid-week, as earnings season kicked into gear, big Treasury auctions hit the stage, and an interesting look at the job market arrived via the Initial Jobless Claims numbers.
According to that report, the number of initial unemployment claims last week dropped off by 52,000 to come in at 565,000 new claims, better than expected and the lowest level since January. Initially, Stocks reacted with some euphoria - but then reversed lower. Why? Think about it for a minute. Is the fact that 565,000 people applying for unemployment benefits for the first time, over the course of a holiday shortened week, really such terrific news? It's like when someone is starving, and manages to find a crust of bread in the trashcan it seems great at first, until the overall reality sets back in. And so seems to go the Trader mindset lately. Starving for any morsel of good news and looking hard for a silver lining amongst the clouds, sometimes news that is really pretty bad - like 565,000 people applying for first time unemployment benefits - is initially overblown with euphoria...that then quickly wears off.
The real story is that continuing unemployment claims - which measures the number of people who still receive jobless aid after their initial week - rose by 12,000. When you add it all up, the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits total 6.88 million, which is a new record high and more than double what it was this same time last year. The underlying problem is that companies still aren't hiring, which means the jobless rate will continue to rise. In turn, unemployment will continue to curb consumer spending and, in the big picture, will slow economic recovery.
Read the entire article on our
blog.
HOA President is Paid Manager
From time to time we post educational information regarding HOA rules and regulations. This is because we represent a lot of condo buyers and sellers and want them to be informed. Read the most recent post on our
website.
- Janis Stone
DRE 00517072
Reality Check – From Rick Turley
Presented by Janis Stone and
SFResidence - San Francisco Real Estate:
This is a new column we will be featuring every week in a message from our President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco Bay Area, Rick Turley.
The Rise and Fall of Interest Rates
As I’ve been in the offices over the past few weeks, I have received many positive comments on Reality Check and how impactful it has been with your clients. It is my goal to provide you with timely and pertinent information on key factors which affect our local real estate market. Hopefully these topics bring some clarity to Buyers and Sellers, especially when today’s consumers need it most.
One of the key elements that makes buying in today’s market so attractive is the relatively low interest rates available in our marketplace. But recently, as you know, interest rates have begun to fluctuate leaving many would-be buyers confused and wondering if they should wait.
That leads me to this month’s topic—interest rates. We met with Princeton Capital to get their view on the changing financial market. In collaboration with Brendon Riordan of Princeton Capital, we have created a Mortgage Q & A to share with your clients. This FAQ addresses today’s attractive interest rates and what the recent fluctuations may mean for a buyer...
Read the entire column
here.
Fast Facts from CAR and Freddie Mac - May 2009
New statistics for California real estate activity for May are now online at our website. Read the report
here.
- Janis Stone
DRE 00517072
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
This week showed continued improvement in the housing market for San Francisco. Surprisingly even though listings were down, our office ratified 16 deals meaning if we weren’t selling it, then we were representing the buyers. That’s good news since this is officially a buyers’ market and deals can be made.See the report on our
website.
- Janis Stone
DRE 00517072
The Goldman Report for July 7, 2009
He's back! After a long absence, Avram Goldman is back online with a new blog! While Avram Goldman is no longer with Coldwell Banker, he is a friend and associate at Pacific Union with an excellent handle on San Francisco Real Estate:
Can You See the Bottom Yet?I am consistently being asked, “
have we reached bottom yet?” Whether it is buyers, sellers, the press or agents, everyone wants to know is the worst behind us.
The current Bay Area data reflects that the watermark in the under $500K market has been set. Median price has either been flat or rising in all counties in that price range over the last 90 days and depending on the county, we are beginning to see price stabilization in properties up to $700K. Last week you might have thought is was 2005, our SF Sunset 2 bedr. 1ba. listings priced at $545K received 53 offers. A new record for this market. Now some may say the property was a bit under priced, maybe, however it went well above the asking price. This listing demonstrates that there is certainly strong demand for that neighborhood and that buyer’s confidence is rising.
These price ranges are steadying because of diminishing inventories and sellers, which includes both banks and individuals, now coming to a more realistic view of pricing. Buyers have done their homework and know values. There is no “greater fool theory” operating. More and more buyers are evaluating based on dollar per sq. foot...
Read the entire article on our
blog.
- Janis Stone - DRE 00517072
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending June 28, 2009
There is no market report for this week because of the Fourth of July weekend. Rick will be back next week. Read our other market reports on the SFResidence.com
website.
- Janis Stone
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
I hope you and your family enjoyed the Independence Day holiday weekend. And, I sincerely hope you have been enjoying your complimentary subscription to the MORTGAGE MARKET GUIDE WEEKLY.
Due to the July 4th holiday, the next full issue will arrive on Monday, July 13. In the meantime, check out the article below on one of our nation’s most powerful symbols this time of year: the Stars and Stripes.
The MORTGAGE MARKET GUIDE WEEKLY is the industry’s leading publication of this type, and I am pleased to provide this valuable resource to you. If you feel any of your clients, friends, family members, or associates would benefit from keeping up-to-date on market and economic trends in this easy-to-read format, please let me know and I will be more than happy to add them free of charge.
Best wishes to you, and please do not hesitate to contact me if you need assistance at this time!
- Foster Weeks
July Newsletter Now Online!
Our
July newsletter is now online. If you would like to subscribe to the e-mail newsletter go
here.
- Janis Stone
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending June 21, 2009
Existing Home Sales Rise For Second Straight Month
The National Association of Realtors released its existing home sales report which noted that existing home sales rose for the second straight month in May, signaling low prices and incentives are attracting buyers.
NAR says existing home sales, including single family homes, condos and coops rose 2.4 percent in May. It was the first back-to-back monthly gain in existing home sales since September 2005.
NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun had this to say, “Historically low mortgage rates clearly drew buyers into the market, and housing remains very affordable even with a recent uptick in rates. First time buyers are also being drawn off the sidelines by the $8,000 tax credit which is helping to absorb inventory.” The numbers could be even better if it weren’t for appraisal issues. While pending sales of existing homes—those with signed contracts but not yet closed—indicate stronger activity, some contracts are falling through from faulty valuations that keep buyers from getting a loan, said Yun.
We’re starting to experience more challenges with low appraisals here in the Bay Area, most often from out-of-area appraisers who have no experience and limited knowledge of local markets. The pendulum could be swinging a little too aggressively in some cases as regulatory controls meet market demand. You’ll find quite a few references to appraisal issues as you look through our activity for the last two weeks from our branches:
Read the rest of the report
here.
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
This week showed continued improvement in the housing market for San Francisco. Surprisingly even though listings were down, our office ratified 16 deals meaning if we weren’t selling it, then we were representing the buyers. That’s good news since this is officially a buyers’ market and deals can be made.
See the report on our
website.
- Janis StoneDRE 00517072
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
They say no news is good news. But perhaps the more important question this week is will the Fed’s news from their latest Federal Open Market Committee Meeting be good news for rates and the economy? Here’s what you need to know.
Last week, the Fed released their Interest Rate and Policy Statement after their latest regularly-scheduled meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. While there was speculation ahead of time that the Fed may decide to buy more longer-term Treasuries, which could jumpstart the cycle needed to eventually bring home loan rates down, the Fed did not make any changes to the Fed Funds Rate or their Bond purchase program. The one change from the prior meeting’s statement was that the Fed now does not see deflation as a risk. While this is good news, it also means that there could be a real threat of inflation down the road. And remember, inflation is bad for Bonds and home loan rates, so this could have a big impact on rates in the longer term!
There was good news in the Personal Income Report as personal income rose in June by its biggest gain in over a year. The increase in income led to higher consumer spending and savings in June. Spending rose for the first time in three months, while the savings rate climbed to its highest level since December 1993 as the chart shows…
Read the entire report
here.
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
As summer arrives, we are seeing our market level off. Although this week new listings were not the story, our office continues to put deals in escrow which is why we are the number one office in San Francisco. If something is sold in the City, there is usually a TRI Agent involved, whether it is representing the buyer or the seller. See the report on our website.
- Janis Stone
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending June 14, 2009
There is no report from Rick Turley this
week.
- Janis Stone
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
The real story of our office was the number of listings that had prices reduced. It might indicate that sellers are still having a problem accepting the market decline and agents being afraid to tell them the true worth of their property. Our belated report is now online at our
website.
- Janis Stone
First Republic Publishes California Luxury Home Report for Q1 2009
Read the California Luxury Home Index report from First Republic Bank for the San Francisco Bay Area
here.
- Janis Stone
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
“THE WORLD IS BUT A PERPETUAL SEE-SAW.” Michel de Montaigne. And that sentiment was especially true in the world of Stocks and Bonds last week, as money see-sawed back and forth between the two markets, halting the improvement that Bonds and home loan rates mustered up in the first part of the week.
Bonds and home loan rates began the week looking good - and remembering that inflation is bad news for both Bonds and rates, they were helped along by good news on the inflation front. Inflation at the wholesale or producer level remained tame in May, and at a consumer level, inflation readings came in lower than expected, with a year-over-year reading at its lowest level since 1950. These are good signs that inflation hasn’t become an issue yet. However, inflation will be a concern down the road, due to the massive stimulus being injected into the economy. It is said that rates are like a boat floating atop the sea of inflation…as inflation rises, so will home loan rates. If you or someone you know should be acting on today’s still low home loan rates, please get in touch soon.
Also helping Bonds rally in the early part of last week was the fact that the New York State manufacturing index came in weaker than estimates, indicating that the US economy is still very weak. And since bad economic news often causes money to flow from Stocks into Bonds, this piece of news helped Bonds start the week on an improving trend.
However, Bonds and home loan rates reversed course midweek and worsened, as money see-sawed back over to Stocks. They were also pressured to worsen by the enormous amount of Bond supply hitting the markets - as too much supply of anything will naturally cause the price to move lower…and in this case, has caused home loan rates to move higher. As you can see in the chart below, Bonds have worsened when additional supply has been announced, causing home loan rates to climb.
Read the entire report
here.
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending June 7, 2009
This week Realogy (Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s parent company) President Richard Smith met with legislators regarding the need for policy initiatives concerning the real estate industry and the economy as a whole. Specifically, the Business Roundtable (an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. corporations)— of which Richard is the chair—issued a set of recommendations for the White House and Congress that are aimed at jump starting the housing market in order to stimulate a broader economic recovery.
The Business Roundtable’s recommendations are as follows:
- Keep mortgage interest rates at historically low levels (below 5 percent) for at least one year;
- Expand the current First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit incentive from the lesser of 10 percent of the purchase price of the home or $8,000 to a higher limit of either 10 percent or $15,000 for all homebuyers, remove the income restrictions and include all primary residence purchases for one full year;
- Conduct a thorough review of current foreclosure mitigation and loan-modification programs in light of rising loan-modification re-default rates;
- Make permanent the current temporary conforming loan limits; and
- Continue to review and strengthen government efforts already underway to review and refine mortgage lending practices.
We believe targeted, demand-side solutions—such as the ones Business Roundtable is recommending—will provide a critical next step for a housing recovery that will help create jobs and boost the economy as a whole. To obtain a copy of the Business Roundtable press release and its Housing Working Group’s detailed recommendations, click here. To read an article that appeared in today’s online edition of The Wall Street Journal containing an interview about the Business Roundtable’s recommendations and why they are crucial to jumpstarting the housing market, click here. We will communicate with you as any legislative opportunities occur for you to contact members of Congress and voice your support—but for now, just know that we appreciate your support and are proud to be part of this initiative.
In other news this week, RealtyTrac released its foreclosure findings with positive news that foreclosure filings dipped 6% in May compared with April. But the news wasn’t all positive as the number is still 18% above this time last year. In California, the picture continues to be a bit more bleak. We are ranked No. 2 out of 50 states in foreclosure filings with 92,249 total filings or one in every 144 households. While the last two months showed a decline with a 4.5% drop from April 2009 to May 2009, the year-over-year number is still a 22.8% increase. For a complete look at the USA Today story that ran on the figures, click here: http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2009-06-10-may-home-foreclosures_N.htm#chart.
While none of us are happy to hear about more homes in the foreclosure process, our local markets are telling us that there is sufficient demand for bank-owned properties – most are still receiving multiple offers when they hit the market.
Read the rest of the article here.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
“DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL.” That familiar broadcasting statement certainly applied to the markets last week, as the volatility continued and the markets changed direction quickly.
Take a look at the chart below (chart may be seen on our blog), which shows how home loan rates have climbed dramatically over the last several weeks. In fact, home loan rates are at their highest levels since the Federal Reserve announced their Mortgage Backed Security purchase plan at the end of 2008. While the chart below is just a rough indicator of present rates that require points and fees to be paid, it’s clear to see the dramatic climb rates have taken in recent days.
Read the entire report on our
website.
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
Day after day, the market seems to be picking up steam. Let’s hope our legislators don’t do something to derail the recovery. Real estate is sensitive to mortgage rates which are beginning to creep up. Also lending guidelines are becoming somewhat unreasonable. After some of the shenanigans that went on which caused the last bust, it makes sense that the government would want to keep an eye on corruption. But let’s not go crazy and deny loans to people who deserve them. After all, aren’t they supposed to stand up for the little guy? With that said, things are looking rosy for a good summer market. Read the report
here.
- Janis Stone
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending May 31, 2009
Showing Activity In the Entry Level and Mid-Level Markets Continues to Rise
Now that school is almost out, we’re finding many families are starting to look at homes in anticipation of getting settled prior to next school year. Showing activity in many markets has increased considerably.
Sellers are getting their homes on the market and, in general, seem to be quite receptive to staging and pricing strategies. The homes in the entry-level market are moving well if they are in good condition, and if fairly and competitively priced. We are seeing multiple offer situations in most of our first time home buyer markets. The price point for this activity is of course different by county, and by specific MLS zones, but this week as I visited several Santa Clara County and Marin County offices – I was told about numerous multiple offer situations garnering 10 to 20 offers in the $400,000 to $500,000 range. One property listed at $399,000 (in a mid-$400’s neighborhood, I believe) received over 50 offers.
Though we have seen sporadic new activity in the upper end market, it is still relatively slow for properties over $2M. The month’s supply of inventory for high end properties is more than triple that of homes listed under $800,000. Having said that, we also need to make note of the current momentum we’re starting to see in our offices in the high end. Just looking at one particular day this week, among many other sales, we closed escrow on homes ranging from $1.7M to $2.7M in Palo Alto, Carmel, and Mill Valley, and a home in Los Altos Hills just shy of $3M.
This week LORE Magazine and the Wall Street Journal released their 2008 Top 400 Realtor list. You may view it online at
http://online.wsj.com/ad/top400-articlecontinued.html. I’m very proud that we have an impressive number of SF Bay Area Coldwell Banker sales associates who were recognized within this coveted ranking, and for that—along with all of their hard work and dedication, we salute them.
Read the rest of the article
here.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
“IT’S A RECESSION WHEN YOUR NEIGHBOR LOSES HIS JOB; IT’S A DEPRESSION WHEN YOU LOSE YOURS.” Harry S. Truman. The big headlines of the week had everything to do with job losses…and some surprising twists within the monthly Jobs Report that arrived on Friday, and caused home loan rates to worsen yet once again. Despite their efforts to improve early in the week, Bonds and rates ended the week .375% to .5% worse than where they began.
Friday’s Jobs Report showed that 345,000 jobs were lost in May, far better than expectations for 520,000 jobs lost. And adding to the positive tone were revisions to the two prior months, showing 82,000 fewer jobs lost than previously reported. So all in all, about 260,000 fewer jobs lost than had been forecast. But let’s take a closer look.
Read the entire report on our
website.
Fast Facts from CAR and Freddie Mac - April 2009
New statistics for California real estate activity for April are now online at our website. Read the report
here.
