homesmillbrae.com » Real Estate Trends

Barry Zito slashed Marin home price– again

Wed, 10 Jul 2013 02:47:40 +0000

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On the market over 100 days now, Barry Zito’s home has made news before, first when it listed for $11,495,000 in 2012, then when it dropped $1M in price, and now again, slashed another $720K.

“Villa Della Pace” is actually quite gorgeous, a welcome departure from gaudy, over-the-top celebrity homes we all see too often. The home offers 4 bedrooms, 5.5 baths plus numerous entertainment room options, a pool with outdoor lounge area, plus panoramic views of Phoenix Lake and the hills of Marin County. Outside, find 2.2 acres of private land, embellished with stone terraces, lawns and gardens as well as an outdoor fireplace, cooking area, fountain, spa, and the aforementioned spectacular swimming pool.

Inside details like an extra-large custom stone shower, double sinks, and walk-in closet in the master suite continue the theme of tasteful but certainly “a taste for the good life” luxury.

On top of that, add Zito’s fame. Why aren’t rich Giants fans knocking down doors for the privilege of owning what was once the 2-time World Champ’s home (who incidentally purchased it in 2007 for $8,863,000)?

What do you say, readers? What will it take for Villa Della Pace to sell?

Anna Marie Erwert writes from both the renter and new buyer perspective, having (finally) achieved both statuses. She focuses on national real estate trends, specializing in the San Francisco Bay Area and Pacific Northwest. Follow Anna on Twitter: @AnnaMarieErwert

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2013/07/09/barry-zito-slashed-marin-home-price-again/

San Francisco stats like you’ve never seen them

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 01:45:30 +0000

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San Francisco gets called diverse, liberal, wealthy, and over-educated– often. And apparently, such adjectives are verifiable, thanks to these handy graphs developed by Paragon Real Estate (view the original post with more slides at The Frontsteps blog). Note that the data crunched here is predominately that of the 2010 census, so some figures will be less than current, and perhaps not completely accurate as they are subject to that which is (and is not) reported to the census.

Still, overall, kind of cool stuff. And to most residents, these slides seem to tell of a version of San Francisco that’s pretty close to the real story.

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2013/06/18/san-francisco-stats-like-youve-never-seen-them/

10 of San Francisco quirkiest homes

Wed, 01 May 2013 01:22:36 +0000

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The city of San Francisco enjoys fame for many reasons. Being boring isn’t among them. Should we be surprised then that within the pool of our spectacular, highly valuable, historic architectural masterpieces are a few quirky homes? Strange paint jobs, unique design features, political statements and more adorn several local homes in every neighborhood from the Outer-Sunset to Bernal Hill and beyond.

Today we feature just 10, knowing full well readers will have their own examples. The collection comes to us via Urban Hiker SF, a San Francisco based business run by Alexandra Kenin. On her many forays with and without clients hiking the city’s many stairways, parks, and hilly streets, Alexandra has seen these homes first hand.

But these are probably only the tiniest slice of the true number of eccentric abodes in this creative, self-expression rich city. Tell us where to find your favorites, readers, in the comments below.

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2013/04/30/10-of-san-francisco-quirkiest-homes/

Marin Home Prices Rose More Than 20 Percent in February

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:21:36 +0000

Home prices continued to rebound in Marin in February, though home sales did not increase when compared to last month and February 2012, a real estate information service reported.

The median home price in Marin also rose to $650,000 last month, a 21.4 percent increase over February 2012 and a $10,000 jump from the median sale price in the county in January.

Marin fell in line with regional and statewide real estate trends last month, which saw fewer homes sales than in February 2012, according to figures provided by DataQuick, a San Diego-based analysis service.

Sales are generally flat from January to February, according to DataQuick’s analysts.

Marin saw a slight decline in the number of homes sold between February 2013 (201 homes) and February 2012 (203 homes). But more homes were sold in Marin County in February than in January of this year, when 181 houses traded hands.

