San Francisco Real Estate - Residential

Fast Facts from CAR and Freddie Mac - April 2007

The numbers for April are finally out from CAR and Freddie Mac. As you can see, the median home prices are starting to come up again... as are the interest rates! Mortgage rates continue to creep up, probably because lenders anticipate that the Fed will raise rates on fears of inflation.

Calif. median home price - April 07: $597,640 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $580,090 last month)

Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region April 07:Santa Barbara So. Coast $1,475,000 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $1,200,000 last month)

Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region April 07:High Desert $317,420 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $320,830 last month)

Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - First Quarter 07: 25 percent (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to 25 percent last month)

Mortgage rates - week ending 5/24:

• 30-yr. fixed: 6.37%; Fees/points: 0.4% (note: compared to 6.16% and 0.5% points last report)
• 15-yr. fixed: 6.06%; Fees/points: 0.4% (note: compared to 5.87% and 0.5% points last report)
• 1-yr. adjustable: 5.64%; Fees/points: 0.6% (note: compared to 5.43% and 0.7% points last report)

- California Association of Realtors & Freddie Mac

posted by SFResidence.com @ 8:38 AM 0 comments

Tenancy in common - the HOT issue

While the city of San Francisco lowers the boom on condo conversions, capitalism and the free market still find a way to beat the system.

Condominium conversions are a way to turn multi-unit buildings into separate residences to be bought and sold at will, however, San Francisco keeps passing laws to make it harder and harder to do this. The solution? Tenancy in common.

In the past, this form of ownership was terribly complicated. However new financing options are making TICs more attractive. So much so that financial institutions and title companies are beginning to give seminars on them.

Goldstein, Gellman, Melbostad, Gibson and Harris, LLP are sponsoring a FREE workshop on Thursday, June 7, 2007 from 6:30 - 8:30 PM at the Fort Mason Center, Building A in the Golden Gate Conference Room. Topics include:

• TIC agreements
• Mortgage assumptions
• Seller carry-back loans
• Refinancing upon partial resale (one of the biggest issues when one of the owners wants out)
• NEW fractional TIC mortgages
• Approving prospective TIC parties
• New and future legislation updates
• Condominium conversion issues
• Landlord-tenant issues
• Title and escrow issues in TIC resales
• Unlimited Q&A

Reservations are required, so contact Jeannie Q Gant of Financial Title Company at 1388 Sutter St., #1220. She can be reached by e-mail at jgant@financialtitle.com or by phone at 415-215-7146. Tell her Janis Stone or Christine Serventi invited you.

- Janis Stone

posted by SFResidence.com @ 7:32 AM 0 comments

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 can't say it enough... inventory! It's just not there. Properties are selling faster than we can get them on the market. In our meeting today, many agents have buyers needs with nothing to show them. As a result, the past several months have created an increasingly frenzied market which could spiral out of control if more homes don't come on the market this summer. Well just have to wait and see.

Here are the numbers for this week:

5/23/07

• 5 new listings (average price $1,774,600 - low $929,000, high $4,495,000)
• 18 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,586,555.56 - low $285,000, high $6,300,000)
• 6 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,360,833.33 - low $470,000, high $3,500,000)
• 1 reduced ($729,900)

- Janis Stone

posted by SFResidence.com @ 1:28 PM 0 comments

Safety First - Tips about an oil fire

This is a dramatic video (30-seconds, very short) about how to deal with a common kitchen fire ... oil in a frying pan. The water, being heavier than the oil, sinks to the bottom where it instantly becomes superheated. The explosive force of the steam blows the burning oil up and out. Inside the confines of a kitchen, the fire ball hits the ceiling and fills the entire room.

- Mick Orton

posted by SFResidence.com @ 8:21 AM 0 comments

San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for 5/19 - 5/25/07

Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest weekly report:

Almost 700 homes were held open in celebration of our Great American Open Home Event, and most all areas reported excellent attendance. The event provided us the opportunity to showcase a wide variety of listings throughout our communities, and the potential buyers were out in full force. One Half Moon Bay property saw a surprising 80 visitors, and a Millbrae home drew over 130 potential buyers. In the City, it was the typical “double-park Sunday-scramble” as Buyers attempted to get in as many Opens as time permitted.

