San Francisco Real Estate - Residential

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.

posted by SFResidence.com @ 8:05 AM