The median price of a home sold in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area skyrocketed nearly 25 percent when comparing February 2013 to February 2012, the data showed. The median has had a double-digit year-over-year increase the last nine months, and the past four months have seen gains above 20 percent.

Other interesting real estate market facts this month? DataQuick supplied these:

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,460. That was down from $1,479 in January, and up from $1,243 a year ago.
The most active lenders to Bay Area home buyers last month were Wells Fargo with 15.0 percent of the market, Stearns Lending with 4.0 percent, and RPM Mortgage with 3.7 percent.
Foreclosure resales – homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 13.6 percent in the Bay Area in February. That’s the lowest since November 2007.

“…[W]ith a recovering economy, prices still closer to the bottom than to the top, with ultra-low mortgage interest rates and tight supply, the stage is set for price gains,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president. “This spring is going to be interesting.”

Stay Patched in! Follow Larkspur-Corte Madera Patch on Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for the daily newsletters.

Article source: http://larkspurcortemadera.patch.com/articles/marin-home-prices-rose-more-than-20-percent-in-february-323dc8ba

Sonoma County Home Prices on the Rise Again

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 22:53:21 +0000

February home sales in Sonoma County were better than they were a year ago, in both prices paid and volume sold, a real estate information service reported.

Sonoma County bucked regional and statewide real estate trends last month, which saw fewer homes sales than in February 2012, according to figures provided by DataQuick, a San Diego-based analysis service.

Sales are generally flat from January to February, according to DataQuick’s analysts.

But Sonoma County saw a 6.6 percent increase in the number of homes sold between February 2013 (403 homes) and February 2012 (378 homes). Last month’s sales also are on-par with the 398 homes sold in January of this year.

The median home price in Sonoma County also rose to $345,000 last month, a 16.9 increase over February 2012 and a $5,000 jump from the median sale price in the county in January.

Last month’s figures showed the median home price for the county was $340,000, up from $285,000 in January 2012.

Other interesting real estate market facts this month? DataQuick supplied these:

The typical monthly mortgage payment that Bay Area buyers committed themselves to paying last month was $1,460. That was down from $1,479 in January, and up from $1,243 a year ago.
The most active lenders to Bay Area home buyers last month were Wells Fargo with 15.0 percent of the market, Stearns Lending with 4.0 percent, and RPM Mortgage with 3.7 percent.
Foreclosure resales – homes that had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months – accounted for 13.6 percent in the Bay Area in February. That’s the lowest since November 2007.

Article source: http://petaluma.patch.com/articles/sonoma-county-home-prices-on-the-rise-again

Looking back at San Francisco’s amazing real estate year

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 12:38:12 +0000

SF has never been a city making news for selling cheap homes, but this year, we surprised even ourselves by selling expensive ones. Here are a smattering of expensive home sales in San Francisco this year, from 1st to 5th most pricey. (For a complete list, visit CurbedSF.)

1. Sperling sells to Sacks and 2845 Broadway finally sells: $20 million

Note: Trulia’s original reports of $34.5 million were incorrect. Per tax records, this home sold for $20 million.

2. The Zynga/One King’s Lane Pincus home: $16 million

3, 4 and 5.

Banner Year for Bay Area median home prices

San Francisco also made news for median sold price gains- and this not just in the city proper. The whole Bay Area had a banner year, including the formerly battered East Bay where home values slumped after real estate’s big crash. ZipRealty posted these figures, showing year-over-year growth from 11/2011 to 11/2012, of single-family homes. Unless we have a major surplus of inventory in the next few months, it doesn’t seem likely these numbers will head south with the New Year.

Going up!

But readers always have their own opinions, so let’s have them now: What does your crystal ball (or other, more reliable source)tell you to expect from Bay Area home prices in 2013?

