homesmillbrae.com » Largest Cities http://homesmillbrae.com Thu, 20 Oct 2022 03:48:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 Election and Housing: Is Your Home’s Value Better Off? http://homesmillbrae.com/1831/election-and-housing-is-your-homes-value-better-off/ http://homesmillbrae.com/1831/election-and-housing-is-your-homes-value-better-off/#comments Tue, 06 Nov 2012 08:10:25 +0000 http://homesmillbrae.com/1831/election-and-housing-is-your-homes-value-better-off/ Continue reading →]]> Are we better off today than we were four years ago? That is the constant question on the eve of yet another tight presidential race. From the perspective of home prices, the answer is, as always, it depends on where you live. Some cities are faring far better than others, and some believe that home prices are not entirely finished correcting.

0212f house yard 200 Election and Housing: Is Your Homes Value Better Off?

According to the widely watched SP/Case Shiller Home Price Indices, home values in the nation’s ten largest cities were down 2.4 percent from January 2009 through August 2012 seasonally adjusted. For the top twenty cities, they are down 3.7 percent seasonally adjusted.

These two composites, however, are still both off nearly 30 percent from the peaks in the summer of 2006.

Remember, also, that we saw a bump in home prices in 2010 from the Obama administration’s home buyer tax credit. Home prices on the 20-city composite were up 1.5 percent in August 2010, not seasonally adjusted, from January 2009, but then of course they dropped again, and we are still, today, below that level of the tax credit surge. (Read More: Home Prices Rise, but Analysts See Pressure Ahead.)

So can an incumbent president win a second term when home prices are lower than they were when he took office? I asked SP’s David Blitzer:

“Our data go back to 1987 for the 10-City Composite, so there are a couple of hints — Bush-1 took office with the index at 77.99 In January 1989; in November 1992 it was 77.09, and he lost. In August 1992 (comparable to August 2012, our latest data point) the index was 77.76, also down by the slightest amount. Clinton, who was re-elected saw home prices rise from an index of 76.56 to 78.23 during his first term — up 2.2 percent over four years. The Clinton increase points out how large the price moves in the 2000s were. In the Carter years inflation was running close to double digits so home prices were most likely rising in nominal terms.”

(Read More: Cities With the Most Affordable Homes.)

While SP/Case-Shiller’s top ten and top twenty city composites are basically flat since President Obama took office, the national quarterly index is up 2.6 percent not seasonally adjusted, and consumer confidence in home prices is higher than it has been.

“Consumers’ average home price change expectation is 1.5 percent, consistent with recent periods and marking nearly a full year in which home price expectations have been positive,” according to Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey, released in early October. “Thirty-seven percent of those surveyed expect home prices to go up in the next year, the highest level since the survey’s inception in June 2010.”

Confidence is up and national home price statistics are up, but 10.8 million, or 22.3 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage, owe more on that mortgage than their home is currently worth, according to CoreLogic. An additional 2.3 million borrowers have less than 5 percent equity in their homes, making it very difficult to move up or even out.

Still, all real estate is local, so take a look to see where you might be:

-By CNBC’s Diana Olick; Follow Her on Twitter @Diana_Olick and Facebook.
Questions? Comments? RealtyCheck@cnbc.com 

Click on ticker to follow real estate news:

Election and Housing: Is Your Homes Value Better Off?

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/49694810?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS

]]> http://homesmillbrae.com/1831/election-and-housing-is-your-homes-value-better-off/feed/ 0 100000 Garbage Bags Worth of Trash Washes into San Francisco Bay Each Year http://homesmillbrae.com/1316/100000-garbage-bags-worth-of-trash-washes-into-san-francisco-bay-each-year/ http://homesmillbrae.com/1316/100000-garbage-bags-worth-of-trash-washes-into-san-francisco-bay-each-year/#comments Sat, 18 Feb 2012 07:53:52 +0000 http://homesmillbrae.com/1316/100000-garbage-bags-worth-of-trash-washes-into-san-francisco-bay-each-year/ Continue reading →]]>