- Janis Stone
June 2009 Monthly Market Update for May Real Estate Sales
Our June report for May 2009 sales is now online
here.
- Janis Stone
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
Once again, numbers show The market is heating up. Buyers beware! If you are thinking about buying, NOW is the time to get in the market! Read the report
here.
- Janis Stone
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending May 24, 2009
Memorial Day is Over…but will it be a typical Summer Real Estate Season?
Memorial Day is behind us and the traditionally moderate summer selling season has begun. Some of our offices are saying that it’s feeling more like a late Spring season right now. Activity is fairly brisk – it goes without saying that the entry level is hot – short on listing inventory and high on Buyer demand, but there is also good activity to report in the mid-to- high end in most communities.
This week NAR announced that existing home sales rose in April with strong buyer activity, as expected, in the lower price ranges. Nationally, existing home sales increased 2.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million units in April from a downwardly revised pace of 4.55 million units in March, but were 3.5 percent below that 4.85 million-unit level in April 2008.
While most of the sales are taking place in lower price ranges, we are seeing increased activity in the mid-priced markets. This is a domino effect; a turnaround begins with the lower price range homes and once that sector of the market is stabilized, we begin to see changes in the mid and upper price ranges. The upper end, while most recently seeing increased activity, still is considered a Buyer’s market. This seems to be fairly consistent in major Metros on both coasts.
Across most of our local MLS’s, there is approximately an average of 14+ month’s supply of homes over $2 million. This is about twice the inventory for the same period last year. Just the opposite has occurred in the <$800k market. Estimating the average month’s supply of homes across several MLS’s in this price range, we are seeing about 3 months or less – which is half of what we had this time last year – and is considered to be a Seller’s market. If you look at the same months where inventory has shrunk in the entry level – you’ll see stabilizing prices, and in some areas, increasing home values. And of course the higher end has seen declining median price as inventory has been building. This appears to be the perfect opportunity for the move up Buyer – they have a fairly captive audience for selling, and are coming from a better position to negotiate on the buying side.
It’s also important to note that investors reacted to concerns about the mounting size of our national debt this week. The yield on the 10 year T-bill increased mid-week as stocks took a hit, and interest rates for mortgages were affected by a ½ to full one percent increase. Since purchasing power decreases with a rise in interest rates, some Buyers will have an increased sense of urgency to get a signed contract on their new home.
Read the rest of the article
here.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
“I’M FREE…FREE FALLIN’.” Tom Petty. And a free fall indeed was the case last Wednesday, as Bonds had their worst one-day performance since last October, losing an astounding 206bp. So what caused this free fall…and what helped Bonds and home loan rates rally back and improve later in the week? Here’s what you need to know.
The main culprit for Wednesday’s sell off was supply. The Treasury auctions and the increased number of refinance transactions closing have added hundreds of Billions of dollars of new Bond supply to the market. Economics 101 tells us that anytime supply vastly exceeds demand, prices will move lower, and that’s exactly what we saw last week…and as Bond prices move lower, home loan rates move higher. And the trend isn’t likely to end anytime soon, as the Treasury will have to continue to pump out major supply of Bonds, in order to pay for the massive government stimulus plans…and the Fed buying plan simply won’t be enough to balance out supply and demand - it’s like trying to sop up a flood with a sponge. Bottom line - rates are likely on the rise, but still near historic lows. Let’s talk and make sure you have taken necessary actions for your own financial situation.
Read the entire report on our
website.
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
Once again, our numbers show why we are the number one office in San Francisco. Read the report
here.
- Janis Stone
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending May 17, 2009
NAR Announces Housing Affordability Highest in 18 Years – And Many Offices Report Increased Activity in High End Sales
For months I’ve been sharing that this is one of the best times to purchase a home in decades. This week the National Association of Realtors underscored that fact –stating that nationwide housing affordability jumped 10 percentage points during the first quarter of 2009 to its highest level since the series began 18 years ago, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). The HOI showed that 72.5% of all new and existing US homes sold in the first quarter of 2009 were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,000, up from 62.4% during the previous quarter and up from 53.8% during the first quarter of 2008.
Locally, the story is much more dramatic. In the San Francisco-Peninsula area, 32% of all new and existing homes sold in the first quarter of 2009 were considered affordable to families earning the area’s median income of $96,800. That’s up 60% from the previous quarter and up an incredible 146% from a year ago, when the index was a paltry 13%, one of the lowest affordability ratios in the United States.
Follow the link below to get the historical charts and details on North Bay, East Bay, Silicon Valley, and Santa Cruz, as well as many other Metros in the US.
http://www.nahb.org/page.aspx/category/sectionID=135Below you’ll find a few more news stories of interest from the week:
Many of you have asked me questions about the potential changes in the $8,000 first time buyer tax credit (http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2009051202?OpenDocument). Essentially the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development announced on May 12th that the Federal Housing Administration would permit its lenders to allow home buyers to use the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit as a down payment. FHA’s approved lenders would be permitted to “monetize” the tax credit through short-term bridge loans. This would allow eligible buyers to access the funds immediately at the closing table. Here is a CNN Money article which explains some of the details:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/18/real_estate/tax_credit_as_downpayment/index.htm?postversion=2009051912
I must caution that the execution of this is quite complicated and it may take some time before it becomes a reality. By late this week, there were already comments coming out of Washington that this may have been released a bit prematurely, and there is no guarantee that it will be successfully implemented. HUD would need to authorize lenders, non-profits and certain agencies to provide a bridge loan which would then be reimbursed at the time of tax refund. These players are not yet identified. Again, an encouraging and useful tool, but the execution and timing of it have yet to be fully outlined. Watch for more to come.
Read the rest of the article here.
FNMA Condo Guideline Update
New guidelines are now available on our
website.
- Janis Stone
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
As noted in President Rick Turley’s
weekly address, our office did an outstanding job so far this month compared to the rest of the companies representing San Francisco real estate. Look at the numbers below and realize that our marking is recovering. If you are a buyer sitting on the fence, don’t miss your window of opportunity. It won’t be long before we will probably see multiple offer situations once again.
View the report
here.
- Janis Stone
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending May 10, 2009
Recent Housing Stats Are Showing Encouraging Signs for Market
This week I thought I’d share some positive stories that continue to permeate not only our local news but on a national level as well.
The National Association of Realtors® said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in March, rose 3.2% as first-time buyers waded into the market to take advantage of favorable prices and mortgage rates.
A report from the U.S. Commerce Department showed construction spending rose 0.3% in March, the first increase in six months.
The pending home sales report added evidence that sales have reached a bottom. “That’s critical because once sales bottom, it’s only a matter of time before you work off excess inventories. That’s the key to stabilization in the financial system and the economy at large. We’re closer to that than people thought just a few months ago.”
– Michael Darda, chief economist at MKM Partners in Greenwich, Conn., “Sales and Construction Data Lift Hopes for Housing,” by Lucia Mutikani, Reuters, May 4, 2009.
On a national basis, the forces driving real estate right now are increasingly turning positive and encouraging.
- Home sales in major markets around the country have shown dramatic gains in the past month.
- In Florida, statewide sales jumped by 30% in March over year-earlier levels, and were up 33% over the previous month. Even condo sales were up by 25%.
- In California, statewide sales rose 64% in March compared with March 2008. Unsold inventory is now just five months — that’s down from 12 months the previous March.
- Median house prices may be bottoming out. The California Association of Realtors® reports the median price of homes sold was up by 2.2% for the past month.”
– “Real Estate Outlook: Sales Rising in Some Areas,” by Kenneth R. Harney, Realty Times, May 5, 2009.
Also interesting to note:
- The current price level of homes seems to be drawing more buyers into the market, according to Jim Gillespie, president and CEO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate. “We are seeing a lot of activity across the nation. Of course we’re in the spring market, but we’ve seen more buyers in the market now than at this same time last year.”
- “Home prices are where they should be. Sellers are accepting the current reality and are pricing more realistically,” said Robert Abbott, co-owner and VP of a northern New Jersey brokerage. “More people are not only ‘kicking the tires’ but actually buying right now. We are showing significant activity when it comes to sales. The number of days for a house on the market is going down.”
– “More Homes Get Multiple Offers; Downturn May be Nearing End,” by Julie Schmit, USA Today, May 6, 2009.
- Multiple bids have picked up in recent months in California and other states hit hard by foreclosures and steep price drops, real estate executives say. “If a house is in a good neighborhood, is maintained and is a good value, it’ll get multiple offers. One in 10 homes now draw multiple offers, up from one in 30 last fall.”
– Julie Holt, owner of a title services company in Florida, “Is Now the Time for Some Home Buyers to Make a Deal?,” by Mark Koba, CNBC, April 28, 2009.
And with that news in tow, let’s take a look at this week in real estate:
Go to our
website for the local market reports.
- Rick Turley
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
“I WILL ACT NOW. I WILL ACT NOW. I WILL ACT NOW.” Og Mandino. The markets took those words to heart last week, with plenty of timely action ranging from telling economic reports to interesting announcements from the government, related to homebuyers.
On the economic news front, the headlines were mixed. On the disappointing side was a worse than expected Retail Sales Report, which showed that consumers are continuing to tighten their purse strings. Not entirely surprising, but it did mark the eighth decline in the past ten months for Retail Sales. Initial Unemployment Claims were also reported worse than expected - which some said were due to massive Chrysler layoffs - but still was disappointing after there had been some recent signs of improvement in the labor markets.
However, there was positive economic news as well, including improved readings from the manufacturing sector, as the New York Empire State Manufacturing Index improved for the third month straight. Consumer Sentiment was also better than the previous reading and the best since September of last year. So although the consumer isn’t out spending money with abandon just yet, this report shows that most folks are indeed starting to feel better about the economic outlook, likely due in part to the values of their investment accounts improving as Stock values move higher.
Read the entire report on our
website.
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
The latest office statistics are now on our
website.
- Janis Stone
Carole Rodoni Seminar at TRI Coldwell Banker
Information on this timely FREE seminar may be found on our
website.
- May 27th, 2009
- 6-8 PM
- RSVP at 415-474-1750 by May 20th
- Topic: The REAL Scoop on the Real Estate Market
- Refreshments
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending May 3, 2009
Stress Test Reveals More Work to Be Done By Banks- While Entry Level Local Real Estate Market Heats Up!
This week the results of the long-awaited Stress Test on US banks were released. What the government hoped to accomplish through this Stress Test was to determine how much capital the banking sector currently has, and what level they deem appropriate to withstand the recession. The result was that 10 of the nation’s 19 largest banks will need to raise a total of $74.6 billion in capital. The Stress Test revealed that banks like Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan seemed to be better positioned than Citigroup and Bank of America.
At this point, according to Kiplinger, “The stronger banks will actively do what they can to return any money borrowed from the government to get out from under restrictions on dividends and executive compensation. Their ability to sell common stock to the public is far better than their weaker counterparts, who may have to privately sell stock to investors or raise capital with so-called mandatory convertible preferred shares.”
According to industry analysts, it seems that until the banks get back on their feet, credit will continue to be tight. That leaves the Federal Reserve responsible for filling in the gaps with its own programs aimed at jump-starting lending.
On a brighter note, however, the real estate sector of our economy continues to show some positive signs. USA Today reported earlier this week that “More homes for sale are attracting multiple offers as buyers pursue lower-price homes and banks low-ball asking prices to attract competing bids on foreclosures.” It’s exactly what we’ve seen locally, the entry level home buyer market is fueling this recovery. We forecasted this, and now that multiple offers are the norm in the majority of our entry level markets, some frustrated buyers are scratching their heads and wondering what happened to the buyer’s market. We warned that things could turn on a dime, and it seems in many starter home markets, prices are already on the rise.
Read the entire report
here.
Weekly Mortgage Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports.
Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
“REALITY IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF STRESS AMONGST THOSE IN TOUCH WITH IT.” Lily Tomlin. The reality of the recession has been stressful for many of us, but various pieces of news this week show things may be starting to turn around.
Friday’s important Jobs Report showed there were 539,000 jobs lost in April versus expectations of a 610,000 loss, representing the smallest job loss since October. Even though the Unemployment Rate moved higher and hit a 26-year high of 8.9%, this is a lagging indicator, and many other data points hint that the worst could be over for the job market, and could lead to lessening stress in this area during the months ahead.
Speaking of stress, last week’s “stress test” results showed the banking system is on the mend, and in better shape than it was a few months back. 10 of the 19 largest banks will need additional capital to cope with potential future challenges, but as a whole the banking system is solvent and regaining health. A crucial point to remember is that almost all of the institutions under scrutiny elected to choose the cash flow method of asset valuation, as opposed to the mark-to-market method. This would not have been possible without the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) allowing for this change last month.
Positive news came from Wal-Mart, saying that their sales for April were better than forecast. And they say, “As goes Wal-Mart, so goes the entire retail sector”, so this may mean health is also coming back to retailers at large.
Bonds attempted to regain some ground in the early part of the week, but the good news from Thursday’s bank stress test, the better than expected Jobs Report on Friday, and the rally in Stocks caused Bonds to fall below key support levels. As a result, Bonds and home loan rates ended the week slightly worse than where they began.
Read the entire report
here.
C.A.R. OPPOSES Point-of-Sale Mandate!!
This is another way to hurt real estate sales. Read the recommendation on our
website.
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
The latest office statistics are now on our
website.
- Janis Stone
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending April 26, 2009
Last week I reported on positive indicators in the first-time homebuyer market. New mortgage applications for home purchases and refinances were up 77 percent from the same week in April 2008. Mortgage rates continue to average well below 5 percent – 4.7 percent last week on average for 30-year fixed rate loans and 4.5 percent for 15 year loans. Rates like these are a major factor pushing applications. Nearly 600,000 home buyers have already claimed either the $7,500 tax credit from last year or the $8,000 credit for this year, according to IRS data cited by the National Association of Home Builders.
Statewide, CAR reported improvement in both sales numbers and median price. March existing home sales were up 64% from prior year, and median price had the first month-over-month increase since August of 2007. California’s inventory of unsold homes also fell in March to five months, down from 12.2 months in March 2008, making March ‘09 a three year low for existing inventory.
Locally, I want share what’s going on in the East Bay (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) which has been one of the markets hardest hit by foreclosures and price declines. We are starting to see some real positive news in this market. Specifically (as displayed in the graph below), when comparing accepted offers to new listings, we are currently at 112% which is a 69% increase year over year and an 86% increase from this time two years ago. The graph tells the story:
Read the entire report
here.
Monthly Market Update
Once we moved the blog over to our website, it seemed redundant to post monthly reports on the blog and on our market page. So to see the latest report go to
www.sfresidence.com/market.htm- Janis Stone
May Newsletter is Now Online!
Our May newsletter is now online and may be seen
here.
- Janis Stone
Weekly Mortgage Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
“YOU’RE MOTORING.WHAT’S YOUR PRICE FOR FLIGHT?” 80’s band Night Ranger’s ballad “Sister Christian” perhaps describes the question some spring break travelers are asking travel agents as they reschedule plans to visit Mexico, in light of last week’s sudden swine flu outbreak.
And while the quickly spreading illness has made this Spring’s travel season especially challenging, there are some bright spots on the horizon for the economy.
Last week, the Fed signaled that the recession may be easing, and this news was echoed by the
Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI), who also said that the recession would probably end by the time Summer is over. The ECRI, whose leading indicators have a solid track record of predicting turns in the business cycle, said that enough of its key gauges have turned upward to indicate with certainty that a recovery is coming.
The beleaguered auto industry has been big news of late, and while Chrysler struggled to find “Mr. Right” in Fiat, the price for their flight ended up to be bankruptcy.while on the other hand, it looks like Ford will be all right tonight, as their Stock is up big from just one week ago. What’s more, as you can see in the chart below, Stocks in general had a great April. In fact, the S&P 500 had its best month in nine years, gaining 9.4%, led by the financial sector. This is further evidence that the changes in mark-to-market accounting were a great decision.
