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Real estate sales were down by double digits Bay Area-wide in September, but homes prices in the Vallejo area continued rising, according to the latest data released by CoreLogic.

This seems to show that the law of supply and demand still applies, Solano Association of Realtors President Linda Daraskavich said.

“There are fewer homes on the market, and the demand is still here for people to buy, and this is pushing prices up,” she said.

Home sales were down nearly 13 percent year-over-year in Solano County, while the median price of a house sold in September was $400,000, up more than 12 percent compared to a year ago, according to CoreLogic.

While the cost is rising, home prices in the Vallejo area remained the Bay Area’s most affordable by a significant margin, with Contra Costa County’s $560,000 being the second least expensive median price, followed by Santa Clara’s $570,000 and Sonoma’s $571,500. The San Mateo area’s $1.1 million median sale price was the Bay Area’s most expensive in September, the report shows.

The situation was similar on a month-over-month basis, as well, with the number of homes sold in the Vallejo area in September, down more than 9 percent compared to August, and prices up half a percent — one of only three areas where that figure didn’t fall.

The steepest month-over-month price rise was the Marin County area’s 4.1 percent increase, from $965,000 to just over $1 million.

Since 1988, the average change in sales between August and September is a decline of 10.9 percent, CoreLogic officials said.

“With tight inventory and prices up significantly from last year, homes sales this September fell on a year-over-year basis in all but two of the San Francisco Bay Area’s nine counties — Marin and Santa Clara,” CoreLogic’s research analyst Andrew LePage said. “The region-wide 7.5 percent year-over-year sales decline (in September) makes the severity of the decreases in the lower price ranges where many first-time buyers face a daunting challenge in one of the nation’s priciest housing markets. The number of deals recorded last month for less than $500,000 fell about 28 percent year over year, while deals below $300,000 plunged 41.5 percent. The share of the region’s home sales below $500,000 has dropped from about one-third of the market a year ago to about a quarter of the market today.”

The median price paid for all homes sold in the San Francisco Bay Area in September 2017 was $739,000, down .1 percent from $740,000 in August 2017, and up 13.7 percent compared to a year ago, CoreLogic officials said. The San Francisco Bay Area’s median sale price hit an all-time high of $775,000 in June.

Government-insured Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans accounted for 9 percent of home purchase loans in the Bay Area in September, down from 11.2 percent in both August, 2017 and a year ago. Low-down-payment FHA loans accounted for a substantially higher share of home purchase loans in the more affordable Bay Area locations, like Solano County, which had the highest FHA share in September at 21 percent, followed by Contra Costa County at 15.1 percent and Sonoma County’s 9.4 percent.

Contact Rachel Raskin-Zrihen at (707) 553-6824.

Article source: http://www.timesheraldonline.com/article/NH/20171031/NEWS/171039965

To be clear, just because Uber is hemorrhaging money doesn’t mean it won’t one day turn a substantial profit. It remains, for one thing, in expansion mode. Amazon, after all, didn’t register meaningful profits for two decades and now the e-commerce empire is one of the most valuable companies in the world. Uber’s investors don’t seem to be too worried about its losses. In May, Jason Calacanis, an early Uber investor, congratulated the company for growing its sales while narrowing losses—again, in a quarter in which it lost more than half a billion dollars.

Article source: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2017/10/uber_might_make_more_money_selling_real_estate_in_oakland_than_selling_rides.html

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A: Our hearts go out to all effected by the recent devastating fires. Lives are changed forever because of these catastrophic events. I was selling Bay Area real estate during the 1991 Oakland fire and president of a real estate company in San Diego when the Cedar fire ravaged over 280,000 acres and 2,800 homes and businesses were destroyed. I also have a home in Sonoma so I have had a front row seat to observe what these fires can do to local economies and how communities rebound from these shattering events.