Anna Marie Erwert writes from both the renter and new buyer perspective, having (finally) achieved both statuses. She focuses on national real estate trends, specializing in the San Francisco Bay Area and Pacific Northwest. Follow Anna on Twitter: @AnnaMarieErwert

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2012/12/27/looking-back-at-san-franciscos-amazing-real-estate-year/

What the new, higher Bay Area medians can buy

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:48:30 +0000

The median price for a home in the Bay Area rose to $429,000 in September, the highest in more than four years, according to DataQuick. Let’s take a look at the median prices in San Francisco, Alameda and San Mateo counties, and what those prices can buy:

The Alameda county median is $379,000, up 8.9 percent from September 2011. Here’s a house listed at that price, at 3441 Oak Knoll Blvd in Oakland:

In San Francisco, the median is $745,000, up 21 percent from September 2011. This California Craftsman in Westwood Park (near City College) is pending sale, and was listed just above the median at $749,000. (Of course, that doesn’t mean it sold for that — the price paid won’t be public until the sale closes.)

The San Mateo county median is $620,000, up 12.5 percent from September 2011. Here’s a house in Pacifica that’s listed for that price:

Carrie Kirby is a freelance writer who recently returned to the Bay Area after living for six years in Chicago. Carrie is more heavily invested in real estate than she ever expected to be, since she and her husband are now long-distance landlords of their Chicago home, and have also purchased a house in Alameda. She posts about interesting properties and real estate trends in San Francisco and Silicon Valley every Tuesday. Carrie also shares money-saving tips on her blog, Frugalistic Mom.

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2012/10/30/what-the-new-higher-bay-area-medians-can-buy/

America’s Emptiest Cities

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 00:27:10 +0000

Cities suffering from mass emigration? Here are 5 of today’s most vacant.

We all know the nation’s real estate has been hard hit by the economy’s malaise. Between record high foreclosures and plummeting home values, the nation’s housing market may never fully recover—at least not if the target is pre-bubble prices.

But in the Bay Area, real estate remains strong. In San Francisco and the Silicon Valley in particular, prices have gotten higher along with higher demand. Even Oakland, formerly decimated by foreclosures and short sales, has enjoyed something of a comeback, scoring Realtor.com’s title of “fastest selling city in America” this August.

The rest of the county hasn’t been so lucky. As CNBC puts it, “one of the unfortunate results of a bad housing market are empty homes. Vacant properties have increased by 43.8%.” And where do thee vacancies hit hardest? CNBC released its list of the 10 emptiest cities in the USA. We covered 5 here. To see the complete list, visit CNBC here.

Could It Happen to the Bay Area?

People in Toledo or Houston probably ever planned for their cities to be so vacant. Consider Detroit, once the flourishing center of America’s automobile industry, now a shell of its former glory. What would it take, readers, to empty out one of our Bay Area cities?

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2012/10/04/americas-emptiest-cities/

What $3500 gets you in SF single-family homes

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 10:11:11 +0000

Living in a single-family home in San Francisco is getting pricier and pricer — even for current tenants. As both rental and real estate prices climb, landlords are sending unwelcome news to tenants in the form of rent increases. Houses, it turns out, are exempt from the rent control laws that protect apartment-dwellers from rent hikes.

Carolyn Said reported in Sunday’s Chronicle that some landlords are jacking up the rent to push out tenants so homes can be sold on the newly hot market.

If you’re looking to get into a single-family home in San Francisco, the average rent for current listings is $3,517, according to Rentbits. That’s up from an average listing price of $2,530 last September. By comparison, the average single family home in New York City is listed at “only” $3,073 per month, Rentbits reports. That’s yet another indicator that San Francisco rivals New York City as one of the least affordable places to live.

What does $3,500 a month get you in a San Francisco house?

In the Sunset, you can get three bedrooms, two bathrooms, an attached garage and a big yard.

In Bernal Heights, though, $3,520 may only get you a one-bedroom sublet. On the upside, it’s furnished and even comes with a flat-screen TV.