The upper-tier properties are still seeing strong activity in most areas, but in areas where inventory is higher, buyers are better referred to as “window shoppers.” More prevalent in our outer East and North Bay offices, these Buyers are looking at everything available, but are difficult to pin down when it comes time to write an offer. In areas where inventory is tighter, pre-emptive and multiple offer situations are happening in more than half of the reported sales. There were 5 offers on a San Mateo property that went for substantially more than the $2.5 million list price. Menlo Park reports a pre-emptive property that went for 20% over asking. The Lombard office in the City reported every sale this week either in multiple or pre-emptive offers. Market Street and SF Lakeside reported 16 out of 26 were in multiple offers. SF Noriega offices states a fixer in Inner Richmond district had 17 offers and went more than $100,000 over asking. From Burlingame to San Mateo, the past week’s more than 50 closings in MLS were showing roughly 85% sold at list price or greater.

The past two week’s office reports have included more comments regarding transactions being re-negotiated prior to the closing, and some occurrences of deals falling through. Back-up offers can be key for Sellers in many of these situations. In some cases, a Buyer is simply looking for a small consideration prior to close, in others it may be a full-blown case of Buyer’s remorse. Strong listing and selling Agents are helping their customers stay focused on the main objectives in Buying or Selling.

Of the offices reporting, listing inventory remained steady for 12, increased for eight and decreased for six. Sales activity remained comfortably steady for a whopping 16 offices. It increased for eight offices, and decreased in only two.

- Rick Turley

* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send a note to info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.

posted by SFResidence.com @ 12:41 PM 0 comments

TIC fractional financing

Recently Princeton Capital announced that they were now offering expanded fractional TIC financing, thus enabling individuals buy and sell at their leisure. Not so in the past, since previously it was required that all owners participate in the new mortgage when others wanted to buy in our get out of the property.

Another feature is that up to 90% financing is available with no mortgage insurance with loan sizes up to $2 million. There are other features that make this program attractive to TIC owners or potential TIC buyers. Occasionally Stacey Fleece and Dennis Kowalski are contributors to our site, and you should call them to get more information.

Stacey C. Fleece, CFA
Senior Loan Consultant
Princeton Capital
415.229.1228 (office)
415.596.6069 (mobile)
staceyfleece@princetoncap.com

Dennis Kowalski
(415) 229-1241 (office)

Stay tuned for more information on Tenancies in Common (TIC). Tomorrow we post TIC Frequently Asked Questions.

- Mick Orton

posted by SFResidence.com @ 10:13 AM 0 comments

Things to do in San Francisco - Part 22 - 49-mile Scenic Drive

posted by SFResidence.com @ 6:36 AM 0 comments

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.

As you can see by the numbers, properties continue to sell very well. For months we have been reporting ratified sales outpacing new listings and this week is no exception. In our office, ratified deals were over 3 times the number of new listings. Needless to say, our normal summer market has still not arrived. This is good news for sellers bringing properties on the market since demand is high. Reports of multiple offer situations continue to be very common, thus driving selling prices over the asking price. This is true even for multi-million dollar homes! Though the media continues to say the economy is not doing well, our real estate market says otherwise!

Here are the numbers for last week:

5/23/07

• 5 new listings (average price $1,646,600 - low $849,000, high $2,795,000)
• 17 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,339,882.35 - low $639,000, high $3,585,000)
• 15 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,478,366.67 - low $585,000, high $3,598,500)
• 1 back on market ($2,150,000)

- Janis Stone

posted by SFResidence.com @ 11:23 AM 0 comments

Questions a Realtor might ask you about your finances when buying a home

A reader asks:

As a first time buyer, how much information and what type of questions will a real estate agent ask me in regards to my finances?

Our reply:

A good agent can help you structure the best transaction for you if they understand how much down payment you have to work with and what payments you can afford. They will work with a loan broker to get you the best loan for your needs. For this reason, they need to know how much money you have for a down payment, if you are borrowing money from a relative or getting a gift from a relative and what your monthly income is and what payment you have to meet each month. It is also helpful to know if you expect a large bonus or raise in your job.

If you are getting a gift from a relative there is paperwork the lender must have from the relative that they gift is not to be repaid. It is very important to get this information before making an offer.

I once had a situation where a buyer told me his parents were going to give him the down payment. We went out looking for property and found a condo he loved. We made an offer with a loan contingency, but when he went to his parents they refused to give him the money. We cancelled the transaction but the sellers refused to refund his deposit (even though he had a loan contingency), and he had to hire an attorney to get his deposit refunded. In the end it cost him seveal thousand dollars because he did not have his financing in order before making the offer.

