Bay AreaState of the Markets – May 2012: Bubble Fever The Bay Area has bubble fever. But this time, fear of the bubble may be more pervasive than the bubble itself. The question then becomes: Is the fear justified? And if it is, what does the future hold for home prices and rents? The data tell a conflicting story, but one that is illuminating nonetheless. [...] 35% Above List? The Seller’s Market is Officially Here By Andrew Jeffery It’s beginning to feel a lot like “the good old days,” where real estate is once cocktail party subject de jour. Oh San Francisco, you do love blowing bubbles. Case in point: 86 Wool St., an 1,100 square foot Marina-style home in Bernal Heights, just sold for $202,000 above list. Wow. A [...] SoMa vs. Nob Hill: Where would you buy? By Andrew Jeffery I had an interesting conversation this morning about relative performance in different San Francisco neighborhoods during and after the housing bubble burst. Conventional wisdom would lead one to believe that SoMa, the fringier and “overdeveloped” part of San Francisco would have performed better than Nob Hill, which is much more established as [...] 32 Offers — Are We in a Bubble? We get asked almost every day whether we think a bubble is forming around social media companies like Facebook, Twitter and Zynga. And with Facebook buying Instagram this week for $1 billion, “bubble” is now on the tip of everyone’s tongue. They say you can see a bubble if you look at the real estate [...] San Francisco Pushes for Foreclosure Moratorium The Occupy movement may have faded out of national headlines, but here in San Francisco, activists are making strides to impact policy. Yesterday, after being prodded by members of Occupy Bernal, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to pass a resolution for a moratorium on foreclosures within the city and county of San Francisco. Occupy [...] Inner Mission vs. San Francisco: Condo Trends The Inner Mission is one of the most up and coming neighborhoods in San Francisco. Over the past 10 years, a more affluent demographic has moved to the area, as employees at companies like Facebook, Google, Twitter, Salesforce.com and Apple have flocked to this haven for culture, cuisine and nightlife. As a result, condominium development [...] Is California Bucking the Trend, or Living in a Bubble? From HousingWire, these two headlines tell quite a story … As mentioned below, California — San Francisco in particular — continue to write their economic story. $110k Over List and 11 Offers in Bernal (not Noe) This little house just a block off Cortland just closed with a sale price at over $110,000 above asking — with 11 offers. Which begs the question, which Cirios asked almost a year ago, “Is Bernal the new Noe?” Markets around the Bay Area are as tight as they have ever been, even against the [...] Riding the Waves at the Beacon Socketsite posted an interesting example of why the Beacon continues to be a dicey building to buy (or own) in. Here is the chronology of unit 802 in 250 King St.: Apr. 2006: Bought new for $906,666 with a 105% LTV loan Nov. 2009: Bought at foreclosure auction for $527,077, cash May 2010: Bought on the open [...] Is Montclair a Hidden Value Gem?If young families want to buy homes where schools are good, there is a reasonably hip downtown nearby and getting into San Francisco isn’t impossible, then Montclair should be at the top of everyone’s list. But it doesn’t seem to be. Most people haven’t even heard of it. Montclair elementary is a top ranked school [...] Crunching Bay Area Multifamily Sales DataChewing through some multifamily sales data this morning, I compiled these simple charts to break down 2011 sales into price buckets. No real surprises here, other than to highlight that by both sale price and unit count, $1-3 million buildings dominant the apartment building space in the Bay Area. If you take out one large [...] The Bay Area’s Hottest Housing MarketAs a follow up to Greg’s piece on Bay Area Real Estate Trends about velocity over in the East Bay, here is a snapshot of what it looks like out west. I grabbed some data on a few cities in San Mateo and Santa Clara County to examine the same data, months supply in the [...] State of the Markets – February 2012For being the year the world is supposed to end, 2012 has a lot of potential. After all, this is the year the housing market is supposed to hit bottom. Again. It’s also the year banks are finally supposed to unleash their bloated inventory of distressed properties onto the market. We’ve had the story before, [...] 5 Cheapest Single Family Homes in Palo AltoWith Facebook’s imminent initial public offering, the real estate community in Menlo Park and Palo Alto is a buzz with anticipation of how the estimated 1,000 newly minted millionaires will spend their money. The city of Menlo Park even commissioned a study to determine how the influx of (mostly) young, wealthy, professionals could impact the [...] Bernal Heights – Single Family Home Sales DataIn response to a thread on Bernalwood regarding Bernal Heights real estate, Cirios put together some simple data for single family home sales over the past three years. Monthly data is inherently choppy and seasonal, so we prefer to look at rolling 3-month averages. The table and graphs below help paint part of the picture [...] Top 5: Bay Area Markets to Watch in 20122012 is sure to be another whacky ride in local real estate markets. And while we aren’t predicting runaway appreciation to kick in, certain cities seem poised for fundamental strength and continued improvement. These are five cities worth watching in the coming year, along with price trend graphs that shed some light into where we’ve [...] Top 5: Highest Property Tax Bills in the Bay AreaIt’s that time again … no, not Halloween, but property tax time! California real estate tax bills get mailed out every November 1st, much to the chagrin of homeowners all over the state. You may curse the cost to own property in our fair state, but your burden likely pales in comparison to these generous, [...] Top 5 Views in San Francisco for Under $1 MillionIn San Francisco, million dollar views are a dime a dozen. But what if you could get that view, without the price tag? We scoured the MLS to find the five best views for under $1 million. You may be surprised at what you can get, and where you can get it. 242 Bella Vista [...] The 5 Cheapest Single Family Homes in San Francisco (Outside Bayview)Think you can’t afford to buy a single family home in San Francisco? Think again. There are plenty of options out there … as long as you’re willing to settle, on pretty much everything. Here are the 5 lowest priced single family homes in San Francisco, outside Bayview. 20-A Precita Ave., Bernal Heights Listed for [...] Is Bernal the new Noe?At almost $750/sqft, this recent sale in Bernal could help make the argument that Bernal Heights is approaching the realm of affordability (or non-affordability) typically reserved for Noe Valley. Almost a million dollars for a home that isn’t quite 1,400 sqft. Wow. 125 Andover St., San Francisco. Sold for $950,000 (list price $899,000) 7/8/11. (click [...] Best Sites to Find a Rental in San FranciscoThis month, we focus on the best rental search engines for the San Francisco rental market. These sites rank highest in use according to managemyproperty.com, an online rental resource site. Extra bonus at the bottom for our favorite newcomer! 5. mynewplace.com Headquartered in San Francisco, mynewplace.com was founded in 2005. With a database of over [...] Why is my rent SO high?Dear Prospective Tenant, Thank you for your interest in the 2-bedroom apartment I am renting for $2,500 per month. I received your application, along with 17 others, and will review them over the weekend. Good luck! – Your future landlord If you’re like many tenants in San Francisco, you’ve experienced a rental market reminiscent [...] Price Punch: What 325k can buy you in SFYou have a $325k spending limit and want to live in the city…with parking. What on earth can you buy? 939 OFarrell St San Francisco 94115 $330,000 Western Addition MLS# 372010 Active This little gem is located in Endicott Court, a small community of 7 Victorians that have been divided into 14 condominiums. Open living [...] Top 5 Places to Go on a Sunny Day in SFLike clockwork, every time the temperature hovers over 70 degrees in San Francisco, we get a serious case of Spring fever. So if you find yourself off work on one of these particularly glorious days (or have caught a ‘sudden’ cold)…we compiled the top 5 outdoor spots in SF to take in the rays. 1. [...] |