In the Pine Lake Park neighborhood, this $3,500 single-family home listing has two bedrooms — but then there’s an in-law unit with a third bedroom and its own kitchen, bathroom and living room.

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2012/09/05/what-3500-gets-you-in-sf-single-family-homes/

Reader Q&A: Home Prices in the San Francisco Bay Area

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 05:07:46 +0000

Home » Housing News » Reader QA: Home Prices in the San Francisco Bay Area

By Brandon Cornett | 3/16/11

Reader Question: “We live in Oakland but are considering a move soon. We have an appointment with a real estate agent to go look in Livermore and San Ramon, California. Can you tell me anything about the real estate market in these areas, or the San Francisco Bay Area in general? I’m wondering about home prices and how much they’ve come down. Are we at the bottom? Would now be a good time to buy?”

Bay Area Home Prices Real Estate Trends

The real estate market in the Bay Area is very diverse, in terms of home prices. There’s a lot of price differential from one city to the next, and sometimes from one neighborhood to the next within the same city. With that said, I don’t think the Bay Area as a whole has hit bottom yet. In fact, they just experienced one of the biggest price drops of any metro area in the U.S.

According to Altos Research, home prices in the San Francisco metro area declined by 3.53% from January to February. The 90-day trend showed an even bigger decline: “All 27 of the major markets tracked by Altos showed price decreases during the most recent quarter, most significantly in San Francisco … which showed declines of 9.31%.”

Here’s a must-read article from the Wall Street Journal. It talks about San Francisco home prices in 2010, but the article was published recently. So it will give you some insight into where the market has been, and where it might be headed.

San Ramon home prices seem to be stabilizing faster than Livermore, but both areas could see continued declines in the coming months. San Ramon looks like it might (keyword “might”) be bouncing along the bottom right now. This would mean small ups and down for the near future, with an upward trend in the next 6 – 12 months. Just note that I used the word might two times in that sentence.

A lot of San Francisco real estate agents will point to the steady appreciation that occurred during the first half of 2010. But this was almost entirely due to the California tax credit for home buyers, which has since expired. It was artificial market stimulation that evaporated when the government stopped the incentive.

Real estate agents will say anything to make things seem better than they really are — it’s in their interest to do so. You can’t blame them really. You just have to take it with a grain of salt. On a side note, if your agent wants to throw tomatoes at me when reading this, please make sure they’re organic.

And then there’s the whole foreclosure situation. I think foreclosures will drive inventories up through most of this year, which puts even more downward pressure on home prices. RealtyTrac already predicted a 20% rise in foreclosure filings for 2011, with an all-time high occurring sometime this year.

I’d Buy Outside of San Francisco

What does all this mean? You can probably expect further declines in home prices for most cities in San Francisco metro area. But the true bottom may not be far off. I’d buy a house in the outskirts right now, but probably not within the city of San Francisco. I think the outlying cities are going to see some appreciation much sooner than the metro.

Even if prices drop a little after you buy a house, it’s probably nothing to worry about. Barring another housing crisis, you’ll start seeing some appreciation soon — and it could be significant appreciation.

You have more bargaining power than the seller does right now. But tread carefully when making an offer. Some homeowners realize that it’s a tough market to sell in, so they’ve priced their homes competitively. Despite the sluggish housing market, a multiple-offer scenario could still occur if the home is priced well. So if you come in and low-ball the homeowner out of a false sense of security, you could see your offer rejected. In other words, you should make your offer based on the realism of the asking price.

This article makes a good companion piece for everything we’ve just discussed:
Is now a good time to buy a home?

Disclaimer: This QA response contains forward-looking statements about real estate prices in the San Francisco area. These statements are based on information available at this time. The real estate market changes rapidly. So these remarks should not be taken as gospel.

Filed under Home Prices

Article source: http://www.homebuyinginstitute.com/news/san-francisco-prices-155/