- Janis Stone

posted by SFResidence.com @ 8:20 AM 0 comments

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 fact that the stock market keeps shooting into record territory is not helping home loan rates which worsened last week.

...home loan rates worsened by about .125% across the board. What happened?

Here's the story - money invested out in the financial markets generally flows back and forth between Stocks and Bonds. This means that when Stocks are doing well, money is flowing out of Bonds as investors move their "safe" holdings into what they hope are winning positions in the Stock market. On the other hand, when the Stock market takes a turn for the worse, money flows right back out of Stocks and right back over into "safe haven" Bonds. This happens over and over, and is true on a large and small scale; from individual investors on up to massive institutional investors...the mindset is exactly the same.

As the Stock market has rocketed higher in recent days, investors want to get in on the action, and that money has to come from somewhere...and that's right, it's coming from Bonds. And when money is pulled out of Bonds, it means that Bond prices worsen, and home loan rates move higher like they did last week.

What should have helped Bonds was a friendly Consumer Price Index report, showing that inflation appears to be moderating. Inflation is the arch-enemy of Bonds, which deliver an investor a fixed return - the value of which is eroded by inflation. But just like the 97-pound weaklings wimpy friend at the beach, the good news on inflation wasn't strong enough to help Bonds or home loan rates regain their legs... Read more.

- Foster Weeks

posted by SFResidence.com @ 7:13 AM 0 comments

San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for 5/12 - 5/18/07

Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest weekly report:

DataQuick numbers were released this past week and the media swarmed to extract a pattern of doom for the housing market from the report. DataQuick reported a slowdown in sales and an increase in median prices and attributed the results to a “continued buyer-seller standoff.”

However, the only true pattern emerging in Bay Area real estate over the week is one we’ve already identified before – pricing and condition are crucial to a reasonably quick sale. And as DataQuick pointed out, when interested-but-wary buyers meet sellers who are reluctant to negotiate, a no-sale situation is the result. For our City and Peninsula offices, no-to-low inventory is still the main story.

Multiple offers are up again, and the upper-tier properties remain the hot tickets in most areas. A $3.9 million Kentfield listing had nine offers. In Mill Valley, a $2.8 million listing received multiple offers. Oakland/Piedmont and Menlo Park both report multiple offers in all price ranges. Our San Francisco offices reported approximately 1 in 3 sales involved multiple offers for the week. All in all, more than 80 multiple offer situations occurred.

Listing inventory remained steady as reported by 14 offices, increased in 10 offices and decreased for five. Sales activity also remained steady for 14 offices, while it reportedly increased for 12 offices and only decreased for 3.

DataQuick is an excellent resource, and reading the report provides a fair reflection on the previous 60 to 90 days. However, no matter how the media tries to spin it, DataQuick is a reflection only - not necessarily a current depiction of the market. Thankfully, our Buyers and Sellers have true professionals like you in the field; helping them evaluate precisely what is happening at the very moment in your specific market and neighborhood.

- Rick Turley

* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send a note to info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.

posted by SFResidence.com @ 7:54 PM 0 comments

Fire Risk Assessments

A reader submits this:

...A fire risk assessment helps you to identify all the fire risks and hazards in your premises. You can then decide to do something to control them.

Articles Fire Risk Assessments:

1. Fire Types & Fire Extinguishers
2. United Kingdom: Fire Departments
3. New Fire Safety Rules
4. Steps Needed For Fire Risk Assessment
5. Steps Are Needed To Save Lives
6. Fire Safety Engineering
7. Safety Rules: Fire Risk Assessment Fire Risk Assessments

http://www.fireriskassessment.blogspot.com

posted by SFResidence.com @ 8:36 AM 0 comments

Things to do in San Francisco - Part 21 - Yerba Buena Ice Skating & Bowling Center

Yahoo Travel says this about the Yerba Buena Ice Skating & Bowling Center:

The only year-round ice-skating rink in San Francisco. An attractive, all-new facility atop the Moscone Center, the ice-skating center offers recreational skating (with plenty of skates to rent) day and night. Skating lessons are also available for beginners, as are hockey games, adult hockey workshops, and figure-skating lessons. With so much going on, it's advisable to call ahead to check the schedule. The rink can be rented for private groups or parties. The brand new bowling alley built atop the Moscone Center, right next to the skating rink, is a great place to take friends or kids. In fact, it can be rented for bowling parties. Lessons and league bowling is offered, as well. The bowling center is attractively designed, too (in a bowling-alleyish kind of way), and it has a very friendly feeling.