4f5f5 bay area trash.jpg.492x0 q85 crop smart 100000 Garbage Bags Worth of Trash Washes into San Francisco Bay Each Year
Threat to Democracy/CC BY 2.0

The San Francisco Bay Area is home to some 7.5 million inhabitants, with many paying an exorbitant price for real estate that offers even a slivered view of those namesake waters — but it turns out that behind the Golden Gate lies much more than meets the eye. According to the results of the first comprehensive assessment of pollution in that famous bay, a mind-boggling 1.36 million gallons of trash are being dumbed in it every year. All that waste, say experts, is be enough to fill 100 thousand kitchen-sized garbage bags! Oh, and it’s 100 percent avoidable.

The assessment conducted by the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association found that most of the trash that’s muddying the waters of the densely populated region found its way into the bay via storm drains, likely after being discarded a litter on city streets.

“Forty-nine percent is plastic — candy wrappers, chip bags, lids and straws, the study found — and 21 percent is paper, 8 percent plastic grocery bags, 7 percent plastic foam and the rest cans, bottles and other debris,” reports the Silicon Valley Mercury News.

To arrive at their estimates of how much trash washes into San Francisco Bay, authorities installed debris capturing filters in major stormdrains in each city and municipality nearby, allowing them to determine with areas were the largest contributors. Unsurprisingly, the largest cities in the region, San Jose and Oakland, were found to add the most waste.

“This is 100 percent preventable. Trash doesn’t happen by itself. If we can get people to modify their behavior, we’ll make huge gains,” Geoff Brosseau, of the Bay Area Stormwater Management Agencies Association, told the Mercury News.

According to California regulations, cities will be required to reduce the amount of trash carried down stormdrains by 40 percent by 2014. By 2022, law will require that 100 percent of runoff-carried garbage be kept from the state’s waterways.

Article source: http://www.treehugger.com/clean-water/100000-garbage-bags-worth-trash-dumped-san-francisco-bay-each-year.html

]]> http://homesmillbrae.com/1316/100000-garbage-bags-worth-of-trash-washes-into-san-francisco-bay-each-year/feed/ 0 Rent or buy?: Condo ownership might make sense in San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland http://homesmillbrae.com/598/rent-or-buy-condo-ownership-might-make-sense-in-san-jose-san-francisco-oakland/ http://homesmillbrae.com/598/rent-or-buy-condo-ownership-might-make-sense-in-san-jose-san-francisco-oakland/#comments Fri, 29 Apr 2011 06:34:15 +0000 http://homesmillbrae.com/598/rent-or-buy-condo-ownership-might-make-sense-in-san-jose-san-francisco-oakland/ Continue reading →]]>

As home prices fall and rents climb, it could make sense to buy in the Bay Area’s three largest cities, according to a report from San Francisco real estate website Trulia.

The site compared rents and list prices for two-bedroom apartments, condominiums and townhomes in the nation’s 50 largest cities. Trulia calculated a “rent-to-buy” ratio of 12 for San Jose, based on rents for two-bedroom apartments of $1,500 to $2,000 a month and listing prices of $200,000 to $300,000 for two-bedroom condos. According to Trulia, a rent-to-buy ratio of 15 or less means the costs of ownership are less than the expense of renting.

San Francisco and Oakland, meanwhile, are cities where renting is less expensive, but buying might be a better option depending on individual financial circumstances.

San Francisco has a rent-to-buy ratio of 19, based on rents of $3,000 to $3,500 a month and listing prices at $700,000 to $800,000. Oakland has a rent-to-buy ratio of 16, based on $1,000 to $1,500 monthly rents and listing prices at $200,000 to $300,000.

Among other West Coast cities, Trulia says buying is better in Fresno, Long Beach, Sacramento and San Diego; buying might make sense in Portland, Ore., and Seattle; and renting is more affordable in Los Angeles.

The Trulia report — including information on other big cities nationwide — can be found at http://explore.trulia.com/datavis/rentvsbuy/Q2-2011/.

Contact Frank Russell at 408-920-5876. Follow him at Twitter.com/mercspike.

Article source: http://www.mercurynews.com/real-estate/ci_17950061

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