SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.

You are probably going to say, “Tell us something we don’t already know.” But again it is the case where ratified sales outpaced our new listings by almost 1 and 1/2 times. Did we mention inventory is already unusually low for this time of year? So in response to these figures, multiple offers are more the rule than the exception. We are seeing very few price reductions. The opportunity may never be greater to have your property listed and get this much exposure!

With that said, here are the numbers for last week:

3/21/07

• 10 new listings (average price $1,979,100)
• 24 ratified sales (pending – average ratified price $1,715,565 – 1 confidential)
• 20 closed sales (sold – average closed price $1,159,950)
• 2 reduced (1 for $699,000 and 1 for $369,000)

- Janis Stone

Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula said in his latest weekly report:

It was beautiful and warm everywhere in the Bay Area last week, but the real estate market continues to have some microclimates that are actually sizzling! Buyers are out “kicking tires” in every area, causing multiple offer situations to escalate, especially in the City and on the Peninsula. Woodside/Portola Valley reports that most agents are in multiple offer presentations with some prices going 10 to 15 % over asking. San Francisco notes that the number of offers in multiple situations is climbing higher each week, now seeing 6-13 offers on many properties. Southern Marin offices are seeing multiples becoming commonplace on properties listed for over $2 million. Areas of Fremont are seeing 4 to 10 offers per listing.info@SFResidence.com with “weekly market report” in the subject line.

Pre-emptive offers are increasing which makes for a successful and faster property sale – with a downside that they are keeping much need inventory from coming to the market. In San Francisco, sales for the most part still outnumber listings, especially in the upper-tier market and neighborhoods. Contra Costa County and areas of Alameda County are experiencing a very balanced market where inventory has seen some stabilization, although some very hot micro-markets exist.

Listing inventory is increasing according to 12 office reports, steady for 17, and only decreasing in one office. Sales activity continues to increase for 11 offices and remains steady for 13 – decreasing for 6. Of the reporting offices who tracked the number of multiple offers which occurred for the week, more than half of the offices reported that over 50% of their total sales were in a multiple offer situation.

The media is taking a detour with their focus on the subprime mortgage crisis. No doubt – this is a very serious situation nationwide involving a particular sector of lending – but it should be kept in context for what it is. It is not a primary driver of our local real estate activity and health. Buyers and Sellers alike should be encouraged by another headline found in this Sunday’s Chronicle: “Mortgage rates are lowest since mid-December”. What a great time to move up!

- Rick Turley

* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send a note to

Foster Weeks publishes a weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning.

…last week, you couldn’t watch the financial news for longer than a few minutes without hearing about the “subprime meltdown”, talking about a certain type of home loan experiencing heavy rates of default and foreclosure, and what the potential consequences might be on the US economy. Although subprime lending only represents a very small portion of home loans overall, the doom-and-gloom-loving media was loving it, busy forecasting a financial disaster for the economy. While this is a bit overblown, there certainly will be some ramifications, so be sure to read this week’s Mortgage Market View below, to know what you should expect, and what you can do now. Overall, the news and hype did worry investors, and both Stocks and Bonds experienced an increase in volatility…but home loan rates ended up very close to where they started for the week.

…The week ahead holds a few real headliner news items, including a new round of housing data to sift through, including Housing Starts and Building Permits on Tuesday, and Existing Home Sales next Friday. But the financial highlight of the week will be the Fed Meeting and resulting Policy Statement. There has been rumors of a Fed Funds Rate cut to help the housing market or to smooth out the subprime home loan problem…but don’t believe it. The Fed’s main charge is to control inflation, period. And they will only consider cutting rates if the core rate of inflation, as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Index, falls below 2% for a few consecutive months. The latest Core PCE was 2.3%, so don’t look for Home Equity Lines of Credit or other adjustable home loan rates that are tied to the Fed’s movements to be dropping anytime soon… Read more.

- Foster Weeks

From their website:

Steve Silver’s BEACH BLANKET BABYLON is the longest running, hit musical revue in theatre history. The Show premiered at the Savoy Tivoliin San Francisco’s North Beach, June, 1974.