The long term prognosis is good. Fortunately, most people are insured. The insurance companies have gotten much better about assessing damage early, even sending preliminary checks to help with living and necessity costs. These actions ensure a strong economy in the near/far future as construction workers, landscapers, home designers, and architects and other needed resources will be in short supply. Additionally, services for the influx of people who are employed will be bolstered as people again patronize restaurants, wineries and hotels.

With an already-limited supply of homes, this dearth of available housing will temporarily cause an uptick in prices as people scramble to rent or buy existing housing. Real estate is a significant driver of any robust economy and many ancillary services are affected as well, negatively in the short term with lack of supplies and very positively in the long run. I have seen communities pull together, supporting each other with information, goods and services. The North Bay will survive this disaster through commitment and hard work, honoring the memory of those we lost and grateful for everyone who dedicated themselves to fighting the fires and keeping our communities safe as we rebuild from the ashes.

Jill Gumina, Hill Co. Real Estate, (415) 265-1717, jkgumina@gmail.com.

A: The North Bay Fires will have an affect on the real estate market close to the areas that experienced the most devastation. Natural disasters change the public perception of purchasing in very high risk neighborhoods. After seeing what a fire can do, the risks might outweigh the original appeal for some. Studies show that although home prices drop in neighborhoods around an area that has been directly affected by a fire, it takes more than one fire to induce a permanent change.

When devastated neighborhoods rebuild it attracts new home buyers who have not experienced what happened, such as the tragedy in San Bruno with the gas pipe explosion. Currently the rebuilt home sale prices there have nearly doubled in value since the explosion in 2010.

The lowest fire or natural disaster risk purchases, in the Bay Area, should not experience any change in their market values. We haven’t seen any changes outside of that area.

Karin Cunningham, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Realty, (650) 438-3504, karinc@bhhscalreal.com.

A: Real estate values will increase in the next few years, as existing home prices and rents go up to compensate for the loss of thousands of housing units. The upward pressure will start in the North Counties and ripple across the Bay Area.

The lucky people who lost their homes and were adequately insured may decide to rebuild or they may take the insurance money, pay off their debts, and move elsewhere. This could cause speculators and developers to rush in to buy empty lots.

Everything will get more expensive. The demand for skilled construction labor will go up. Finding good tradespeople has already been a challenge; now it will get worse. Building materials and all the components that go into a house will get more expensive.

The demand for homes in move-in condition will increase, while the values of “fixer uppers” may go down. Fixers have been extremely popular and they probably will continue to be in San Francisco, but the buyers of these properties must plan for higher labor and material costs.

There will be intense pressure on city building departments to streamline the permitting process. Let’s hope that our city leaders succeed in cutting the red tape.

John Solaegui, Paragon Real Estate Group, (415) 999-0673, jsolaegui@paragon-re.com.

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/How-will-the-North-Bay-fires-affect-the-Bay-Area-12318181.php

A San Francisco house that was “completely gutted” by a fire is on the market for about $800,000 – staggering evidence of the Bay Area’s worsening housing crisis.

Located at 121 Gates Street in the Bernal Heights neighborhood, the 600-square-foot house offers one bedroom and one bathroom. It was built in 1907 and boasts views of the San Francisco Bay, according to the Coldwell Banker listing.

This list of attributes doesn’t take into account the fact that the house, which sits on a 1,746-square-foot lot, was badly damaged in a 2016 fire. No one was injured.

Photographs of the house show stairs leading up to a charred house where sunlight streams through a window, highlighting charred walls, mangled appliances and interiors that are burned beyond recognition or repair.

However, in a city where housing stock cannot keep up with skyrocketing demand, the fire hasn’t detracted from the house’s appeal. In fact, realtor Jim Laufenberg told Business Insider that its price tag – $1,331 per square foot for a total of $799,000 – is on the low side. The seller did so intentionally to generate interest, he said.

The house, which will need to be overhauled, is being billed as fixer upper.

“Contractors! Fixer! However, great location North of Cortland with all its amenities,” its listing reads.

NBC Bay Area has reached out to Coldwell Banker and is awaiting a comment.

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