In addition, there were several good economic reports to note as Consumer Confidence for April came in at its fourth largest gain in the history of the survey, while Consumer Sentiment also came in better than expected. The improvement in the way consumers are feeling is likely influenced by the improvement in Stock prices.
Read the entire report
here.
Monthly San Francisco Real Estate Market Update Now Online!
See the latest market report on our
website!
- Janis Stone
Fast Facts from CAR and Freddie Mac - March 2009
New statistics for California real estate activity for March are now online at our website. Read the report
here.
- Janis Stone
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
The latest office statistics are now on our
website.
- Janis Stone
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending April 19, 2009
Time Home Buyers Are Fueling the Come Back
It’s finally happening. In my August 2008 Reality Check message I discussed our market’s need for the revival of the first-time home buyer. Because as we know, first time home buyers are a critical force that will help jump start our market rebound, creating that important domino effect that will ultimately benefit all price points. When first time home buyers purchase entry level homes, that allows the entry-level homeowners to sell and move-up to a mid-level, move-up market. By purchasing those homes, the move-up market is able to sell and ultimately purchase homes in the luxury arena. It’s a much-needed domino effect that will have significance in our market’s rebound. The numbers released over the last two weeks are showing that the process has already begun.
First, let’s look at NAR’s release this week of its March existing home sales. Now of course some media did use the nationwide month-over-month decrease in sales as an opportunity to take a negative spin but there were a lot of positives in this news. First, nationally, prices rose from February to March by 4.2 percent which is much higher than the typical 1.8 percent seasonal increase between those two months.
Second, housing inventory at the end of March fell 1.6 percent to 3.74 million existing homes available for sale, representing a 9.8 month supply at the current sales pace. This is important to note because March is frequently a strong listing month and more often than not, inventory grows in March.
In the West, existing home sales declined 4.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.13 million in March; however, of great significance is the fact that this number is 18.9 percent higher than last year at this time.
The fact is, the share of lower priced home sales have trended up, indicating a return of many first-time buyers. Sales in the upper price ranges remain stalled, but the last two weeks have produced more $1M+ pending sales than we’ve seen in a while as Buyers are taking advantage of two things in the upper end. One is the luxury of choice. Buyers can actually shop and compare.
When they find what they want at an attractive list price- they are making offers. The second fact is that although Jumbo loans still have practically no secondary market (which increases competition and lowers interest rates), the Jumbo rate appears to be currently within one percent of the conforming; and buyers are seeing that it’s still a very attractive rate. For example, Princeton Capital’s rate sheet on April 20 showed a 5/1 Conforming at 4.625 –I point, and the 5/1 Jumbo at 5.3% - 1 point. FICO scores and down payment are of course key, but the market is beginning to get used to the new requirements.
Another interesting note, the Mortgage Bankers Association this week released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 17. The index showed an increase of 5.3 percent from the previous week and that was a 76.9 percent increase compared with the same week a year ago. Yes, a 76.9% increase in mortgage applications, that’s not a typo.
While there is some criticism of certain steps our administration has taken to revive our economy, it seems some of the early work like the first time home buyer tax credit is effective. Earlier this week Inman News reported that the preliminary numbers from the IRS suggest 1.4 million taxpayers will claim the federal first-time home buyer tax credit on their 2008 tax returns, meaning the program is likely to meet or exceed the 2 million target set by lawmakers before it ends November 30, 2009.
Finally and I think this is probably most notable, the Wall Street Journal reported this week that prices have fallen back into line with what the typical household can afford to pay in most of the U.S. The report showed that home prices are dubbed “fairly” valued in 202 of the 330 markets studied. That means the average price level is within a band 14% above or below the historical norm. Twenty-one markets are “overvalued” or between 14% and 34% above the norm. And 106 markets are considered “undervalued” or more than 14% below the norm. Take a look at this graph which showcases where we were in the early part of the decade as compared to today:
I know it’s difficult to view the drop in property value a positive thing. But the fact is that though the ride was nice in the big real estate boom of the early 2000s, we couldn’t sustain those types of record appreciation levels without eliminating certain consumer niches, including first time home buyers. Now that levels are back within range, the first time home buyers are once again able to reenter the market which is why we are seeing such a strong surge in sales in that level.
Locally, we had further news this week that symbolized the first-time buyer pick-up. Rather than summarize them, I’ll simply share the links for your own reading:
It’s just a matter of time before we weed through the remaining banked owned inventory and we should begin to see prices stabilize. Once we see that, the remaining areas of the market should begin to see an upswing, too.
Read the entire report
here.
SFAR Launches NEW San Francisco Open House Website
If you are looking for open houses on Sunday, don't waste money on a newspaper. Just go to:
www.sfopenhomes.com for the latest in open house information! The information will also be on our website at www.sfresidence.com.
- Janis Stone
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
The latest office statistics are now on our
website.
- Janis Stone
Weekly Mortgage Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports.
Read what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity.
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
The latest office statistics are out on our
website.
- Janis Stone
Weekly Mortgage Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports.
Read what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity.
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
The latest office statistics are out on our
website.
- Janis Stone
Weekly Mortgage Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports.
Read what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity.
Monthly San Francisco Real Estate Market Update Now Online!
See the latest market report on our
website!
- Janis Stone
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
The latest office statistics are out on our
website.
- Janis Stone
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending March 22, 2009
I heard someone earlier this week say that the housing market has gone from a slow crawl to a brisk walk. I think that is the perfect metaphor to explain the recent changes in the real estate market. The market is coming back. It’s not roaring, but it’s coming back.
This week, according to Reuters.com, U.S. mortgage applications jumped as record low interest rates spurred a surge in demand for home refinancing loans. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, increased 32.2 percent to 1,159.4 for the week ended March 20. Refinancing accounted for 78.5 percent of all applications.
Furthermore, interest rates on mortgages fell after the Federal Reserve last week said it would buy Treasury securities for the first time in more than four decades as well as more than double its planned purchases of mortgage-related securities. Reuters.com reported that “Borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, excluding fees, averaged 4.63 percent, down 0.26 percentage point from the previous week, reaching a record low….Interest rates were well below year-ago levels of 5.74 percent.”
Read the rest of the article
here.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports.
Read what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity.
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
The latest office statistics are out on our
website.
Janis Stone
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week ending March 15, 2009
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest weekly report:
It Was a Week of Surprises…And Best of All, Spring Has Sprung!
First, CNNMoney.com reported a sudden, unexpected surge in U.S. housing starts. According to the Commerce Department, housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000 last month, up 22% from a revised 477,000 in January. The big surprise: Economists were expecting starts to decline to 450,000, according to consensus estimates by Briefing.com.
Furthermore, applications for building permits, considered a reliable sign of future construction activity, rose 3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 547,000 last month. The other big surprise: Economists were expecting permits to fall to 500,000.
Also interesting this week, retail sales figures fell much less than expected in February, and surprisingly strong January sales were revised even higher. According to CNNMoney.com, “U.S. store sales showed a smaller-than-expected decline in February after an unexpected surge in January that was bigger than originally reported…The Commerce Department said total retail sales fell 0.1% last month, compared with January’s revised increase of 1.8%. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had been expecting a decrease of 0.5% for February.”
So, is it safe to call this a trend? Are we out of the woods yet? It’s tough to say. In all honesty, you don’t know whether or not you’ve hit bottom until you’re on your way back up but it seems some of the critical signs are starting to show signs of life which is welcome relief for our wounded economy.
Also in the news this week, the Federal Reserve announced plans to purchase up to $750 billion in mortgage-backed securities and up to $300 billion in longer term Treasury securities. Our representatives at the National Association of Realtors applauded the plans noting “This is great news for American home buyers and homeowners because mortgage interest rates will continue at historic lows.”
What this means for Americans is that a greater number of home buyers will be able to purchase a home and some homeowners facing challenges will be able to refinance into better terms. As NAR noted, “We already are experiencing a great improvement in housing affordability due to historically low interest rates and the Fed’s move will push affordability conditions to the best levels in 40 years. In addition, continued low rates will lessen foreclosure pressure and help stabilize home prices sooner, as more Americans buy homes and draw down inventory.”
Along the lines of mortgage relief, the Treasury Department this week launched a new website for consumers seeking information about the Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable loan modification and refinancing program. The site, www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov, offers features including interactive self-assessment tools that will empower borrowers to determine if they are eligible to participate and calculate the monthly mortgage payment reductions they could stand to realize under the Making Home Affordable program. This is a helpful site that we should all be sharing with our friends, families and clients alike.
Finally, on Friday, Jim Gillespie, president and CEO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, participated in a discussion about the state of the housing market, live from the New York Stock Exchange on CNBC, on the “Roadmap to Rebound” segment hosted by Maria Bartiromo. Yale economist Dr. Robert Schiller and Sanjiy Das, CEO of CitiMortgage, also participated. I am proud of Coldwell Banker and really pleased with Jim’s part of the discussion –sticking to the facts of what is still needed to make a significant difference for the housing recovery. Jim calls upon government leaders to enact a $15,000 non-refundable tax credit to ALL buyers and also a mortgage buy down that would bring rates to the 4-4.5% range. This, NAR reports, could generate an additional 840,000 home sales over 12 months. This home buying activity would have major implications in stimulating the overall US economy since NAR also reports that each home sold generates more than $60,000 in economic activity. The proposal would also have a greater impact on foreclosures than the current stimulus package. Take a look:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?play=1&video=1067527935Read the entire report
here.
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
View the report
here.
New Buyer Seminar!
E-mail Janis@SFResidence.com if you have questions.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
“I DO NOT THINK MUCH OF A MAN WHO IS NOT WISER TODAY THAN HE WAS YESTERDAY.” Abraham Lincoln. Now more than ever, it’s important for our country’s leaders to heed yesterday’s lessons and make wise choices today for our banking system and the economy. There were several key developments that happened on this front last week - here are some highlights.
On Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Chief Accountant, the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) Chairman and the Deputy Comptroller for Regulatory Policy in the Treasury Department testified in front of the House Financial Services committee on the “Mark-to-Market” accounting rule. This rule was created so that there would be more transparency in business dealings, but fell prey to the law of “unintended consequences”, and has played a major part in our current financial crisis. If you’ve been receiving this newsletter for awhile, you know this has been discussed several times - and we’ve even sent you a great explanatory video that breaks down what it all means, and why it has been such a major issue.
Because so many of you have been asking about this topic and great video - I am including the information and video once again in this week’s issue - keep reading for the full scoop in the Mortgage Market View article below.
During Thursday’s hearing, Congress demanded an answer for repairing this situation within the next three weeks, so right now, it looks like we will see some sort of coordinated action by both the FASB and the SEC to address the Mark-to-Market situation soon. Stocks certainly reacted positively to this news last week, as well as to Citigroup’s announcement that it will not need more TARP money from the government. Stocks also liked the remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke that the recession would be over by year-end if the banking situation is stabilized, and that major financial institutions would not be allowed to fail.
Read the entire article
here.
Fast Facts from CAR and Freddie Mac - January 2009
Statistics from California Association of Realtors has just released its January 2009 home buyer statistics. Read the report on my
blog.
- Janis Stone
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
Statistics have just been released for our office on my
blog!
- Janis Stone
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of March 1, 2009
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest weekly report:
Foreclosure Prevention Plan Guidelines Revealed
Earlier this week, the Obama administration released the guidelines which enable lenders to begin modifications of eligible mortgages under the administration’s Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. Here is a summary of the guidelines, direct from the Department of Treasury:
Read the entire article
here.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
“A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well…And to help those who are doing well to do even better.” — Jim Rohn. Let’s hope that some of the actions that the Obama Administration took last week — intended to help millions of US homeowners — will show that kind of leadership for our country, as last week’s Jobs Report and Stock Market losses showed that help is certainly needed.
Read the entire report
here.
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
We had another pretty good week. The real estate market in San Francisco is active despite the rainy weather and state of the economy. Apparently some people still have money. In fact, it may be that investors have more confidence in real estate than they have in the stock market. There are deals to be had and buyers have more negotiating power than they’ve had in a long time.
Go to our
website and get the statistics for our office.
- Janis Stone
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of February 22, 2009
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest
weekly report. Here is an excerpt:
With the Economic Stimulus Package and the Foreclosure Prevention Plan underway, many Americans are anxious to move forward, realizing that there will still be weeks and months of discussion and fine-tuning before all elements will be understood. At the end of the day, some elements will be popular with the majority, perceived as helpful to our recovery – and some elements will remain under heavy criticism and largely unpopular. It’s the American way. But I hope most will agree that it’s time to get back into a position where we feel secure, where we feel confident and where we can once again make strong decisions regarding our future…and that includes decisions we make about real estate.Read the entire article
here.
- Rick Turley* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
The Treasury Department announced on Friday that they plan to take a 36% stake in Citigroup by converting $25 Billion of preferred shares into common stock. The move will dramatically dilute shareholder value, but should help bolster the struggling bank’s capital base.
Some good news from Reuters, as they released the results of a survey of 47 professional forecasters, predicting that the economy will begin to recover in the second half of this year. Additionally, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index was better than expected, and being a forward-looking indicator, gives another bright spot of hope down the road.
Despite the negative news, Bonds and home loan rates were not able to make improvements over the course of the week, and ended a bit worse than where they began.
Read the entire report
here.
- Foster Weeks
First Republic Publishes California Luxury Home Report for Q4 2008
Visit our
website for the latest First Republic report on California luxury home sales for 3 key areas:
- San Francisco - Down 3.1% for the year
- Los Angeles - Down 3.7% for the year
- San Diego - Down 8.3% for the year
Read the San Francisco report here.
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
This week is showing that the market is starting to pick up. Go to our
website and get the statistics for our office.
- Janis Stone
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of February 15, 2009
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest
weekly report. Here is an excerpt:
It was a week full of stories and reports, both from the cynics and proponents of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The $780 billion package was signed into law on February 17 and truly is the largest, most unprecedented recovery act in history.
The provisions of the bill were changing even up until hours before the House and Senate voted on the bill, but the final provisions were recently posted to NAR’s website. Click here to access the details and learn more about the housing elements that were included.Read the entire article
here.
- Rick Turley
* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:
The first plan, the Economic Stimulus Plan for 2009, was finally approved by Congress and signed by President Obama. In addition, the President unveiled the initial details of his Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, which is designed to help stabilize the housing market and keep millions of borrowers in their homes. Many of the details of these plans are still being worked out, but read this week's Mortgage Market View article below for an overview of some benefits that may impact you.
In other news, the Stock market plunged last week on continued fears of a deepening recession, a failing banking system, weak corporate earnings and forecasts. The 113 year old Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week down almost 7%, reaching a six-year low.Read the entire report
here.
- Foster Weeks
Janis Stone Writes About The Stimulus
Janis Stone wrote a short piece about her take on the stimulus. Government may be getting involved, but ultimately it is up to us, the citizens, to take action and get the economy back on track.
Read the post
here.
- Mick Orton
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
Things are selling! In our office this week we had 9 sales reported so things are moving. Granted, they are not selling at full asking price in most cases, but deals are being made!
Go to our
website and get the statistics.
- Janis Stone
From our February Newsletter
Even though the statistics show very little movement we are sensing more activity at open houses and sales at all price points. January always tends to be slow because of the lack of inventory, but this year is even more so because of the economy. It will take a couple of months to see if this activity turns into sales or just "tire kickers". Interest rates continue to stay low and prices are soft, even in the prime areas of San Francisco. What a GREAT TIME to buy! A few people are able to see this opportunity and are acting on it so when good properties come on the market there are buyers out there for them. But it takes preparation, accurate pricing and consistent marketing to attract them. I actually love this market because it allows skilled agents to show clients how important it is to hire an experienced agent.
Read the entire
newsletter on our website.