It is a zany musical spoof of pop culture with extravagant costumes and outrageously huge hats. The Show’s immediate popularity forced it to move to larger quarters at Club Fugazi, a North Beach landmark, where it eventually found a permanent home. Now in its 30th year of sold-out performances, BEACH BLANKET BABYLON is an internationally acclaimed San Francisco institution…

678 Green StreetSan Francisco, CA 94133-3878
+1 415 421 4222 (Box Office) / +1 421 6788 (Sales)
bbb@beachblanketbabylon.com
Open Hours
Performances: 8p W-Th, 7p & 10p F & Sa, 1p & 4p Su
http://www.beachblanketbabylon.com

Neighborhood: North Beach

- Mick Orton

Part 1 – Golden Gate Bridge, Part 2 – Alcatraz, Part 3 – Japanese Tea Garden, Part 4 – Cable Cars, Part 5 – Fisherman’s Warf, Part 6 – Exploratorium, Part 7 – Mission Dolores, Part 8 – San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Part 9 – Lombard Street, Part 10 – Giants Stadium, Part 11 – Mission Cliffs Rock Climbing Center

A reader asks: I am considering buying a home in San Francisco, but have all these fears that I will make the wrong choice or that once I am in, I won’t be able to afford it. How can I get past this?

Our reply: What you are experiencing is not uncommon, whether it is before you buy or after. If you had already purchased it would be called “buyer’s remorse”. And there are 5 things you can do to help you feel more comfortable with the decision.

1. See a lot of houses. Make sure you get a good idea of your needs and wants, write them down and compare them to the features of each property you look at. Of course, when there is a lot of inventory on the market this step is easier. But if you have what you want firmly fixed in your mind, it will make it easier to decide if you happen to find that “stale” listing with the features you want. In such a case, you might be able to negotiate a better price, even in a seller’s market.
2. Make sure you have been preapproved with a lender. Running the numbers will give you tremendous confidence that you are buying something you can afford.
3. Talk to friends and family who can help you reinforce your decision. Janis Stone has developed a property test that she puts in her open house booklets. It helps buyers to rate properties when they are out seeing so many open houses. The Excel spreadsheet can be downloaded here by right clicking this link and choosing “save target as” on your desktop. Print it out and rate the properties as soon as you leave the open house.
4. Make it personal. Picture changes you would make once you owned the home. Thinking about things you might do to add value or “make it your own” will go far to giving you confidence that this it the right house or condo for you.
5. Don’t over-think it! Tony Robbins calls it “looping” where you keep running different scenarios over and over again in your mind, never making a decision to do anything. If you’ve done your homework, you can be confident that your choice is perfect… for now. After all, no decision has to be permanent unless you want it to be.

MarketWatch by Dow Jones has a nice article covering these points in its latest “weekend edition” which may be found here. It is about “buyers remorse”, but we think you can see how it can apply to your situation as well.

Good luck.

- Mick Orton

Back in February, the San Francisco Chronicle had an article by Robert Bruss who is a regular contributor. The subject was late mortgage payments. Though it didn’t seem appropriate at the time, more and more we are hearing of problems with loan defaults because of the sub prime lenders’ loose policies toward qualifying borrowers. Here is part of the Q&A which was found there:

Q: I am four months late on my mortgage payments because of a job loss. Now I am in the process of foreclosure. What are my options? I am back working again but do not have all the money yet to catch up on my monthly payments. Any advice?

Jawanna P.
Sacramento

A: Don’t bury your head in the sand, as many borrowers who are in mortgage default do. Instead, call your mortgage lender immediately. Explain your situation politely. Ask for a forbearance and a loan workout plan. That is presuming you can now afford to pay at least the regular monthly mortgage payment. Ask that your unpaid mortgage payments, probably totaling several thousand dollars, be added to your mortgage principal. The result will extend your mortgage by several months but then your mortgage can be reinstated in good standing with the lender.

Lenders do not want to foreclose. They lose money on virtually every foreclosure. But lenders will insist their borrowers make the monthly payments on time. If you are unable to resume the regular monthly payments, then ask the mortgage lender for time to sell your home to pay off the balance. But do everything you can to avoid a foreclosure sale.

Read more here.

- Mick Orton

SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco is one of the premier offices in the City and has the market share numbers to prove it. We have some of the top agents selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a result, our office posts some impressive numbers.

Redundant is not a strong enough word about this week’s report. For weeks, the message has been the same. With ratified sales outpacing new listings, the inventory is quickly drying up. Reports of multiple offers on properties that were sitting on the market last winter is more and more common. As we have said before, preemptive offers are becoming more popular to avoid a bidding war. All across the country, Realtors are complaining of down markets. Not so in San Francisco, mostly fueled by few listings and many buyers; low supply and high demand is the order of the day. And with this climate, it is not uncommon to see homes sell for 10% over the asking price. If you are thinking of selling NOW might be the time to put your house on the market! There is less competition for sellers and puts you in the driver’s seat!