750 Folsom StreetSan Francisco, CA 94107-1276
+1 415 777 3727
ybbc@vscsports.com
Open Hours5a-midnight M-Su
http://www.skatebowl.com

Neighborhood: SOMA

- Mick Orton

Part 1 - Golden Gate Bridge, Part 2 - Alcatraz, Part 3 - Japanese Tea Garden, Part 4 - Cable Cars, Part 5 - Fisherman's Warf, Part 6 - Exploratorium, Part 7 - Mission Dolores, Part 8 - San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Part 9 - Lombard Street, Part 10 - Giants Stadium, Part 11 - Mission Cliffs Rock Climbing Center, Part 12 - Beach Blanket Babylon, Part 13 - Palace of Fine Arts, Part 14 - Asian Art Museum, Part 15 - Coit Tower, Part 16 - Musee Mecanique, Part 17 - Palace of the Legion of Honor, Part 18 - The Octagon House, Part 19 - Holy Virgin Cathedral, Part 20 - San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour

posted by SFResidence.com @ 7:35 AM 0 comments

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.

Ratified deals were 4 times the number of new listings which means we have the buyers! It also means that inventory continues to shrink as spring moves forward. With summer just around the bend, it could be a great time to list your property in order to increase your chances to get multiple offers.

California, and San Francisco in particular, tend to lead the nation as far as trends go, and our Realtor friends in other areas from Florida to Arizona are reporting increasing activity. If you are thinking of selling now might be the time to do so. Don't get lost in the inevitable flood of listings that are usual for the summer market!

Here are the numbers for last week:

5/16/07

• 5 new listings (average price $2,809,800 - low $849,000, high $6,300,000)
• 21 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,580,600 - low $569,000, high $6,595,000, 1 confidential)
• 12 closed sales (sold) (average price $878,536.36 - low $503,000, high $1,600,000, 1 confidential)
• 1 reduced ($669,000)

- Janis Stone

posted by SFResidence.com @ 11:28 AM 0 comments

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. As a result of the Fed meeting last week, home mortgage rates ended slightly higher.

...the Fed held the spotlight last week, as Chairman Bernanke and his team of inflation fighters at the Fed released their latest Interest Rate Decision and Policy Statement. And the tone of the Statement did indeed change the weather for Bonds and home loan rates.

As expected, the Fed voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate holding steady at 5.25%. However, it was the tone of the Policy Statement that was not so nice for Bonds or home loan rates, which worsened a bit following the release. Why? Because the market was looking for some loving lyrics from the Fed, particularly in regards to inflation. Recent inflation and wage data has all been friendly, and the economy is slowing a bit as well. So the markets were expecting a nice ballad from the Fed about inflation being under control...but instead, the Fed said their predominant concern is that inflation will "fail to moderate as expected". While the Fed's primary mission is to be on guard against inflation, the market was hoping for a little more love on this front, and was a bit displeased with the tone of the Statement... Read more.

- Foster Weeks

posted by SFResidence.com @ 8:49 AM 0 comments

San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for 5/5 - 5/11/07

Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest weekly report:

It was a patchwork quilt of a market in the San Francisco Bay Area this week with determined buyers aggressively bidding and buying homes in some areas, and aggressively bargaining in others. Like last week, place and price continue to be the most critical factors in getting buyers and sellers to come to terms. Five Petaluma listings were in multiple offer situations with two-to-three offers per property. Condo sales in Novato are stagnant, but upper-end homes are moving nicely, and the rental market is “hot” – even experiencing multiple lease offer situations. Santa Rosa reports brisk activity at several price points, but notes the $1M+ properties are seeing the steadiest activity. The high end also continues to get a lot of attention in Southern Marin and well-priced homes sell quickly.

...In San Francisco, a $1 million condo generated five offers in one day and sold for 22% over asking. More than 90 homes were reportedly in multiple offer situations.... Read more.

- Rick Turley

* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send a note to info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.

posted by SFResidence.com @ 8:18 PM 0 comments

Things to do in San Francisco - Part 20 - San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour

Yahoo Travel says this about the San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour:

With all the interesting events that have occurred in San Francisco, there are bound to be a few disgruntled spirits hanging around. This tour takes you to meet them. Your guide, gifted with a suitably mordant sense of humor, will regale you with ghost stories to put you in the mood as you visit places suspected of hauntings and hear about the evidence of ghostly visitations. This one-mile walking tour includes one moderate hill and lasts about two hours. Tours leave from the lobby of the Queen Anne Hotel and cost USD20 per adult, USD10 under 16 (cash only).