- Janis Stone
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of February 8, 2009
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest
weekly report. Here is an excerpt:
A compromise on the Economic Stimulus Package has been reached. The new price tag: $787 billion. That’s below both the $820 billion House-passed version and the $838 billion Senate-passed version.
Just like with anything in life, the final package is all about compromise. Real estate advocates from NAR and Realogy President Richard Smith lobbied well on our behalf but in the end only a portion of the requests we had of lawmakers were made part of the final Economic Stimulus Package.
I am encouraged that lawmakers have now reached an agreement and we can finally move forward with some direct action.
The goal of the highly controversial Economic Stimulus Package is to create or save some 3.5 million jobs while helping to rebuild our nation’s economy which has been in a recession since December 2007. Although, at the writing of this piece, the details of the legislation had not been finalized we do anticipate a number of important housing provisions, including (as reported by NAR):
- “Homebuyer Tax Credit – an $8,000 tax credit that will be available for qualified purchase of a principal residence by a first time homebuyer between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009. The credit does not require repayment. Individuals who purchase in 2009 using financing assistance from state and local mortgage bonds will be permitted to use the credit, as well. Click here for a chart with details on the first-time home buyer tax credit.
- FHA, Fannie and Freddie Loan Limits – Revised loan limits for FHA, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae. Specifics have not been released but reports indicate that the 2008 limits have been reinstated for 2009 except in those communities where the 2009 limits are higher. Additional increases in individual communities may also be available at the discretion of the HUD Secretary.
- Foreclosure Mitigation & Neighborhood Stabilization – Funding for states and local communities to be used for neighborhood stabilization activities for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes are authorized.”
In addition to these new elements, NAR continues to work with the Department of Treasury to implement a mortgage buy-down program. The details on that will surface over the next several weeks.
To view all of the housing provisions, click here: http://www.realtor.org/government_affairs/gapublic/uae_hr1_additional_provisions
So what’s next? President Obama is pushing to get quick approval of the emergency package so he can sign it into law before the end of this three-day holiday weekend.
Read the market statistics here.
- Rick Turley
* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here's what Mr. Weeks says about last week's activity:
We publish this report in its entirety on our
website.
"The Bond market closed early on Friday in advance of the President's Day holiday. Bonds and home loan rates had improved a bit early in the week, but lost their ground late in the week, and ended slightly worse than where they began."- Janis Stone
We're Back!
After months of trying our blog on the same site as our website, we found that our ranking have dropped in both Google and Yahoo. We had become used to the attention we were getting from you readers, and so we have decided to come back.
To show our appreciation for people who take the time to read our blog and learn about San Francisco Real Estate, we want to give you an opportunity to receive 2 tickets to "Shopping! The Musical" which is playing at the Shelton Theater. Go
here to read the post! You have until February, 28, 2009 to enter the drawing.
- Janis Stone
We are moving!
Our TRI Coldwell Banker weekly update is now on our new blog site which may be seen at
www.sfresidence.com/blog. We will be posting there and soon the content from this site will be up there as well.
Mick Orton
Marketing Director
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of April 6, 2008
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest
weekly report:
Bernice Ross pointed out in her Inman News column this week that this is the best buyer’s market in 35 years. She backs up the claim with some interesting facts that bear sharing with buyers in any area who may still be hesitant. Ross notes that in April of 1973, mortgage rates were hovering at the same near-historic lows that they are today. Since that time, mortgage rates have only dipped this low during the height of the seller’s market in the early part of this decade when inventory was tight and prices were on the rise. The last time we experienced major buyer’s markets were during the economic downturns in the early 1980’s and 1990’s – both with mortgage rates in the double digits. So, the current combination of substantial inventory and low mortgage rates is the best possible situation for buyers since 1973.
That being said, there does seem to be an increasing number of buyers starting to make offers in many of our areas and again we’re seeing price, condition and location flexing their muscles at the willing. Out of 30 offices reporting in for the week, 21 of them experienced at least one multiple offer situation, and many experienced significantly more than one. What’s interesting is the mix. In Palo Alto where inventory is tight, those multiple offers are as high as 20-25% over the list price of a home in any price range, and homes priced at more than $5 million are selling before going on the MLS. There were two offers on a $4.5 million Woodside/Portola Valley Listing. A home in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights received 20 offers. In Castro Valley where inventory is more abundant, the multiple offers are on REO properties, and with prices dipping below $300,000, buyers are willing and able to snap up bargains. In Redwood City, a short sale listed at $629,000 had five offers but four of those had contingencies, and while a home there may generate multiple offers, most of those offers are coming in under list price. Though the implications of multiple offers differ from one town to the next in our Bay Area real estate market, the fact of the matter is that the buyers are making offers, and sellers who truly want to sell their homes are pricing them accordingly.Read the rest of the April 6, 2008 report
here.
- Rick Turley
* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here's what Mr. Weeks says about last week's activity:
...a great deal of caution was definitely important last week, as "earnings season" began on Wall Street. First quarter earnings for Stocks got off to a bit of a rough start, with disappointing news from aluminum company Alcoa - always the first in line to report. And General Electric surprised to the downside on Friday, with worse than expected earnings and comments on future earnings, cautioning they'd likely be lower than previously thought. The Stock market didn't like the negative tone and lost some ground, while Bonds moved both up and down during the week - hurt by some inflationary fears, but helped by cash coming over from Stocks. For the week overall, home loan rates ended up close to where they began.
In other news last week, "Meeting Minutes" from the March 18th Fed meeting revealed that infamous Fed Presidents Richard "Loose Lips" Fisher and Charlie Plosser both dissented from the recent decision to cut the Fed Funds Rate, stating that "inflation expectations could potentially become unhinged, if the Fed continues to lower the Fed Funds Rate in the current environment." Bold comments from two who clearly believe caution regarding inflation is of the utmost importance.
And caution, rather than confidence, seems to be the word of the moment, as Consumer Sentiment for April was reported far below expectations, representing a 26-yr low for the index. This very ugly reading suggests that consumers may be hesitant to make large purchases, which does not bode well for future economic prospects.
Despite the dark cloud cast from the negative economic news, the silver lining is that home loan rates are once again near levels not seen since mid-2005. But remember, these low rates can change quickly. To see how you may benefit from the current market conditions, feel free to contact me.Read the entire report
here.
- Foster Weeks
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of March 31, 2008
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest
weekly report:
A recent Forbes Magazine article ranked the Top Ten Best Cities for Home Sellers. San Jose and San Francisco were at the top of the list. The article points out that San Jose and San Francisco came out on top because they fit the profile of a sellers' market--low inventory rates that were still shrinking, good job creation, a large scale cutback in new home construction and a boost in the credit market from new Fannie and Freddie loan limits. This fits neatly with what we’ve been saying for weeks now and reinforces the fact that real estate is local, and national headlines about the real estate market simply don’t apply to every market. It also helps to explain why the majority of our open houses remain so busy.
Some areas of our market, particularly on the Peninsula, Berkeley and in San Francisco, continue to suffer from a shortage of desirable, saleable properties, so when they do come on the market, they generate a lot of interest from potential buyers. In Palo Alto, the luxury market continues to thrive and preemptive offers are not uncommon at all. In San Francisco, the markets change from neighborhood to neighborhood – Noe and Eureka Valleys are highly sought after, and the market is very active in the $1.5 million-plus range. A listing in Noe Valley had more than 100 groups attend its open. There are also more REO properties coming on the market in San Francisco which, because of their perceived value, generate much interest from potential buyers.Read the rest of the March 31, 2008 report
here.
- Rick Turley
* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
What a difference a week makes. While new listings did not really pick up from last report, there were quite a few more ratified and closed sales. This means if our office is not listing the property, they they are representing the buyers of those properties.
Here are the numbers posted this week: 4/9/08:
- 5 new listings (average price $2,298,600 - low $519,000, high $6,950,000)
- 9 ratified sales (pending) (average price $2,617,000 - low $730,000, high $5,995,000)
- 9 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,696,042 - low $860,000, high $3,005,000)
- 1 Reduced ($499,000)
- Mick Orton
Marketing Director
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here's what Mr. Weeks says about last week's activity:
A record was broken on the job front last Friday as the Labor Department reported a much worse than expected loss of 80,000 jobs in March - the greatest jobs loss reported in five years. In addition, revisions to both January and February's Jobs Report delivered an additional loss of 67,000 jobs - that's on top of the previously reported loss of 85,000 jobs for that two-month period.
And...the story might be even a bit gloomier than it already appears. The Labor Department uses a lot of averaging to help it come up with its numbers more quickly, but this practice can skew the current picture significantly. Think of it this way - and because it's now baseball season, here's a Baseball analogy - let's say that mid-way through the season, a red-hot hitter with a batting average of 340 declines into a bad slump for several weeks. While he now can't even hit a basketball thrown underhand to him, his average - while lower to 300 - is still very strong due to his previous hot performance. So someone looking at just the statistics may think that this batter is still absolutely terrific, but he is really someone the fans are booing as he approaches the plate. This is not very different from current numbers being reported by the Labor Department - previous averaging is likely causing an understating of the ACTUAL number of job losses...which somewhat masks how bad the job market really is.
This bleak Jobs Report greatly boosts the odds of not only a first-quarter recession, but perhaps a worse economic downturn than many economists fear. The Federal Reserve may respond to this increasing trend in job losses with additional interest rate cuts when they next meet to determine monetary policy on April 30 and June 25. As we've seen in the past though, such rate cuts do not translate into lower long-term rates for mortgages, so there is no better time than right now to refinance an existing mortgage or to structure a new one. Let's work together to make sure your current financing is a home run!Read the entire report
here.
- Foster Weeks
April 2008 Report San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for March 2008
The number of Single Family Homes sold for March increased again from the previous month in San Francisco Real Estate. The average selling price was again over 100% of the average listing price. The average listing price was higher than February as well as slightly higher than a year ago. The average days on the market decreased to 44.
The number of Condominiums sold in March increased again from the previous month in the San Francisco Real Estate Market. The average selling price was under 100% of the average listing price. Howver, the average selling price was higher than Feburay, as well as a year ago. The average days on the market increased to to 55.
The number of homes in the Overall Sales category sold in March increased again from the previous month in the San Francisco Real Estate Market. The average selling price was slightly over 100% of the average listing price. The average selling price was slightly higher than February as well as a year ago. The average days on the market decreased slightly to 49.
See the sales figures
here as well as sales comparisons to last month and to a year ago.
- Mick Orton
Marketing Director
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
This week's report was very slow, considering all the deals that are being made in our office. I think next week you will see an extraordinary number of new listings and ratified deals.
Here are the numbers posted this week: 4/2/08:
- 5 new listings (average price $5,237,000 - low $1,495,000, high $14,000,000)
- 3 ratified sales (pending) (average price $2,173,000 - low $829,000, high $3,495,000)
- 6 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,383,333 - low $810,000, high $1,795,000)
- 1 Reduced ($685,000)
- Mick Orton
Marketing Director
Ten Measures to Appear on Local Ballot, 2008
Here is what the SFAR is reporting on the upcoming local measures with regard to real estate:
Ten Measures to Appear on Local Ballot
On June 3, 2008, voters in San Francisco will be confronted with eight local and two state initiatives on the local ballot. The Association’s Governmental Relations Committee, so far, has not recommended positions on the local measures to the Association’s board of directors but the California Association of REALTORS® is recommending positions on the two state initiatives.
Both of the initiatives deal with the subject of eminent domain. Proposition 98 is different than Proposition 99 in that the latter contains a provision designed to phase out rent control in the State.
For that reason, the State Association is recommending a “Yes” vote on Proposition 98 and a “No” vote on Proposition 99.
A list of the ballot measures is set forth below.
A—School Parcel Tax
B—Qualifications for Retiree Health and Pension Benefits
C—Forfeiture of Retirement Benefits for Conviction of Crimes of Moral Turpitude
D—Diversity on Boards and Commissions
E—Requiring Board of Supervisors' Approval of Mayor's Appointments to the SF PUC
F—Affordable Housing Requirement for Candlestick Point and Hunters Point Shipyard
G—Mixed-Use Development Plan for Candlestick Point and Hunters Point Shipyard
H—Candidate and Elected Official Contribution Restrictions
98—Government Acquisition, Regulation of Private Property
99—Eminent Domain, Acquisition of Owner-Occupied Residence
- SFAR
We will discuss each of these, both pro and con, in more detail in the next week or so.
- Mick Orton
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of March 23, 2008
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest
weekly report:
Baseball season has begun and we’re starting to see buyers "sliding into home". Yes, from all indications, the Bay Area real estate market is blooming just in time for spring. We were even able to squeeze a few positive headlines out of the media this week after NAR announced an unexpected increase in February sales figures, and CAR announced that sales have been increasing each month in our state for the past four months. Compared to this time last year, the reports still indicate very slow sales. But a dip in the median price, a copious selection of homes on the market in many areas and near-historically low mortgage rates are enticing buyers off of their fences. According to CAR, a number of cities in our area are starting to see increases in median prices again, which may be an indication that those markets are already bouncing back. Some who may have been waiting for the “bottom” in some areas may have missed it.
Open houses continue to bring in high numbers of attendees in the majority of areas, even on a holiday weekend, and multiple offer situations continue to increase on desirable, well-priced homes. A “not very attractive” home in the Berkeley flats was listed at $549,000, had 50 disclosure packets out and sold with 15 offers on the table. A San Ramon open home had more than 50 groups attend. A TIC in San Francisco drew multiple offers and sold for $50,000 over asking. Woodside/Portola Valley had three sales in multiple offer situations last week – one of them listed for more than $11 million. Menlo Park reports 75% of sales in multiple offer situations...Read the rest of the March 23, 2008 report
here.
- Rick Turley* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here's what Mr. Weeks says about last week's activity:
...Forces were certainly at work to keep the financial markets from being at rest, starting bright and early on Monday morning. The headlines brought a quick shot in the arm for Stocks, as beleaguered Bear Stearns is now expected to see $10 per share in their buyout, rather than the previously expected $2 per share. Great news for the troubled financial sector at large, but Bonds got battered hard, as money flowed out of Bonds and into Stocks - causing home loan rates to rise.
But as the week progressed, some dismal news played out, including a plunge in Consumer Confidence and mixed news on the housing market, which pulled the money right back out of Stocks, and into the safe haven of Bonds...helping home loan rates improve again. But like Newton's famous third law of motion, "every action has an equal and opposite reaction" - Bonds and home loan rates changed course again, on better than expected unemployment claims on Thursday.
Then Friday brought the discovery that Core inflation is perhaps not as hot as previously thought. The highly watched year-over-year core inflation rate was reported at just 2%, as measured by the Fed's favored Personal Consumption Expenditure Index (PCE), and within the bounds of what the Fed would like to see for core inflation. Since inflation is the arch enemy of fixed return Bonds and home loan rates...this news was good indeed, and caused home loan rates to improve once again. Once the dust settled for the week, home loan rates ended up near where they began, before their weekly roller coaster ride...Read the entire report
here.
- Foster WeeksWe are being told by
Stacey Fleece, our in house mortgage broker with
Princeton Capital, that things are very volatile right now with pricing changes day to day. Her recommendation is, if you find a good rate, lock it in before it goes away. There is still a lot of nervousness out there about the economy.
- Janis Stone
Things to do in San Francisco - Part 55 - Smuin Ballet
Michael Smuin (1938-2007), founder of the Smuin Ballet, passed away earlier this year but his spirit lives on in his ballets and through his company. The Smuin Ballet breezes into town at the Palace of Fine Arts with their Fall/Winter Program. The program is a two and a half hour spectacle of emotion, movement and color. Amy Seiwert, a dancer in the company, debuts her Objects of Curiosity - an enchanting exploration of bodies and their movements.
