Economy

Jan
29

Bay Area Median Sales Price

Posted In: Economy, For Buyers, For Sellers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, General Real Estate News
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According to DataQuick the median price paid for a home in California last month was $299,000, the highest since it was $301,000 in August 2008. Last month’s median was up 2.7 percent from $291,000 in November and up 21.5 percent from $246,000 in December 2011. December was the 10th consecutive month in which the state’s median sale price rose year-over-year. [...]
Jan
05

East Bay Real Estate Predictions for 2012

Posted In: Economy, First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, For Sellers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, General Real Estate News
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During tour today my colleagues and I were discussing what we thought the market would do in 2012.  One said she felt that the Berkeley market, specifically, would see an increase in appreciation of 2% – 3% due to a lack of inventory.  “There are so many buyers looking for homes and without inventory, we will see a lot of [...]
Jun
07

Real Estate’s Double Dip and the Catfish Recovery

Posted In: Economy, For Buyers, For Sellers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, Local Market Statistics
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DQ News reported a few days ago about the current status of the double dip, and uses a little humor while doing so. http://www.dsnews.com/articles/double-dip-altos-says-prices-have-been-steadily-rising-since-then-2011-06-02 What I find completely hilarious (and true!) is that the article deems the ebb and flow of home prices as the “Catfish Recovery.” You laugh, but think about it.  As the article references, a catfish is [...]
Nov
05

Foreclosure Update

Posted In: Economy, Foreclosures & Short Sales, General Real Estate News
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The number of mortgage default notices filed against California homeowners fell last quarter compared with the prior three-month period, the result of lenders’ evolving foreclosure policies, an uncertain legislative environment and an uptick in the number of mortgages being renegotiated, a real estate information service reported. “It may well be that lenders have intentionally slowed down the pace of formal [...]
Oct
23

Oakland and San Francisco: Top 10 best bets for housing recovery.

Posted In: Economy, Oakland
The average home price is forecast to plummet over the next two years. But these 7 cities are predicted to post gains. Number 1: San Francisco Median home price: $675,000 Value lost since 2006: 25.7% Forecast gain by 2011*: 4.8% The San Francisco metro area has seen its home values drop by a quarter, and the city still has some [...]
Sep
14

The Bay Area in 2035

Posted In: Economy, General Real Estate News
A recent report in the Contra Costa Times (Friday, Sept. 4, 2009) shows some big news for those of us still living in the Bay Area in 25 years: “We will need to find room to build more than 635,000 homes in the next 25 years to accommodate an additional 1.7 million people.” Hmmmm.  And how does one propose we do [...]
Mar
11

Bring on the Wealthy

Posted In: Economy
In California those families with a combined income of $250,000 or more are considered wealthy.   ARE YOU SERIOUS??  Do these people know that the median income for a family of 4 in California is $74,801?  Wealth should not be defined as what you make in a calendar year.  For instance, Family A and B each made $250,000 in 2008.  Famiy A lives [...]
Jan
22

The Future Looks Grim, So Sayeth Carole Rodoni

Posted In: Economy, For Buyers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, General Real Estate News, Investing, Local Market Statistics
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If you are looking for someone with a strong opinion about the economy and real estate, then look no further than Carole Rodoni.  Her leadership and statistical analysis of the economy and how it affects real estate makes her opinions extremely valuable.  Yesterday I spent nearly 2 hours in a room with 500 other curious minds to see what Carole had [...]
Jan
16

Alameda & Contra Costa County Statistics, Oct. 2007 – Dec. 2008

Posted In: Economy, First Time Home Buyers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, General Real Estate News, Investing, Local Market Statistics
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The first graph is for single family homes in Alameda County, the second graph is Contra Costa County.  The blue bar shows “sold,” the green bar shows “for sale,” and the triangles show “pending.” First of all, let’s look at the obvious.  Both graphs show a similar pattern with January being the lowest in inventory.  In February inventory goes up, peaks in [...]