1590 Sutter StreetSan Francisco, CA 94109-5307
+1 415 922 5590
sfghosthunt@yahoo.com
Open Hours7p onwards M & W-Su
http://www.sfghosthunt.com/

Neighborhood: Pacific Heights

- Mick Orton

Part 1 - Golden Gate Bridge, Part 2 - Alcatraz, Part 3 - Japanese Tea Garden, Part 4 - Cable Cars, Part 5 - Fisherman's Warf, Part 6 - Exploratorium, Part 7 - Mission Dolores, Part 8 - San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Part 9 - Lombard Street, Part 10 - Giants Stadium, Part 11 - Mission Cliffs Rock Climbing Center, Part 12 - Beach Blanket Babylon, Part 13 - Palace of Fine Arts, Part 14 - Asian Art Museum, Part 15 - Coit Tower, Part 16 - Musee Mecanique, Part 17 - Palace of the Legion of Honor, Part 18 - The Octagon House, Part 19 - Holy Virgin Cathedral

posted by SFResidence.com @ 9:07 PM 0 comments

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.

Here are the numbers for last week:

5/9/07

• 11 new listings (average price $2,112,454.55 - low $299,000, high $4,125,000)
• 27 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,485,377 - low $480,000, high $4,850,000, 1 confidential)
• 14 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,887,986.50 - low $459,000, high $5,050,000)
• 3 reduced (average $1,664,666.67 - low $725,000, high $1,950,000)

- Mick Orton

posted by SFResidence.com @ 8:04 PM 0 comments

26 unique criteria for determining home loan rates

Stacey Fleece is a Senior Loan Consultant for Princeton Capital at 1699 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94109, housed in the same building as SFResidence and TRI Coldwell Banker.

Hi Everyone!

There are 26 unique criteria that goes into determining what rate someone is able to secure for a particular loan...and, yes, we need to analyze and understand all of them in order to provide intelligent and accurate financial counseling.

Please feel free to pass this information on to your clients and, as always, if Dennis or I can ever be of service, do not hesitate to call! Remember…anyone can quote anything over the phone…the question becomes one of integrity, knowledge and ability to deliver!

The 26 Criteria for Quoting Rates:

• Loan Size
• Loan to Value
• Combined Loan to Value
• Credit Score
• Credit History
• Escrows
• Closing Date
• Loan Type
• Property Type
• Occupancy Type
• Residency
• Available Assets
• Asset Seasoning
• Co-borrowers
• Debt Ratio
• Housing Ratio
• Purchase or Refi
• Employment Type
• Employment History
• Documentation
• Income Recognition
• Re-cast Option
• Relocation
• Seller Contributions
• Gifts
• Cash-out

Stacey C. Fleece, CFA
Senior Loan Consultant
Princeton Capital
415.229.1228 (office)
415.596.6069 (mobile)
staceyfleece@princetoncap.com

posted by SFResidence.com @ 11:14 AM 0 comments

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. This week, not much change.

...news from Wall Street was also galloping in fast and furious last week - so let's make some horse sense out of the major headlines that helped Bonds and home loan rates end up slightly improved for the week overall.

First, the Fed's favorite gauge of consumer inflation, Core Personal Consumption Expenditure Index (PCE), showed a year over year reading of 2.1%, which is very close to the Fed's target zone of 1 - 2%. With inflation moderating, the Fed might start thinking about making a cut to the Fed Funds Rate in the 2nd half of 2007. This tame read on inflation was very good news for Bonds, as the value on their fixed returns get eroded by the impact of inflation.

Then, the Jobs Report arrived, with new jobs created in April being reported at 88,000, below
what most analysts expected. Additionally, revisions took 26,000 jobs away from previous months reports, the Unemployment Rate rose slightly to 4.5%, and Average Hourly Earnings were reported slightly lower than expected at 0.2%. Overall, the Job Report suggests the strong labor market is softening a touch and wage based inflation pressure is moderating - more good news for Bonds and home loan rates. Wage-based inflation comes into play when the job market is tight and therefore employers are forced to pay their employees more. This naturally results in more dollars being injected into the economy for spending - as well as the cost of doing business moving higher for employers - all of which can cause prices on goods and services to rise. Read more.