Seiwert's piece studies the human body by accentuating and dismembering its movements. Performed mostly in pairs, bodies are contorted and reassembled unabashedly for their audience. Duettino, the first number by Michael Smuin is minimalist and classical. It focuses on the physical aspect of dancing, in other words, attention is paid to the dancer's body and movement. Visually stunning, it is a harmonious follow up to the program's starter. Stabat Mater, the program's pinnacle, is a dramatic response to September 11th.
In Latin the lyrics of Stabat Mater refer to Mary's sorrow and anguish as she watches the death of her son, Jesus - emotions reflected in the color of costumes and scenery. Smuin's passing provides another (mournful) layer to this heart-clenching performance. Vanessa Thiessen and Aaron Thayer excel as the female and male leads who battle between life and death. Renin' in the Hurricane, choreographed by Kirk Peterson, is a series of performances set to the music of Gene Autry, Cole Porter, David Byrne, Randy Travis, and k.d. Lang. Renin', loosely connected by a western theme, excels in capturing each song's mood and in storytelling.
While campy, in this final act dancers become individuals engrossed with personality. This vivacity makes each performance light hearted and enjoyable, a sharp turn from Stabat Mater. The program overall is well rounded. Lighthearted numbers, which surround Stabat Mater, keep the program balanced, manageable and enjoyable. Bravo, Smuin Ballet. -- Marissa Mejia Performances: Through October 14th Tickets $15-$47
You may also go to our
website for previous things to do. Previous blog posts are:
Parts 1 - 20,
Parts 21-40,
Part 41 - Cable Car Museum,
Part 42 - Transamerica Pyramid,
Part 43 - Camera Obscura and Holographic Gallery,
Part 44 - Moscone Center,
Part 45 - Barbary Coast Trail Self-Guided Walking Tour,
Part 46 - Fort Mason,
Part 47 - Blue & Gold Fleet,
Part 48 - Cherry Blossom Festival,
Part 49 - Flower Power Haight-Ashbury Walking Tour,
Part 50 - Lincoln Park Golf Course,
Part 51 - HANG,
Part 52 - Strybing Arboretum & Botanical Gardens,
Part 53 - Wok Wiz Chinatown Tours and Cooking Company,
Part 54 - Ski Sugar Bowl
San Francisco Real Estate - History of San Francisco
The Golden Gate Bridge was officially opened to pedestrian traffic on May 27, 1937 and to vehicular traffic the next day. The total length of the bridge that many engineers said that could not be built was 1.7 miles. The width of the Bridge is 90 ft while the total original combined weight of the Bridge, anchorages, and approaches was 894,500 tons or 811,500,000 kg.
This information was reprinted from the SFGov's
website.
- Mick Orton
Marketing Director
Fast Facts from CAR and Freddie Mac - February 2008
California Association of Realtors just released its report for February real estate activity.
Calif. median home price - February 08: $409,240 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $430,370 last month)
Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region February 08: Santa Barbara So. Coast $1,295,000 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $1,135,000 last month)
Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region February 08: High Desert $220,380 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $234,310 last month)
Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - Third Quarter 2007: 33 percent (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to 24 percent second quarter 2007)
Mortgage rates - week ending 03/20:
- 30-yr. fixed: 5.87%; Fees/points: 0.5% (note: compared to 5.48% and 0.4% points last report)
- 15-yr. fixed: 5.27%; Fees/points: 0.5% (note: compared to 4.95% and 0.4% points last report)
- 1-yr. adjustable: 5.15%; Fees/points: 0.8% (note: compared to 4.99% and 0.6% points last report)- California Association of Realtors & Freddie Mac
- California Association of Realtors & Freddie Mac
As you can see from the numbers above, our industry took a hit in February, but judging from our weekly reports for March, I believe we will see a bounce back this month.
Mortgage rates are higher from our previous, even though the stimulus package was passed and the Fed cut interest rates, which indicates that the lenders had already priced in these expected changes.
Check our monthly sales updates to compare San Francisco real estate prices versus the state of California as a whole! We also provide weekly updates on this blog as well as our website.
Remember, on March 14 San Francisco was named a "superstar" city with regard to real estate by the San Francisco Chronicle. A pleasant surprise, indeed!
- Janis Stone
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
Our
March 14 article was about the San Francisco Chronicle naming our city as a "superstar" city with regard to real estate. Looking at today's numbers, you can see that things are indeed picking up in the Spring market.
Here are the numbers posted this week: 3/26/08:
- 12 new listings (average price $3,022,583 - low $1,250,000, high $7,700,000)
- 7 ratified sales (pending) (average price $952,143 - low $429,000, high $1,995,000)
- 7 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,351,429 - low $465,000, high $2,395,000)
- Mick Orton
Marketing Manger
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of March 16, 2008
While Avram Goldman is no longer with Coldwell Banker, he is still a friend and associate with an excellent handle on
San Francisco Real Estate. Here is this week's Goldman Report:
And now, live from New York City ---- The Goldman Report. While I review the activity around our marketplace, my wife Lori is out doing her best to keep us out of a recession.
New York City looks and feels the same. You still can’t get in the best restaurants without a reservation at least two weeks in advance (try two months for Per Se), forget trying to get a ticket to “Wicked” or Broadway’s latest “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” with James Earl Jones, I see a few more sale signs in store windows, but the chic shops are still holding strong. Obviously the restaurants and shops frequented by the Bear Stearns 14,000 employees will be looking for new customers, although many of their employees will find other opportunities. This is still a vibrant city of eight million plus. Haven’t heard anyone talking about the recession. Like San Francisco, NYC is one of Richard Florida’s “super cities”, somewhat insulated from the general economic malaise. Plus, it is close to Europe where vacations in NYC are a bargain. If you love art, food, and theater, there is still no better place in the world to go.
Now back to reality. Given the fall out of Bears Stearns you would think this would have a dampening effect on our local real estate market. The answer is---not much---buyers are still out in force as evidenced by our open house visitors. The majority of open houses are in double digit attendance numbers. Yes, we still have a few slow ones, but they are relegated to those listings that have been on the market forever and those that are located in areas of voluminous inventories. We also had some outstanding ones like the home in Alamo listed for $2.2mil. with over 100 groups through. Montclair and Berkeley offices had a range between 12-80 buyers and San Francisco had several between 25-40 groups. Most offices reported that more buyers are coming into the market.
Sales activity is steady in the majority of our offices, although we did notice open sales falling off in the wine country (Napa and Sonoma). San Francisco still continues to be the most active market where almost 25% of our sales end up in multiple offers. This was the case during the reporting period where multiple offers ranged from 2-7 offers and going from list price to 8% over list. In the East Bay our Montclair and Berkeley offices had almost two thirds of there open escrows end up in a multiple offer. A Rockridge home priced at $799K received 17 offers. One of our agents went $50,000 over, but was one of the lower offers. You can also add to that a Piedmont Avenue home listed at $675K garnering 9 offers. Thus, in spite of trying economic times, there is money and desire to buy homes. Or at least homes that are priced and presented well in desirable neighborhoods...Read the rest of the March 16, 2008 report
here.
- Avram Goldman
President and CEO
Pacific Union GMAC Real Estate
One Letterman Drive, Bldg. C Ste. 300
San Francisco, CA 94129-1492
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here's what Mr. Weeks says about last week's activity:
The financial markets endured another week of extreme bipolar behavior, with enormous intra-day mood swings that normally wouldn't be seen over the course of several weeks. While Bonds and home loan rates wildly rocketed higher and plummeted lower on a daily basis throughout the week, fixed home loan rates ended up improved by about .25% for the week overall. And last week...the action started unusually early, stemming from some almost unprecedented weekend actions by the Fed.
Last Sunday night, the news broke that the Fed had not only decided to make a move to lower the Discount Rate by .25%, just two days ahead of when their normally scheduled announcement would arrive, but also that they had helped facilitate the bailout of investment giant Bear Stearns. The 85-year-old company had its stock purchased by JPM Chase at $2 per share, for $236 Million...yep, that's Million with an M. Bear Stearns was trading near $90 at the end of February, with a 52-week high near $160. Bear Stearns was the number one buyer of sub-prime home loans, with a huge appetite for this type of paper - and they bought sub-prime transactions with both fists, a strategy that certainly came back to haunt them.Read the entire report
here.
- Foster Weeks
San Francisco Real Estate - History of San Francisco
This is an excerpt from The Virtual Museum of San Francisco
website:
There were about a dozen houses and fifty residents in Yerba Buena (the original name of San Francisco) by 1844. But in 1846 the Hudson Bay Company sold its holdings and left; a move that largely cut down the number of settlers. For some reason, however, the new town proved a magnet for nomads and sailors deserting vessel, and towards the close of 1846 there were some ninety buildings, shanties, adobes and frame houses, and about 200 inhabitants.
Up to January 1847, the little village of shacks and occasional buildings between Sacramento and Washington streets, and from Stockton Street to the bay shore, which then came up to the present Montgomery Street, was known as Yerba Buena.
There was a lively contest between two rival factions on the bay shores to capture the name of St. Francis for their respective towns, Yerba Buena and Benicia. The latter town was then being backed by a number of strong capitalists, led by Mariano Vallejo and Thomas O. Larkin. They were determined to make Benicia the capital of the territory. Washington Bartlett, the first American alcalde, made a successful flank movement and succeeded in capturing the name San Francisco and issued the first official announcement of the change of name.
During 1847, six trading vessels entered the bay. The population of San Francisco was then 459 souls. The exports for that year were valued at $49, 597 and the imports $53,589. January of 1847 brought the first printing press to San Francisco, and on January 7 Sam Brannan published the first newspaper, "The California Star," a weekly of four pages.
- San Francisco Virtual Museum
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
What a difference the week makes. After a lackluster start to March, this week had an exceptional number of ratified deals, while new listings remained about the same. As we predicted, the Spring market is coming alive.
Here are the numbers posted this week: 3/19/08:
- 6 new listings (average price $1,415,333 - low $549,000, high $5,000,000)
- 18 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,159,972 - low $375,000, high $2,995,000)
- 7 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,351,071 - low $585,000, high $4,700,000, 1 confidential)
- 3 reduced (average price $1,116,000 - low $749,000, high $1,350,000)
- Mick Orton
Marketing Manger
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of March 9, 2008
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest
weekly report:
DataQuick, the real estate information service that the media drools over every month, issued yet another gloomy report on Thursday. Frankly, I think the reports received from our offices each week, and from talking to all of those hardworking Coldwell Banker Sales Associates in the field, should be what’s making the headlines in our newspapers instead of DataQuick’s latest monthly statistics. We are actually working with buyers and sellers and understand our local markets. We comprehend the intricacies of the various communities and neighborhoods we work with, and we actually know what’s happening out there. Quite simply, they don’t know what we know about the market TODAY. They can only report on what closed last month based on transactions that began 30 to 90 days prior. We need to continue to remind our buyers and our sellers that what they see in the newspaper today is a reflection of the recent past – not necessarily a snapshot of the current market. Yes – it’s been a challenging market overall as of late, but we see definite signs of improvement now that just aren’t reported anywhere else.
Here’s something current that I haven’t read about – we’re seeing a drop in month’s supply of inventory in virtually every county in our area. We’re seeing an increasing number of homes going into contract. We’re seeing open houses in most areas that continue to teem with buyers anxious to take advantage of the low rates and plentiful selection. We’re seeing a boost in the number of first-time buyers who don’t have to sell an existing home in order to make their purchase. We’re seeing high-end homes selling off-market - meaning that they sell without ever hitting the MLS - often with multiple offers and well over the asking price, (this also means that DataQuick won’t account for those homes in its statistics for sales and median prices next month).
Read the rest of the March 9, 2008 report
here.
- Rick Turley
* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here's what Mr. Weeks says about last week's activity:
...if Bonds and home loan rates thought they were out of the days of volatility...they got pulled right back in, as last week brought daily price swings of almost historic proportions. For the week overall, fixed home loan rates improved by about .25%.
What led to the dramatic action this week? The bipolar emotional state of the markets began deeply depressed on Monday, but then were filled with joy Tuesday, when the Fed made an interesting move by announcing the creation of the new Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF). The TSLF will provide borrowing banks with $200 Billion to draw on to help inject liquidity into the credit markets, and further, will accept some mortgage-backed securities as collateral, which effectively may help to "upgrade" the value and perception of battered Mortgage Bonds.
But in the meantime...struggles are still being played out related to the downgrade and losses experienced by companies holding massive amounts of mortgage-backed securities. Headlines hit on Thursday about The Carlyle Group, which manages a portfolio of mortgage-backed securities, not being able to meet a margin call and being forced to sell off large amounts of mortgage paper into the markets at great financial losses. Then on Friday, the news broke that financial brokerage and investment banking giant, Bear Stearns had suffered enormous losses, and their lack of liquidity endangered them from going out of business...or "sleeping with the fishes". The new aforementioned TSLF is designed to help this type of liquidity problem, but it will not go into effect for a few weeks, and Bear Stearns would not last that long. Coming to the rescue with loans were both the NY Fed and JP Morgan Chase. These sure are exciting times.
One bright spot for the financial markets was a low consumer inflation reading. The Overall and Core Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures were reported unchanged, far cooler than the expected increases of 0.3% and 0.2% respectively. These tame inflation numbers give the Fed a green light to cut the Fed Funds Rate by another .75% at Tuesday's meeting...but read on to understand exactly how this cut may impact YOU.
Read the entire report
here.
- Foster Weeks
San Francisco Real Estate - History of San Francisco
San Francisco has a rich history. As early as June 29th, 1776 (5 days before the signing of the Declaration of Independence according to San Francisco History
website),
Mission Dolores had its first mass. This mission still stands and is featured in our 7th article on "Things to do in San Francisco".
The first colonizing party arrived in 1776 to found the Presidio of San Francisco and Mission Dolores. La Misión de San Francisco de Asis (Mission Dolores) is designated as Registered Landmark Number One of the City and County of San Francisco. The Mission Church is the oldest intact building in San Francisco, and one of the oldest Mission Churches in California.
Mission Dolores was the sixth of 21 missions established by the Franciscans.
San Francisco Chronicle declares San Francisco "superstar" city!
Finally the
Chronicle published a good real estate story about San Francisco on Sunday declaring it a "superstar city", defying the economic downturn.
Carol Lloyd, normally a gloom and doomer (though she does "scratch her head" as to why Bay Area cities have bucked the trend... wishing there was gloom and doom???), does admit that San Francisco is not following the national downward trend of real estate.
We knew this all along, though sales volumes are off, prices are not.
-Mick Orton
Marketing Director
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
This week is slightly off from the last few weeks. As the nice weather gets dialed in, I believe you will begin to see more and more activity, regardless of what the news media says about the mortgage crisis. This Friday watch for my analysis of a story from the San Francisco Chronicle from Sunday by Carol Lloyd, an unusually positive story!
Here are the numbers posted this week: 3/12/08:
- 5 new listings (average price $1,000,400 - low $639,000, high $1,350,000)
- 7 ratified sales (pending) (average price $2,033,286 - low $849,000, high $3,995,000)
- 6 closed sales (sold) (average price $927,333 - low $395,000, high $2,195,000)
- 1 back on the market (price $699,000)
- Mick Orton
Marketing Manger
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of March 2, 2008
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest
weekly report:
It’s official. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has released the amounts of increases in the conforming loan limit for FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac secured loans. This is great news for Bay Area homeowners, home buyers and home sellers alike. For homeowners, the increase may allow them to refinance their existing “jumbo” loans at a lower rate of interest. For buyers, it may make getting a loan much easier and cheaper. For sellers, it ought to spur fence-sitting buyers to take more immediate action and start writing offers on all those open houses they’ve been flocking to for the past weeks. Though there is a possibility that the increases will be permanent pending new legislation, for now the conforming loan limit increases are only confirmed through the end of 2008. Buyers have a distinct time-frame through which to take advantage of this opportunity. Move-up buyers and first time buyers both have a terrific break right now to find the home of their dreams.
