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.