- Foster Weeks

posted by SFResidence.com @ 7:17 AM 0 comments

San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for 4/28 - 5/4/07

Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula says in his latest weekly report:

Those serious buyers mentioned in last week’s edition of the Weekly Market Watch are busy writing offers, some are writing at under list price, while others are making strong Pre-emptive offers. In many cases, Sellers, however, seem to be sticking to their list prices – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. The lesson this week? Proper pricing is crucial.
Multiple offer situations are simmering down in most areas, though Berkeley agents are still scratching their heads about the 15 offers received by a two bedroom El Cerrito listing under $600,000. Homes priced in the $1-3+ million range seem to be the most likely multiple offer candidates in many areas. A small Mill Valley home listed at $1,345,000 had five offers.

Pleasanton too notes that the upper end homes tend to move faster than lower priced properties. Walnut Creek reports that inventory in the $1-2 million range is moving quickly, and in San Francisco, the sales price during the week for one office averaged $2.7 million. More than 60 properties, all in all, were in multiple offer situations... Read more.

- Rick Turley

* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send a note to info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.

posted by SFResidence.com @ 9:00 AM 2 comments

Things to do in San Francisco - Part 19 - Holy Virgin Cathedral

posted by SFResidence.com @ 8:44 AM 0 comments

Fast Facts from CAR and Freddie Mac - March 2007

The numbers for March are finally out from CAR and Freddie Mac. It takes a long time to compile the numbers for real estate statewide. Keep in mind, this covers areas that are not doing as well as the San Francisco market and the numbers still improved overall (except for mortgage interest rates which remained almost the same).

Calif. median home price - March 07: $580,090 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $564,700 last month)

Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region March 07:Santa Barbara So. Coast $1,200,000 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $1,000,000 last month)

Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region March 07:High Desert $320,830 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $319,860 last month)

Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - Fourth Quarter 06: 25 percent (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to 25 percent last month)

Mortgage rates - week ending 4/26:

• 30-yr. fixed: 6.16%; Fees/points: 0.5% (note: compared to 6.16% and 0.4% points last report)
• 15-yr. fixed: 5.87%; Fees/points: 0.5% (note: compared to 5.86% and 0.4% points last report)
• 1-yr. adjustable: 5.43%; Fees/points: 0.7% (note: compared to 5.43% and 0.6% points last report)

- California Association of Realtors & Freddie Mac

posted by SFResidence.com @ 8:45 AM 0 comments

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 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.

"They're selling like hotcakes," is the old saying that comes to mind when talking about stale listings that have been on the market for long periods, sometimes a year or more. Reports are coming in about houses that wouldn't sell last year are suddenly ending up in escrow after multiple offers, even those at the very high end!

As has been the trend, sales are up while new listings are down. This week our office recorded 2.5 times the ratified deals as they did new listings. Is the phrase "shrinking inventory" starting to grate on you? Well, it's true. And as long as this, coupled with low interest rates, expect this feeding frenzy to continue.

Here are the numbers for last week:

5/6/07

• 9 new listings (average price $1,294,000 - low $715,000, high $2,150,000)
• 24 ratified sales (pending) (average ratified price $2,078,666.67 - low $375,000, high $7,750,000)
• 15 closed sales (sold) (average closed price $1,312,533.33 - low $655,000, high $4,950,000)
• 1 price correction ($879,000)

Price correction is our office's new term for reduced! Political correctness runs amok!

- Mick Orton

posted by SFResidence.com @ 2:04 PM 0 comments

May San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for April 2007

The current monthly report may be seen at SFResidence.com.

The number of Single Family Homes sold for April did not change from March in San Francisco Real Estate. The average listing and selling prices were both lower than the previous month and lower than a year ago. Even so, the average selling price was over 106% of the average listing price. The average days on the market dropped to 36, possibly due to the shrinking inventory.
The number of Condominiums sold in April increased slightly from March in the San Francisco Real Estate Market. The average selling price was almost 102% of the average listing price. The average listing and selling price was higher than last month and higher than a year ago. The average days on the market dropped to 48.

The number of homes sold in the Overall Sales category for April in San Francisco Real Estate did not change from March but was lower than a year ago. The average selling price was over 103% of the average listing price, and slightly lower compared to last month but higher than a year ago. The average days on the market dropped to 47.

Indications are that we are poised for a great spring market. Low inventory and high demand create the environment for multiple and preemptive offers where properties are sold for well over the asking price. This could be a great time to sell!

* Remember, closed sales in any month reflect deals ratified in the previous month with a typical 30 day close.

See the April 2007 statistics here.

- Janis Stone

posted by SFResidence.com @ 9:44 AM 0 comments