The new increased limits (up to 125% of an area’s median home price) impact practically all of our Bay Area Counties. Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo all qualify for FHA, Fannie and Freddie increases up to the cap of $729,750. Sonoma County’s FHA conforming loan limit increases up to $662,500, and for Solano, the increase is up to $557,500.
We aren’t certain when new loan products will actually hit the market and become available, but it shouldn’t take long. Lenders have to be pre-approved to offer FHA loans, so it’s more important than ever for buyers to be working with skilled real estate professionals who have the connections and resources necessary to make recommendations and guide their clients toward reputable, pre-approved lenders. Our Princeton loan officers are doing a great job keeping us abreast of new opportunities.Read the rest of the March 2, 2008 report
here.
- Rick Turley* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here's what Mr. Weeks says about last week's activity:
...Bonds and home loan rates just experienced one of the most volatile, crazy weeks ever seen, with fixed home loan rates rising by about .375% by the time the smoke cleared.
During the first four days of last week, Bonds underwent a crazy 313 basis point sell-off - more than they sometimes move over the course of six months. Why the insane action? Uninspiring commentary from Federal Reserve officials, renewed fears of inflation...and another very interesting story playing out last Thursday. Losses from The Carlyle Capital Group and Thornburg Mortgage decreased their capital to the point where their financial backers had asked for cash back in the way of a "margin call". What does this mean?
Imagine a home that received a loan for 50% of the value...but a provision in the loan stated that under no circumstances could the equity fall below 50%. And the home would need to be appraised every day to evaluate this. If the home lost significant value, the lender would be entitled to an immediate payment to retain the 50% equity position. So if the home did indeed decline in value, the lender would make a call for capital to make sure their 50% margin of loan-to-value remains intact...hence the name margin call. If the homeowner had the cash to meet this call - all is well. But if the homeowner did not have the cash, the only way to satisfy the lender would be a sale of the home. And that is basically what Carlyle Capital Group and Thornburg Mortgage had to do last Thursday...they didn't have enough cash on hand to meet their margin call, so they were forced to sell home loans that they were holding. This flood of mortgage paper on the market pushed Mortgage Bond prices lower...much lower.
The week was shaping up to be one of the worst in history for Bonds and home loan rates - but then, remembering that weak financial news is good for Bonds and home loan rates, Friday's utterly dismal monthly Jobs Report came to the rescue. On the report that there were a net loss of 63,000 jobs in the US last month - as well as negative revisions to previous months reports - Bonds rocketed back higher, at least enough to erase the previous day's losses, but still ended significantly worse off for the week overall...Read the entire report
here.
- Foster Weeks
Things to do in San Francisco - Part 54 - Ski Sugar Bowl
If you're up for a day trip and enjoy skiing, there is still a lot of snow and great spring skiing at Sugar Bowl. Only about an hour and a half out of Sacramento on I-80, take the Norden, Soda Springs exit and turn right at the stop sign. About 3 miles up the road is the entrance to Sugar Bowl.
A friend and I went yesterday and the runs were well groomed, though a little icy early morning and late afternoon. For a day trip this resort is perfect because it's much closer than Alpine or Squaw and has longer runs than Boreal or Soda Springs (so I'm told). We like to go mid-week to avoid the crowds. And if we get more rain next week as predicted, there's a chance some of it will end up as snow at the higher elevations!
- Mick Orton
Marketing Director
Previous things to do:
Parts 1 - 20,
Parts 21-40,
Part 41 - Cable Car Museum,
Part 42 - Transamerica Pyramid,
Part 43 - Camera Obscura and Holographic Gallery,
Part 44 - Moscone Center,
Part 45 - Barbary Coast Trail Self-Guided Walking Tour,
Part 46 - Fort Mason,
Part 47 - Blue & Gold Fleet,
Part 48 - Cherry Blossom Festival,
Part 49 - Flower Power Haight-Ashbury Walking Tour,
Part 50 - Lincoln Park Golf Course,
Part 51 - HANG,
Part 52 - Strybing Arboretum & Botanical Gardens,
Part 53 - Wok Wiz Chinatown Tours and Cooking Company
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
Each week seems to get a little better than the last. As you can see from the numbers below that things are definitely starting to pick up.
Here are the numbers posted this week: 3/5/08:
- 11 new listings (average price $1,253,091- low $650,000, high $1,850,000)
- 7 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,731,143- low $625,000, high $4,700,000)
- 12 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,135,667 - low $395,000, high $5,500,000)
- 2 reduced price (average price $1,107,000)
- Mick Orton
Marketing Manger
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of February 24, 2008
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest
weekly report:
While listening to the radio the other day, I heard a news report stating that consumer confidence has plummeted in February to a 17-year low. The reporter went on to discuss how fears about the housing market and its impact on the economy are major factors in the increasing pessimism of the American consumer. Later, however, I found the actual consumer confidence index report online and, upon reading it, discovered this little nugget: Those with plans to buy a home rose in February from 2.5% to 2.7%. It was actually one of the few areas of the report that had improved month over month. I’m still trying to figure out how that news reporter wound up blaming the country’s real estate market for a decline in consumer confidence when the index clearly states that confidence in home buying is improving. The index also notes that consumers with plans to buy major appliances increased from 30.6% to 30.9% - maybe those new appliances will be installed in their new homes?
During a rainy holiday weekend, it became apparent that there are an increasing number of buyers who are getting serious about hopping off the fence. Though many seem to be waiting for the conforming loan limit increase in the economic stimulus package to take effect, there are also many who are taking advantage of the affordability existing in many of our markets right now. Buyers that are waiting to see a bottom would be best served by jumping in now. Typically, by the time we can see a bottom in the charts we are well past it and on the way back up. In areas with higher levels of inventory, price, condition and location continue to be crucial factors in home sales at virtually every price point. When those elements are balanced, we are seeing multiple offers. We are also starting to see inventory levels stabilizing in many areas – Danville being a case in point where inventory remain unchanged week over week, but new pending sales increased by 67%!Read the rest of the February 24, 2008 report
here.
- Rick Turley* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports. Here's what Mr. Weeks says about last week's activity:
..[we] would certainly consider Bonds to be a success last week, as they moved lower to hit a technical "bottom" at the 200-day Moving Average, but then bounced significantly higher throughout the course of the week, helping fixed home loan rates improve by about .25 to .375%.
What caused all the activity? Remember that weak economic news tends to be bad for Stocks, but good for Bonds and home loan rates, as money flows out of Stocks and into Bonds. And last week had its share of weak economic news, combined with testimony before Congress by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.
The news included higher wholesale inflation with the Producer Price Index (PPI) jumping to its highest level since October 2004 on surging energy and food prices. But price inflation on the producer or wholesale side can't always get passed directly on to the consumer on the retail side. Friday's Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) reading showed consumer inflation to be higher, but just slightly, as expected. The PCE is the Federal Reserve's most highly watched measure of inflation, and the current overall rate of year-over-year inflation at 2.2% does remain just above the Federal Reserve's comfort zone for consumer inflation.
And speaking of the Fed, Chairman Ben Bernanke testified before Congress last week, making comments that prompted Stock investors to sell off and move money over into Bonds. The Bond market also enjoyed "dovish" comments made by Gentle Ben about inflation and the recent aggressive cuts made by the Fed, and his testimony was largely responsible for the improvement in Bonds and home loan rates. But read on, and learn how the next official Fed Meeting and Rate Decision on March 18th could impact home loan rates...it might surprise you.Read the entire report
here.
- Foster Weeks
Sometimes government is good?
This is an opinion article with regard to the current housing situation.
As you know if you listen to the news, they are really hyping the mortgage "crisis". Of course they thrive on bad news anyway, so it is not surprising that they go to places where foreclosures are plentiful.
Why has this not happened in San Francisco? Why does the market continue to chug along at a healthy rate? In my opinion, it's the fact that there's not a lot of new construction, and there has not been a lot of over-building.
Usually I am very critical of San Francisco government which is heavy-handed toward builders. But in this case, it seems to have worked in the favor of real estate sales. Again, it's supply versus demand and, because there is not a lot of new supply and the demand remains high, prices stay up... at least for now.
Without a crystal ball, it is impossible to tell what the future holds. Some experts predict the worst will be over by spring when inventories nationally level out; others say we won't recover on a national level until mid-2009. As far as San Francisco goes, who can say? But so far, so good.
Look at
February numbers on our website. This is usually a very slow month for us, but sales were strong and selling prices were slightly over 100% of the listing prices.
- Mick OrtonMarketing Director
March San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for February 2008
Here are the February numbers from the San Francisco Multiple Listing Service (
SFARMLS) which we also published on our
website for our March report.
What do these numbers all mean? February is typically another slow month for us. However, with nice weather coming after a very rainy beginning to the month, buyers seem to be out in mass. Notice that the average listing prices are very close to the average selling prices, which indicates that sellers are pricing their homes close to or slightly under the actual market value in order to attract more buyers. As a result, selling prices are very close to what people are asking for their homes. The lower days on the market indicates a healthy San Francisco Real Estate market.
Read more of the March analysis of February San Francisco Real Estate Sales
here.
- Mick Orton
Marketing Director
Things to do in San Francisco Recap - 21-40
By now you should be getting the idea that there are LOTS of things to do when visiting or living in San Francisco!
- Mick Orton, Marketing Director
Part 21 - Yerba Buena Ice Skating & Bowling Center,
Part 22 - 49-mile Scenic Drive,
Part 23 - Segway San Francisco Electric Tour,
Part 24 - Vesuvio,
Part 25 - Haight-Ashbury Street Fair,
Part 26 - Wyland Galleries,
Part 27 - Metreon,
Part 28 - Angel Island,
Part 29 - San Francisco Fire Engine Tours & Adventures,
Part 30 - Aquarium of the Bay,
Part 31 - Haas-Lilienthal House,
Part 32 - San Francisco Zoo,
Part 33 - Stow Lake Boat & Bike Rentals,
Part 34 - Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival,
Part 35 - Kertesz Fine Art Gallery,
Part 36 - City Hall,
Part 37 - SS Jeremiah O'Brien,
Part 38 - Saints Peter and Paul Church,
Part 39 - San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge,
Part 40 - GoCar Rentals
Parts 1 - 20
Fast Facts from CAR and Freddie Mac - January 2008
Calif. median home price - January 08: $430,370 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $475,460 last month)
Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region January 08: Santa Barbara So. Coast $1,135,000 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $925,000 last month)
Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region January 08: High Desert $234,310 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $244,330 last month)
Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - Third Quarter 07: 33 percent (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to 07: 24 third quarter)
Mortgage rates - week ending 01/24:
- 30-yr. fixed: 5.48%; Fees/points: 0.4% (note: compared to 5.48% and 0.4% points last report)
- 15-yr. fixed: 4.95%; Fees/points: 0.4% (note: compared to 4.95% and 0.4% points last report)
- 1-yr. adjustable: 4.99%; Fees/points: 0.6% (note: compared to 4.99% and 0.6% points last report)- California Association of Realtors & Freddie Mac
- California Association of Realtors & Freddie Mac
Check our monthly sales updates to compare San Francisco real estate prices versus the state of California as a whole! We also provide weekly updates on this blog as well as our website.
- Janis Stone
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
It looks like buyers are starting to wake up. Maybe it's because the stock market is picking up steam, maybe it's the sunny weather or maybe it's just a change in attitude. Personally I think it may be that the constant drumbeat of negativity from the press has finally drained everyone's emotional reserves, and people are realizing that it is just not that bad to be living in the United States... no matter WHO is president!
At today's meeting there were a lot of new listings being announced as coming on the market in the next few weeks, so things could really start to heat up.
Here are the numbers posted this week: 2/27/08:
- 6 new listings (average price $1,334,000- low $549,000, high $2,800,000)
- 13 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,132,615- low $395,000, high $2,895,000)
- 7 closed sales (sold) (average price $2,402,500 - low $690,000, high $8,500,000)
- 1 reduced price (price $1,699,000)
- Mick Orton
Marketing Director
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of February 17, 2008
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest
weekly report:
Economic news was sketchy again this week, with housing-related headlines continuing to point out the scary negatives. Fortunately, we continue to see a surprising amount of interest from buyers who are deciding to take the plunge. Really, the deals that are out there are getting to be irresistible, and with mortgage rates starting to creep back up (though still at near historic lows) buyers are recognizing that now really just may be the best time to buy.
Sales are increasing in all price ranges in many areas, and it is perhaps the passing of the economic stimulus package that is spurring these buyers into bringing their checkbooks with them when they’re looking at properties. Buyers are also being properly educated by the real estate industry and doing their research – not just being scared by skewed headlines. Now they’re jumping in while the deals are out there. We are also starting to see homes that have been on the market for quite awhile starting to get multiple offers and selling. First time buyers are also finding affordable, desirable homes in lower price ranges and through REO sales – and they’re buying them. It is not uncommon now to see multiple offers on REO's...Read the entire report
here.
- Rick Turley* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports.
"AH SUGAR...AH HONEY HONEY" The Archie's made this the top song of 1969, and in fact, it was the only song recorded by a fictional band to ever reach #1. And like a child who has been overloaded on candy, Bonds have been "bouncing off the walls", and appear all "sugared up".Bond prices and home loan rates swung wildly all of last week. Mortgage Bonds bounced around so dramatically, that home loan rates changed as much as a quarter percent during a single day, on two separate occasions last week. After all the exhausting action, home loan rates worsened by about .25% for the week overall.Bonds hate inflation because over time, it erodes the purchasing power of the fixed rate of return they provide. And when consumer inflation was reported at its highest level in years, Bonds were hit hard. But some weak data on both Housing and Manufacturing, along with some sweet comments from the Fed, helped pour some sugar on Bonds as they rallied back and improved...Read the entire report
here.
- Foster Weeks
Things to do in San Francisco - Part 53 - Wok Wiz Chinatown Tours and Cooking Company
Yahoo Travel says this about the Wok Wiz Chinatown Tours and Cooking Company:
Acclaimed chef and cookbook author Shirley Wong Torres offers an insider tour of Chinatown. You can take a tour that stops at markets and restaurants known only to Chinatown experts. In addition, specialized tours focusing on the food and history of Chinatown can be arranged. Tour dates and times vary, call ahead for information and reservations.
Neighborhood:
Chinatown654 Commercial Street
San Francisco, CA 94111-2504
+1 650 355 9657
wokwiz@aol.comOpen Hours Tours: 10a-1:15p M-Su
http://www.wokwiz.com
- Christine ServentiPrevious things to do:
Parts 1 - 20,
Parts 21-40,
Part 41 - Cable Car Museum,
Part 42 - Transamerica Pyramid,
Part 43 - Camera Obscura and Holographic Gallery,
Part 44 - Moscone Center,
Part 45 - Barbary Coast Trail Self-Guided Walking Tour,
Part 46 - Fort Mason,
Part 47 - Blue & Gold Fleet,
Part 48 - Cherry Blossom Festival,
Part 49 - Flower Power Haight-Ashbury Walking Tour,
Part 50 - Lincoln Park Golf Course,
Part 51 - HANG,
Part 52 - Strybing Arboretum & Botanical Gardens
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of February 10, 2008
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest
weekly report:
It has been a big week for real estate news. The National Association of Realtors, DataQuick Information Services, Standard & Poor Case/Schiller, the Mortgage Bankers Association, and even Zillow.com, among several others, bombarded us with indexes, surveys, lists and reports. Filtered through the media, the headlines were, of course, mostly negative – but there were nuggets of positivism in many of the articles. You just had to mine deep within the articles to find them. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the N.A.R. expressed it best by saying, “Those pessimistic thoughts are being driven by media outlets that tend to cherry pick data and experts to perpetuate the story that the economy is heading into recession.” He also stressed that, despite the value of national housing data, all real estate is local and consumers should base their decisions on local trends.The biggest positive news nugget was that President Bush signed the economic stimulus package into law. One component of the package includes a temporary (through December of this year) increase in the conforming loan limit set by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA. The change increases the limit from $417,000 up to as much as $729,950 based on the median price of a given metropolitan area and local market. This is a great bonus to buyers in the greater Bay Area where our median price maxes out the new limit easily in many areas.The anticipation of this truly necessary change in the conforming loan limits is, I believe, what has spurred so many buyers to be out looking at our more than 460 open houses with such gusto. Every single office reported successful opens this week. People were “out in droves” in Castro Valley. 85 groups visited a new Berkeley Hills listing. . .Read the entire report
here.
