San Francisco Real Estate - Residential

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 Orton
Marketing Director

posted by SFResidence.com @ 9:32 AM