Here are the numbers for last week:

3/14/07
6 new listings (average price $1,655,167)

• 19 ratified sales (pending – average ratified price $1,348,099 – 2 confidential)
• 15 closed sales (sold – average closed price $1,544,533)

- Janis Stone

A reader asks: In the San Francisco market can studios be a good investment?

Our reply: Depending on the location and the demographics of the particular area, studios can be a good way to get into the market. However, resale of studios can be more difficult since the pool of buyers for studios is smaller than for larger units.

Even so, San Francisco is an area where people want to have a place to use occasionally when they are coming into the City, so studios can serve this purpose. Lofts are another form of studio since they usually do not have a separate bedroom– just a loft over the living area for a bed. So if you have a studio and can make a private sleeping area you will have a wider market for resale. In fact, this is a good rule of thumb for most properties; if value can be added, any size unit can be a good investment.

- Janis Stone

Read what Rick Turley, President of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco/Peninsula said in his latest weekly report:

Inventory is not increasing at the rate it typically does in March. The number of pages in our MLS tour sheets is a good indicator, and they are decreasing in both the SF and Peninsula MLS’s this week. We’re hearing of new listings in the pipeline for many of our offices; however we appear to have plenty of Buyers already lined up for these new properties once they come online. In some respects, it’s a good problem to have. Having just returned from our International Business Conference and meeting with the CB presidents from all over the US, most metros would love to have this problem. My take is the market feels “healthy” in the majority of the metro areas, but none seem to be experiencing the sizzling Buyer demand we have in the Bay Area for well-priced, good condition homes. The typical drivers for a healthy market are in place: low interest rates, low unemployment, consumer confidence index is steady – in spite of a recent world-wide stock market drop. Add to that the limited housing we have in the Bay Area, and we should continue to see robust activity at least through the 2nd quarter, provided we have listings to sell.

Multiple offer situations dominate the conversation in most of our offices. Along with the obvious benefits of multiple-Buyer demand, comes the responsibility of educating the Seller on the best method to deal with this level of activity. It’s also important to over-communicate with the agents of Buyers who have an interest in our listings. Pre-emptive offers are more common now, and as the Seller must be the one who decides how to deal with these opportunities, it remains our responsibility to communicate the game plan with all the possible players.

In the $1-2 million range (where inventory still seems to be the tightest) homes are getting anywhere from two to 12 offers. Berkeley indicates that 75% of their sales were in multiple offer situations, and in San Francisco’s Westwood Park, a “contractor’s special” received 33 offers – 22 of which were all cash. In Palo Alto, practically anything on the market for less than $2 million is receiving multiple offers. Listing inventory overall decreased for 6 offices, remained steady for 11 and increased in 10. Sales activity continues its upswing with 15 offices reporting an increase, 10 seeing steady activity, and only 2 reporting a decline.

We get an extra hour of daylight now – let’s hope homeowners put it to good use in whipping their homes into shape for a quick Springtime sale. Let’s also make sure we’re taking full advantage of our Princeton partners, getting our Buyers pre-approved and underwritten in advance, for a super-clean offer.

- Rick Turley

* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send a note to info@SFResidence.com with “weekly market report” in the subject line.

Foster Weeks publishes a weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. In spite of all the dire warnings on the economy of people like Greenspan and homebuilding giant, Donald Timnitz, interest rates remained low. Here in San Francisco the real estate market is beginning to look like the “old” days… multiple offers over asking price.

…Alan Greenspan… recently celebrated his 81st birthday by stating that the there is a 33% chance of a recession later this year. And if that weren’t enough to get frightened over, a meltdown of sub-prime mortgage lenders grabbed most of the headlines.

Although 97,000 new jobs created in February is not a scary number, it was less than expectations from the Department of Labor. The Unemployment Rate did fall to 4.5%, and Average Hourly Earnings rose more than anticipated to $17.16, but fears of inflation from these numbers spooked bonds into a Friday sell-off.

Mortgage Bonds and home loan rates had been improving earlier in the week, but the overall strong economic tone of Friday’s Jobs Report erased the gains that had been made, leaving rates at essentially the same place they started on Monday.

Bonds started the week off to the plus side due to investor fears about the economy, which caused money to be parked over in the “safe haven” of low-risk Bonds…thereby benefiting home loan rates. The fears were broader than the sub-prime headlines and Greenspan warning. They included evidence of economic slowdown in the US as well as China… Read more.

- Foster Weeks