- Rick Turley* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to
info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports.
"CUTS LIKE A KNIFE, BUT IT FEELS SO RIGHT" Bryan Adams And financial pros will tell you it's wise to never try and catch a falling knife. Seems like decent advice in general - but in the financial world, it means that when the price of a Stock or Bond is in the midst of a severe decline, be very cautious about stepping in to buy...even if it feels so right because the price starts to look cheap. That's because when prices declines sharply, it often gets even worse, making it hard to call the bottom. That's why many investors, who attempt to buy on the way down, say the feeling cuts like a knife. And over the past week - Bonds have been dropping much like a knife, and home loan rates have risen by about .25% across the board.And speaking of sharp objects, Cupid's arrows might have been flying around everywhere last week - but little love came calling for the Bond market. First, Retail Sales for January were far better than expected - which was good news for Stocks, but as money flowed into Stocks, pulled money out of Bonds and caused Bond prices to move lower. Next, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke gave it to us straight from the heart, as he testified that the Fed would keep the door open to more rate cuts, which worried Bond Traders about the risk of more inflation ahead. And unlike the media seems to believe, cuts to the Fed Funds Rate generally cause home loan rates to rise, not decline. Why? Because Fed Rate Cuts can spur on more inflation, as it becomes less expensive to finance business and personal purchases. And as a result, inflation erodes the value of the fixed return provided by a Bond - so in the face of inflation, Bond prices fall, and home loan rates rise...Read the entire report
here.
- Foster Weeks
Things to do in San Francisco - Part 52 - Strybing Arboretum & Botanical Gardens
Yahoo Travel says this about Strybing Arboretum & Botanical Gardens:
This is a living museum in Golden Gate Park that is home to a wide array of rare and exotic plant life from around the world. Visit the 70-acre garden and explore seemingly endless trails past duck ponds, an arbor, herbs, flowers, blooming trees and redwoods, and smaller, specialized gardens with names like the Garden of Fragrance. Also on hand is an education center that provides different gardening, horticulture, botany, and environmental classes for adults and children, plus a horticulture library and bookstore. The public is allowed to stroll through the garden anytime, although they are asked to keep on the paths.
Neighborhood:
Golden Gate Park9th Avenue at Lincoln Way
San Francisco, CA 94122
+1 415 661 1316
library@sfbotanicalgarden.orgOpen Hours 8a-4:30p M-F, 10a-5p Sa, Su
http://www.sfbotanicalgarden.org/- Christine ServentiPrevious things to do:
Parts 1 - 20,
Parts 21-40,
Part 41 - Cable Car Museum,
Part 42 - Transamerica Pyramid,
Part 43 - Camera Obscura and Holographic Gallery,
Part 44 - Moscone Center,
Part 45 - Barbary Coast Trail Self-Guided Walking Tour,
Part 46 - Fort Mason,
Part 47 - Blue & Gold Fleet,
Part 48 - Cherry Blossom Festival,
Part 49 - Flower Power Haight-Ashbury Walking Tour,
Part 50 - Lincoln Park Golf Course,
Part 51 - HANG
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
This week it appears as if Buyer activity is up, and we have heard of few multiple offers within the city. The pickings still appear to be slim, but agents in our office did announce a number of new listings coming on the market in a few days.
Here are the numbers posted this week: 2/13/08:
- 4 new listings (average price $2,579,500- low $625,000, high $6,995,000)
- 8 ratified sales (pending) (average price $2,200,113- low $499,000, high $8,975,000)
- 4 closed sales (sold) (average price $2,496,156 - low $872,500, high $2,012,122)
- 1 reduced price (price $3,800,000)
- Christine Serventi
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of February 3, 2008
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest
weekly report:
Again, we saw a week of very busy open homes in practically every area. Historically, Super Bowl weekend is fairly calm, but we saw large numbers of groups moving through our more than 330 open homes in all prices ranges on both Saturday and Sunday.
It’s a good move on the part of those buyers to be actively looking for the perfect home right now. The wide selection of homes to choose from remains excellent in many areas, but a recent report from the National Association of Realtors says that the number of existing homes on the market is starting to see a steady month-over-month decline.
Moreover, we are only one stroke of one pen away from seeing the F.H.A., Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac venture into jumbo loan territory. Optimism is rampant.
In Danville, inventory decreased in the market and an increase in sales activity. Inventory in Berkeley, Albany and Kensington areas are very low. R.E.O. properties in Livermore are generating multiple offers. In Oakland, when properties are perceived as values, they are generating five and more multiple offers. In Burlingame, great homes in all price ranges are garnering multiple offers. Menlo Park saw three sales over $6.5 million, and a $1.4 million property received six offers without even going on tour. San Francisco is also seeing a return to multiple offers in many neighborhoods, and the City has noticed a stabilization of inventory and an increase in the buyer population. There are as many stories about the listing the Buyers didn't get due to competition, as there are regarding properties that are taking a while to sell. Price and condition are key...Read the entire report
here.
- Rick Turley* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to
info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports.
"LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS." Slogan from World War II Not just clever words of good advice, this phrase was actually part of the US Office of War Information's attempt to limit the possibility of people inadvertently giving useful information to enemy spies. Now fast forward to present time, as Dallas Fed President Richard "Loose Lips" Fisher's careless comments last week worked to sink the Bond market, and caused home loan rates to rise about .125%. Fisher lived up to his nickname last week, almost uncontrollably blurting out off-topic comments and rhetoric during his speech in Mexico City, and roiling the financial markets every step of the way. Long recognized as an "inflation hawk", he was the lone dissenter against the .50% cut to the Fed Funds Rate on January 30th.Fisher stated, "Monetary policy acts with a lag. I liken it to a good single malt whiskey or perhaps truly great tequila: It takes time before you feel its full effect. The Fed has to be very careful now to add just the right amount of stimulus to the punchbowl without mixing in the potential to juice up inflation once the effect of the new punch kicks in. ...My dissenting vote last week was simply a difference of opinion about how far and how fast we might re-spike the monetary punchbowl. Given that I had yet to see mitigation in inflation and inflationary expectations from their current high levels...I simply did not feel it was the proper time to support additional monetary accommodation."...Read the entire report
here.
- Foster Weeks
Things to do in San Francisco - Part 51 - HANG
Yahoo Travel says this about HANG:
The objective of this gallery near Union Square is to link emerging artists with emerging collectors. Within the modern floor space of steel and canvas this place features work by the best up coming talent in the Bay area at reasonable prices. Find a wide range of styles that are continually rotated. A great choice for young and/or new art connoisseurs, this gallery offers a rental program so buyers can be 100 percent sure they want a piece before they make the commitment. A rewarding experience all-around; unknown artists receive the exposure they deserve, while patrons view art in a pleasant and casual environment.
Neighborhood:
Union Square556 & 567 Sutter Street
San Francisco, CA 94104-4901
+1 415 434 4264
sales@hangart.comOpen Hours 10a-6p M-Sa, noon-5p Su
http://www.hangart.com/- Christine ServentiPrevious things to do:
Parts 1 - 20,
Parts 21-40,
Part 41 - Cable Car Museum,
Part 42 - Transamerica Pyramid,
Part 43 - Camera Obscura and Holographic Gallery,
Part 44 - Moscone Center,
Part 45 - Barbary Coast Trail Self-Guided Walking Tour,
Part 46 - Fort Mason,
Part 47 - Blue & Gold Fleet,
Part 48 - Cherry Blossom Festival,
Part 49 - Flower Power Haight-Ashbury Walking Tour,
Part 50 - Lincoln Park Golf Course
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
Potential buyers are still out attending open houses and seem to be realizing this is a great time to buy. According to the numbers posted this week, inventory seems to be low in comparison to last year but many agents have annouced a number of new listings coming on the market soon.
Here are the numbers posted this week: 2/6/08:
- 5 new listings (average price $1,018,000 - low $799,000, high $1,295,000 with one listing price to be determined)
- 6 ratified sales (pending) (average price $2,290,500 - low $599,000, high $8,500,000)
- 1 closed sale (sold) (average price $1,750,000)
- 1 reduced price (price $399,000)
- Christine Serventi
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of January 27, 2008
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest
weekly report:
Out of curiosity, I looked back in the archives and pulled up the Weekly Market Watch from the same week last year. A lot has certainly changed in the past year as we know. But it is interesting to note the number of things that didn’t change year over year. Potential buyers are out in droves at the open houses in practically every single market. Parts of the Peninsula and the City are still starving for fresh inventory. The high end homes continue to sell quickly and many with multiple offers at over list price. The media continues to drive buyer perception with alarmist headlines and a constant barrage of confusing reports from myriad sources.
What’s different this week? We seem to have less of a stalemate between buyers and sellers regarding price and condition. Sellers have finally figured out that they can’t get peak market prices anymore and are either conceding to reality, or bowing out until the market rebounds. We also now have that feeling of palpable, pent-up demand on the part of buyers that I’ve mentioned before. This time last year, the feeling was that buyers were actually more just “lookers.” Now, with an additional slash in the short term lending rates from the Feds this week, and an economic stimulus package that may include provisions for raising the conforming loan amount, buyers feel like they may actually be able to do what they were hesitant about doing last year - buy. They seem to be realizing that in the Bay Area, now may be the best time to buy in years –especially if the conforming loan amount is increased. (Reminder: The stimulus package passed the House, but could get stuck in the Senate, so contact your Senators and insist on their support!)...Read the entire report
here.
- Rick Turley* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to
info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
posted by SFResidence.com @
8:28 AM Monday
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports.
"A GOOD CONSPIRACY IS UNPROVABLE. I MEAN, IF YOU CAN PROVE IT, IT MEANS THEY SCREWED UP SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE." Mel Gibson as Jerry Fletcher in the movie, "Conspiracy Theory" And those who believe in the conspiracy theory that the Fed has access to economic data in advance of the official release dates sure felt their position was proven correct last week...let's take a look.The main financial event of the week was the Fed, cutting the Fed Funds Rate another .50%, on top of their surprise .75% cut just eight days before. This brings the Fed Funds Rate down to 3.00% and will lower rates for business and consumer loans as well as Home Equity Lines of Credit and Adjustable Rate Home Loans - so please give me a call to discuss how this may help you. Bonds and home loan rates moved with volatility throughout the week, yet ended up close to where they started on Monday...Read the entire report
here.
- Foster Weeks
Fast Facts from CAR and Freddie Mac - December 2007
Calif. median home price - December 07: $475,460 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $488,640 last month)
Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region December 07: Santa Barbara So. Coast $925,000 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $1,075,000 last month)
Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region December 07: High Desert $244,330 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $262,650 last month)
Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - Third Quarter 07: 24 percent (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to 07: 24 third quarter)
Mortgage rates - week ending 01/24:
- 30-yr. fixed: 5.48%; Fees/points: 0.4% (note: compared to 6.14% and 0.4% points last report)
- 15-yr. fixed: 4.95%; Fees/points: 0.4% (note: compared to 5.79% and 0.4% points last report)
- 1-yr. adjustable: 4.99%; Fees/points: 0.6% (note: compared to 5.51% and 0.6% points last report)
- California Association of Realtors & Freddie Mac
Things to do in San Francisco - Part 50 - Lincoln Park Golf Course
Yahoo Travel says this about the Lincoln Park Golf Course:
Possibly the most beautiful views of any public golf course in the United States. This par 68 course, hard by the Golden Gate, is on the short and hilly side. A bit of Scotland, perhaps with fresh ocean breezes and sometimes challenging greens. There is a short range at which you must shag your own balls. Tee times can be made up to a week in advance, a necessity on weekends. Admission fees are $23 on weekdays and $29 on weekends.
Neighborhood:
Richmond District/Sea Cliff300 34th AvenueSan Francisco, CA 94121-1681
+1 415 221 9911
Open Hours
Dawn to dusk
- Christine ServentiPrevious things to do:
Parts 1 - 20,
Parts 21-40,
Part 41 - Cable Car Museum,
Part 42 - Transamerica Pyramid,
Part 43 - Camera Obscura and Holographic Gallery,
Part 44 - Moscone Center,
Part 45 - Barbary Coast Trail Self-Guided Walking Tour,
Part 46 - Fort Mason,
Part 47 - Blue & Gold Fleet,
Part 48 - Cherry Blossom Festival,
Part 49 - Flower Power Haight-Ashbury Walking Tour
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the
TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van
Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
We have seen an upswing of activity as Buyers have been attending open houses and writing offers. San Francisco is still seeing multiple offer situations. It is clear that inventory is low, and we hope to see a change in the months ahead.
Here are the numbers posted this week: 1/30/08:
- 3 new listings (average price $723,000 - low $530,000, high $840,000)
- 6 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,096,000 - low $499,000, high $1,995,000)
- 2 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,471,000- low $442,000, high $2,500,000 list)
-
Christine Serventi
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of January 20, 2008
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest
weekly report:
On Tuesday of this week, the Feds slashed the Federal Funds rate and the Discount rate by three-quarters of a percentage point. This move is a positive sign for homebuyers as well as homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages – the cut puts more downward pressure on mortgage rates. Rates have been moving down for several months now and Tuesday’s cut helps to continue this movement. Lower rates increase the affordability of homes. In addition, this week we had an Economic Stimulus Package that was announced from our nation’s capitol which, in addition to cash payouts to most Americans, included plans for a temporary increase in the conforming loan amount. Conforming loans are currently set at $417,000 and, according to various reports from Washington D.C., the plan would increase the conforming loan limit to somewhere between $615,000 and $725,000 in high cost areas - for a specified amount of time. It is this sort of news, especially in the Bay Area where home price medians far exceed the conforming loan limit in many areas, that should motivate more homebuyers to recognize that now may be the absolute best time to get into the market, and to take action sooner rather than later. I encourage sales associates, homebuyers and home sellers alike to contact their respective congressional representatives and lobby for their support for this component of the economic stimulus package.
In other good news, it seems that buyers are still out in droves in many parts of Bay Area and are snapping up excellent deals, and writing offers. There are still challenging micro-markets to be found, but even many of those are seeing an upswing in activity – and the high end market continues to thrive in practically every one of our markets. In Livermore, three different homes priced between $1million and $1.6 million had multiple offers on them. In Novato there is a surge in activity for homes prices above $1million, and the entry level market is also very active. In San Francisco, there were 10 offers on a Noe Valley listing, seven offers on a Colma property that was “a physical disaster” but perceived as a value, and a Potrero Hill home sold for $150,000 over asking. In Menlo Park, the right property “brings the buyers of the woodwork.” Inventory is creeping back up in some areas, creeping down in other areas and stagnant in others...
Read the entire report
here.
- Rick Turley* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to
info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports.
"COMMEND A FOOL FOR HIS WIT, OR A ROGUE FOR HIS HONESTY, AND HE WILL RECEIVE YOU INTO HIS FAVOUR." Henry Fielding So honestly - was "rogue trader" Jerome Kerviel really solely responsible for costing French Bank Societe Generale $7.1 Billion Dollars...and for helping to trigger last week's massive sell-off in global Stock markets? Or is the junior trader being played a fool, becoming the scapegoat to cover up financial mismanagement by the bank itself?Supposedly - the French Bank had just uncovered massive losing positions caused by Kerviel, and decided to start selling off or "unwinding" these losing positions last Monday. Particularly because our US markets were closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Day and unable to help sop up some of the mess, global Stock markets declined significantly on the unwinding - which in turn set up our US Stock market for an ugly sell-off on Tuesday, one of the most dramatic declines since September 11th, 2001.But even as the market opened on Tuesday, the Federal Reserve attempted to come to the rescue by making a surprising announcement - an emergency cut to the Fed Funds Rate and Discount Rate by .75%, in an effort to prevent a global market meltdown. The surprise announcement and magnitude of the rate cuts led to a week of exceptionally volatile trading in both Stocks and Bonds, causing home loan rates to swing wildly midweek, yet end up surprisingly close to where they had started...Read the entire report
here.
-
Foster Weeks
Things to do in San Francisco - Part 49 - Flower Power Haight-Ashbury Walking Tour
Yahoo Travel says this about the Flower Power Haight-Ashbury Walking Tour:
Take a tour of this historic neighborhood with two insiders. This walking tour of the Haight-Ashbury lasts about two and half hours and is led by a brother-and-sister team who are long-time neighborhood residents. In addition to visiting the traditional neighborhood landmarks, the tour stops at restaurants, bars and shops that remain largely unknown by tourists. The tour concludes with a look at the Victorian architecture of the neighborhood houses. Call ahead for departure locations and times. Cash only.
Neighborhood: Haight-Ashbury
Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco, CA 94117
+1 415 863 1621
Open Hours 9:30a Tu & Sa
http://www.hippygourmet.com/
- Christine Serventi
Previous things to do:
Parts 1 - 20, Part 21 - Yerba Buena Ice Skating & Bowling Center, Part 22 - 49-mile Scenic Drive, Part 23 - Segway San Francisco Electric Tour, Part 24 - Vesuvio, Part 25 - Haight-Ashbury Street Fair, Part 26 - Wyland Galleries, Part 27 - Metreon, Part 28 - Angel Island, Part 29 - San Francisco Fire Engine Tours & Adventures, Part 30 - Aquarium of the Bay, Part 31 - Haas-Lilienthal House, Part 32 - San Francisco Zoo, Part 33 - Stow Lake Boat & Bike Rentals, Part 34 - Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival, Part 35 - Kertesz Fine Art Gallery, Part 36 - City Hall, Part 37 - SS Jeremiah O'Brien, Part 38 - Saints Peter and Paul Church, Part 39 - San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Part 40 - GoCar Rentals, Part 41 - Cable Car Museum, Part 42 - Transamerica Pyramid, Part 43 - Camera Obscura and Holographic Gallery, Part 44 - Moscone Center, Part 45 - Barbary Coast Trail Self-Guided Walking Tour, Part 46 - Fort Mason, Part 47 - Blue & Gold Fleet, Part 48 - Cherry Blossom Festival
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
The Federal Reserve cut should have a positive impact on the public perception about today’s real estate market and may provide an immediate incentive for buyers. With that in mind, we may see a spike in activity in the weeks ahead. Realtors in our office announced a number of new listings coming on the market this week that are not reflected below.
Here are the numbers posted this week: 1/22/08:
- 5 new listings (average price $879,200 - low $579,000, high $1,349,000)
- 3 ratified sales (pending) (average price $897,967 - low $499,900, high $1,395,000)
- 2 closed sales (sold) (average price $2,500,000- low $1,500,000, high $3,500,000 list price, sale price confidential)
-
Christine Serventi
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for the week of January 14, 2008
Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest
weekly report:
The pent up demand is palpable. While economic and housing market headlines remain negative, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage listings in much of the San Francisco Bay Area are experiencing a surge of activity, and optimism is high. More than 350 homes were held open last week and saw attending groups ranging in size from a steady eight to 10 for listings in the North Bay to as many as 300 in a Potrero Hill, San Francisco open. Homes in Half Moon Bay, Central Contra Costa County and down the Peninsula are also seeing a spike in activity. More detail on Month’s Supply of Inventory next week, but at a quick glance this week I noticed that single family homes and condos in San Francisco have their lowest level of active available properties since late May, 2007.
Fresh inventory continues to be an issue for many parts of the Peninsula – Woodside/Portola Valley notes that demand for $10 million-plus listings is particularly high, but in short supply. This lends credence to the continued strength of the high end and luxury market. In San Francisco and on the Peninsula, we don’t compete with the glut of new homes on the market in other parts of the Bay Area that are further away from our urban core. Looking back at 2007, it’s interesting to report that while overall units were down about 10%, the high end markets kept our sales volume virtually intact in San Francisco and the Peninsula – and in many areas the decrease in units is more attributable to a shortage of inventory than from a lack of buyers. Unfortunately, media reports decline to mention that. They also fail to mention that median prices in many areas of San Francisco, Marin and parts of the Peninsula have actually increased over the previous year; again a testament to the strength of our high end market. 2008 may reflect a similar trend and it is up to the real estate community to be proactive in letting high end home sellers know that, in many areas they are likely to see throngs of eager buyers who have been waiting for those homes to come on the market...Read the entire report
here.
- Rick Turley* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to
info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports.
"WHO ARE YOU? WHO, WHO, WHO, WHO?" When Pete Townshend and The Who penned this song back in 1978, they probably never imagined that it would come to mind during a Fed Chairman's testimony to the House Budget Committee. But sure enough - one of the Representatives questioning Fed Chair Ben Bernanke actually mistook him for Treasury Secretary Paulson...and apologized by telling Bernanke that she got him "confused with the other one." Great reminder to keep an eye on what our elected officials are telling us during this particularly important year, as they might just have their facts a bit confused.
The financial markets also appear to be a bit confused of late, with some mixed data on the health and future of the economy causing continued volatility in both Stocks and Bonds. While there was plenty of mid-week action, home loan rates ended just slightly higher for the week overall.The Stock market has gotten hammered lower since the beginning of the year, and last week was no exception. But when Stocks move lower, money can flow over into Bonds, helping home loan rates improve. What caused last week's action was a combination of terrible earnings reports from Citigroup and Merrill Lynch; higher inflation numbers indicated in the Consumer Price Index; lower than anticipated Retail Sales; a weak report from the Philadelphia Fed showing a sharp contraction in manufacturing activity; and a Housing Starts and Building Permits report showing the worst levels of starts and permits in about 16 years.Read the entire report
here.
- Foster Weeks
Things to do in San Francisco - Part 48 - The Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival
Yahoo Travel says this about The Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival
The Cherry Blossom Festival takes place in Japantown during two weekends in April. It showcases traditional Japanese arts with continuous demonstrations of, among others, tea ceremonies, martial arts, taiko drumming, and traditional dancing on an outdoor stage in the Japan Center. There are also parades, Asian food kiosks, and live music. Fewer street merchants attend than at most street fairs, but the merchandise offered, such as Kanji calligraphy scrolls, are of good quality and some are unique to this festival. Event is free; some vendors may accept credit cards.
Neighborhood: Japantown
Post and Fillmore Streets
San Francisco, CA 94115
+1 415 563 2313
Open Hours 10a-6p Sa-Su
- Christine Serventi
Previous things to do:
Parts 1 - 20,
Part 21 - Yerba Buena Ice Skating & Bowling Center,
Part 22 - 49-mile Scenic Drive,
Part 23 - Segway San Francisco Electric Tour,
Part 24 - Vesuvio,
Part 25 - Haight-Ashbury Street Fair,
Part 26 - Wyland Galleries,
Part 27 - Metreon,
Part 28 - Angel Island,
Part 29 - San Francisco Fire Engine Tours & Adventures,
Part 30 - Aquarium of the Bay,
Part 31 - Haas-Lilienthal House,
Part 32 - San Francisco Zoo,
Part 33 - Stow Lake Boat & Bike Rentals,
Part 34 - Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival,
Part 35 - Kertesz Fine Art Gallery,
Part 36 - City Hall,
Part 37 - SS Jeremiah O'Brien,
Part 38 - Saints Peter and Paul Church,
Part 39 - San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge,
Part 40 - GoCar Rentals,
Part 41 - Cable Car Museum,
Part 42 - Transamerica Pyramid,
Part 43 - Camera Obscura and Holographic Gallery,
Part 44 - Moscone Center,
Part 45 - Barbary Coast Trail Self-Guided Walking Tour,
Part 46 - Fort Mason,
Part 47 - Blue & Gold Fleet
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
January is a month that tends to be slower, and the numbers posted this week may be an indication that the consumers have been waiting to see what is happening now that the new year is here. Agents in our office have announced a number of new listings coming on the market soon, and we expect to see the numbers posted rise.
Here are the numbers posted this week: 1/16/08:
- 6 new listings (average price $944,667 - low $475,000, high $2,075,000)
- 2 ratified sales (pending) (average price $722,500 - low $550,000, high $895,000)
- 6 closed sales (sold) (average price $2,033,627 - low $740,262, high $3,560,000)
-
Christine Serventi
San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for week of January 14, 2008
Read what Avram Goldman, says in his latest
weekly report:
Note: While Avram is no longer with Coldwell Banker, he is still a friend and associate with an excellent handle on San Francisco Real Estate.
Happy New Year!!! Welcome to 2008---Recession---No Recession---Recession---No recession. Not a day goes by (or for that matter an evening) without the same mantra from the media. The year begins with the same economic uncertainties as it ended with.
If we look closer there still is much to be happy about. Unemployment which is up, is still reasonable (95% of America is working); job growth is still on the plus side, although anemic; food and fuel prices are out of sight, although inflation is still manageable; and as far as the Fed is concerned, rates will come down. Most important for real estate here is that there is still demand. The only issue is the demand is reluctant to exercise itself. Why do you blame buyers, all they hear is wait, the prices will drop.
Traffic through open houses tells the story. Usually January tends to be slower. Not the case this year, particularly in those markets that were the strongest in 2007. In San Francisco the traffic at last Sunday’s opens was brisk. The open houses averaged 18-35 groups with some notable exceptions. A Cole Valley duplex listed at $1.349 mil. had 300 groups through and a Pacific Hts. triplex listed at $2.595 had over 100 visitors. It wasn’t just SF. In the East Bay, a Crocker Highlands listing in Oakland, experienced 300 buyers. It was listed a bit over $1.6 mil. . We are still seeing good numbers of buyers in all areas. What this early activity indicates is that there is still plenty of pent up demand. . .Read the entire report
here.
- Avram Goldman* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send an e-mail to
info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports.
"If you don't like the weather, wait a minute"...That's a saying heard often in places where the weather can turn on a dime, making it very difficult to forecast. And while the weather patterns can change direction quickly, the recent movement of stocks and bonds rivals the rides at an amusement park."Turbulent" and "volatile" best describe the action in the markets. Stocks and bonds have had wild swings of late as the possibility of a recession loom. The Federal Reserve is concerned about a recession, but doesn't want to cut rates too deeply because it may stoke the flames of inflation. In a speech last Thursday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled the Fed will step in with interest rate cuts as necessary in an effort to prevent a full-blown recession from taking place. It sure looks like the Fed will break off a 50 basis point (1/2%) interest rate cut in its battle to fight a potential recession when the Fed next meets to determine monetary policy on January 30th.
But remember that because Fed rate cuts may add to inflation pressures, home loan rates may actually increase after a cut by the Fed. We have seen this type of chilly response to Fed cuts many times before. Just back in September, the Fed cut by 50 basis points, but home loan rates worsened by 0.25% in just 3 days!Read the entire report
here.
-
Foster Weeks
Things to do in San Francisco - Part 47 - Blue & Gold Fleet
Yahoo Travel says this about Blue & Gold Fleet: This is one of the most popular ferry services in the Bay Area, serving thousands of tourists and locals each year. Turn to them for a cruise around the San Francisco Bay, a trip to Alcatraz, or transportation to an amusement park in Vallejo. Some other tours offered go to attractions like Yosemite, Monterey, Carmel, the wine country, Angel Island, Muir Woods, Tiburon and Sausalito.
Jefferson Street and Embarcadero
- Christine Serventi
Previous things to do:
Parts 1 - 20,
Part 21 - Yerba Buena Ice Skating & Bowling Center,
Part 22 - 49-mile Scenic Drive,
Part 23 - Segway San Francisco Electric Tour,
Part 24 - Vesuvio,
Part 25 - Haight-Ashbury Street Fair,
Part 26 - Wyland Galleries,
Part 27 - Metreon,
Part 28 - Angel Island,
Part 29 - San Francisco Fire Engine Tours & Adventures,
Part 30 - Aquarium of the Bay,
Part 31 - Haas-Lilienthal House,
Part 32 - San Francisco Zoo,
Part 33 - Stow Lake Boat & Bike Rentals,
Part 34 - Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival,
Part 35 - Kertesz Fine Art Gallery,
Part 36 - City Hall,
Part 37 - SS Jeremiah O'Brien,
Part 38 - Saints Peter and Paul Church,
Part 39 - San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge,
Part 40 - GoCar Rentals,
Part 41 - Cable Car Museum,
Part 42 - Transamerica Pyramid,
Part 43 - Camera Obscura and Holographic Gallery,
Part 44 - Moscone Center,
Part 45 - Barbary Coast Trail Self-Guided Walking Tour,
Part 46 - Fort Mason
TRI Coldwell Banker San Francisco real estate statistics - last week in review
SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.
Keep in mind these numbers reflect the activity over the past 3.5 weeks while "school's been out". But the numbers still indicate a healthy market in San Francisco, during what is traditionally referred to as the slowest time of the year.
Here are the numbers posted this week: 1/12/08:
- 12 new listings (average price $983,083 - low $549,000, high $1,800,000 with 1 listing price to be determined)
- 1 ratified sale (pending) (average price $749,000)
- 18 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,318,611 - low $440,000, high $4,510,000 with 1 confidential sale)
-
Christine Serventi
Mortgage Weekly Update - Last Week in Review
Foster Weeks publishes a
weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the
San Francisco real estate market? Read our
weekly and
monthly market reports.
"THE BEST WAY TO APPRECIATE YOUR JOB IS TO IMAGINE YOURSELF WITHOUT ONE." Oscar Wilde And unfortunately, last Friday's Jobs Report indicated that many more Americans than expected are not just imagining themselves without a job, they truly are without a job.The Unemployment Rate jumped up to 5.0% from 4.7%, and new job growth in December was reported at a paltry 18,000 jobs...with private-sector job growth actually falling by 13,000, the largest private sector drop in more than four years. And here's an interesting note - Hourly Earnings actually moved higher than expected. While this seems somewhat contradictory to a slowing jobs number, perhaps it means that employers are attempting to save money by paying more dollars to fewer workers, rather than hiring more staff.Many experts feel that even the lower than expected number of jobs created is an overstatement, due to averaging that is used by the Labor department, and that this number will eventually be revised lower. Job growth is a leading indicator of economic health, and the latest read points to a strong possibility of a recession in 2008.Overall, the Jobs Report was much weaker than anticipated - and remembering that negative economic news is generally bad for the Stock market, but good for the Bond market - Bonds enjoyed some nice gains, sending home loan rates about .25% lower throughout the week.Read the entire report
here.
- Foster Weeks
Things to do in San Francisco - Part 46 - Fort Mason
Yahoo Travel says this about Fort Mason: This is an old military base that has been transformed into a Mecca of culture in San Francisco. It is the home of an array of galleries, museums, theaters, performance halls, nonprofit organizations, classes, festivals and events. The center offers numerous facilities available for rent and can accommodate both small and large events. Just a few of the tenants you can visit at the Fort Mason Center are the National Park Service, Museo Italo Americano, the African American Historical & Cultural Society, the Craft & Folk Art Museum, the Oceanic Society, and Young Performers Theatre.
Between Fisherman's Wharf & Golden Gate Bridge
- Christine Serventi
Previous things to do:
