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

DataQuick numbers were released this past week and the media swarmed to extract a pattern of doom for the housing market from the report. DataQuick reported a slowdown in sales and an increase in median prices and attributed the results to a “continued buyer-seller standoff.”

However, the only true pattern emerging in Bay Area real estate over the week is one we’ve already identified before – pricing and condition are crucial to a reasonably quick sale. And as DataQuick pointed out, when interested-but-wary buyers meet sellers who are reluctant to negotiate, a no-sale situation is the result. For our City and Peninsula offices, no-to-low inventory is still the main story.

Multiple offers are up again, and the upper-tier properties remain the hot tickets in most areas. A $3.9 million Kentfield listing had nine offers. In Mill Valley, a $2.8 million listing received multiple offers. Oakland/Piedmont and Menlo Park both report multiple offers in all price ranges. Our San Francisco offices reported approximately 1 in 3 sales involved multiple offers for the week. All in all, more than 80 multiple offer situations occurred.

Listing inventory remained steady as reported by 14 offices, increased in 10 offices and decreased for five. Sales activity also remained steady for 14 offices, while it reportedly increased for 12 offices and only decreased for 3.

DataQuick is an excellent resource, and reading the report provides a fair reflection on the previous 60 to 90 days. However, no matter how the media tries to spin it, DataQuick is a reflection only – not necessarily a current depiction of the market. Thankfully, our Buyers and Sellers have true professionals like you in the field; helping them evaluate precisely what is happening at the very moment in your specific market and neighborhood.

- 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.

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Yahoo Travel says this about the Yerba Buena Ice Skating & Bowling Center:

The only year-round ice-skating rink in San Francisco. An attractive, all-new facility atop the Moscone Center, the ice-skating center offers recreational skating (with plenty of skates to rent) day and night. Skating lessons are also available for beginners, as are hockey games, adult hockey workshops, and figure-skating lessons. With so much going on, it’s advisable to call ahead to check the schedule. The rink can be rented for private groups or parties. The brand new bowling alley built atop the Moscone Center, right next to the skating rink, is a great place to take friends or kids. In fact, it can be rented for bowling parties. Lessons and league bowling is offered, as well. The bowling center is attractively designed, too (in a bowling-alleyish kind of way), and it has a very friendly feeling.

750 Folsom StreetSan Francisco, CA 94107-1276
+1 415 777 3727
ybbc@vscsports.com
Open Hours5a-midnight M-Su
http://www.skatebowl.com

Neighborhood: SOMA

- 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, Part 12 – Beach Blanket Babylon, Part 13 – Palace of Fine Arts, Part 14 – Asian Art Museum, Part 15 – Coit Tower, Part 16 – Musee Mecanique, Part 17 – Palace of the Legion of Honor, Part 18 – The Octagon House, Part 19 – Holy Virgin Cathedral, Part 20 – San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour

SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which 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.

Ratified deals were 4 times the number of new listings which means we have the buyers! It also means that inventory continues to shrink as spring moves forward. With summer just around the bend, it could be a great time to list your property in order to increase your chances to get multiple offers.

California, and San Francisco in particular, tend to lead the nation as far as trends go, and our Realtor friends in other areas from Florida to Arizona are reporting increasing activity. If you are thinking of selling now might be the time to do so. Don’t get lost in the inevitable flood of listings that are usual for the summer market!

Here are the numbers for last week:

5/16/07

• 5 new listings (average price $2,809,800 – low $849,000, high $6,300,000)
• 21 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,580,600 – low $569,000, high $6,595,000, 1 confidential)
• 12 closed sales (sold) (average price $878,536.36 – low $503,000, high $1,600,000, 1 confidential)
• 1 reduced ($669,000)

- Janis Stone

Foster Weeks publishes a weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the San Francisco real estate market? Read our weekly and monthly market reports. As a result of the Fed meeting last week, home mortgage rates ended slightly higher.

…the Fed held the spotlight last week, as Chairman Bernanke and his team of inflation fighters at the Fed released their latest Interest Rate Decision and Policy Statement. And the tone of the Statement did indeed change the weather for Bonds and home loan rates.

As expected, the Fed voted to leave the Fed Funds Rate holding steady at 5.25%. However, it was the tone of the Policy Statement that was not so nice for Bonds or home loan rates, which worsened a bit following the release. Why? Because the market was looking for some loving lyrics from the Fed, particularly in regards to inflation. Recent inflation and wage data has all been friendly, and the economy is slowing a bit as well. So the markets were expecting a nice ballad from the Fed about inflation being under control…but instead, the Fed said their predominant concern is that inflation will “fail to moderate as expected”. While the Fed’s primary mission is to be on guard against inflation, the market was hoping for a little more love on this front, and was a bit displeased with the tone of the Statement… Read more.

- Foster Weeks

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

It was a patchwork quilt of a market in the San Francisco Bay Area this week with determined buyers aggressively bidding and buying homes in some areas, and aggressively bargaining in others. Like last week, place and price continue to be the most critical factors in getting buyers and sellers to come to terms. Five Petaluma listings were in multiple offer situations with two-to-three offers per property. Condo sales in Novato are stagnant, but upper-end homes are moving nicely, and the rental market is “hot” – even experiencing multiple lease offer situations. Santa Rosa reports brisk activity at several price points, but notes the $1M+ properties are seeing the steadiest activity. The high end also continues to get a lot of attention in Southern Marin and well-priced homes sell quickly.

…In San Francisco, a $1 million condo generated five offers in one day and sold for 22% over asking. More than 90 homes were reportedly in multiple offer situations…. Read more.

- 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.

Yahoo Travel says this about the San Francisco Ghost Hunt Walking Tour:

With all the interesting events that have occurred in San Francisco, there are bound to be a few disgruntled spirits hanging around. This tour takes you to meet them. Your guide, gifted with a suitably mordant sense of humor, will regale you with ghost stories to put you in the mood as you visit places suspected of hauntings and hear about the evidence of ghostly visitations. This one-mile walking tour includes one moderate hill and lasts about two hours. Tours leave from the lobby of the Queen Anne Hotel and cost USD20 per adult, USD10 under 16 (cash only).

1590 Sutter StreetSan Francisco, CA 94109-5307
+1 415 922 5590
sfghosthunt@yahoo.com
Open Hours7p onwards M & W-Su
http://www.sfghosthunt.com/

Neighborhood: Pacific Heights

- 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, Part 12 – Beach Blanket Babylon, Part 13 – Palace of Fine Arts, Part 14 – Asian Art Museum, Part 15 – Coit Tower, Part 16 – Musee Mecanique, Part 17 – Palace of the Legion of Honor, Part 18 – The Octagon House, Part 19 – Holy Virgin Cathedral

SFResidence is part of the TRI Coldwell Banker office at 1699 Van Ness in San Francisco which 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.

Here are the numbers for last week:

5/9/07

• 11 new listings (average price $2,112,454.55 – low $299,000, high $4,125,000)
• 27 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,485,377 – low $480,000, high $4,850,000, 1 confidential)
• 14 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,887,986.50 – low $459,000, high $5,050,000)
• 3 reduced (average $1,664,666.67 – low $725,000, high $1,950,000)

- Mick Orton

Senior Loan Consultant for Princeton Capital at 1699 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94109, housed in the same building as SFResidence and TRI Coldwell Banker.

Hi Everyone!
The 26 Criteria for Quoting Rates:

There are 26 unique criteria that goes into determining what rate someone is able to secure for a particular loan…and, yes, we need to analyze and understand all of them in order to provide intelligent and accurate financial counseling.

Please feel free to pass this information on to your clients and, as always, if Dennis or I can ever be of service, do not hesitate to call! Remember…anyone can quote anything over the phone…the question becomes one of integrity, knowledge and ability to deliver!

• Loan Size
• Loan to Value
• Combined Loan to Value
• Credit Score
• Credit History
• Escrows
• Closing Date
• Loan Type
• Property Type
• Occupancy Type
• Residency
• Available Assets
• Asset Seasoning
• Co-borrowers
• Debt Ratio
• Housing Ratio
• Purchase or Refi
• Employment Type
• Employment History
• Documentation
• Income Recognition
• Re-cast Option
• Relocation
• Seller Contributions
• Gifts
• Cash-out

Stacey C. Fleece, CFA
Senior Loan Consultant
Princeton Capital
415.229.1228 (office)
415.596.6069 (mobile)
staceyfleece@princetoncap.com

Foster Weeks publishes a weekly mortgage report which is updated every Monday morning. How is this affecting the San Francisco real estate market? Read our weekly and monthly market reports. This week, not much change.

…news from Wall Street was also galloping in fast and furious last week – so let’s make some horse sense out of the major headlines that helped Bonds and home loan rates end up slightly improved for the week overall.

First, the Fed’s favorite gauge of consumer inflation, Core Personal Consumption Expenditure Index (PCE), showed a year over year reading of 2.1%, which is very close to the Fed’s target zone of 1 – 2%. With inflation moderating, the Fed might start thinking about making a cut to the Fed Funds Rate in the 2nd half of 2007. This tame read on inflation was very good news for Bonds, as the value on their fixed returns get eroded by the impact of inflation.

Then, the Jobs Report arrived, with new jobs created in April being reported at 88,000, below
what most analysts expected. Additionally, revisions took 26,000 jobs away from previous months reports, the Unemployment Rate rose slightly to 4.5%, and Average Hourly Earnings were reported slightly lower than expected at 0.2%. Overall, the Job Report suggests the strong labor market is softening a touch and wage based inflation pressure is moderating – more good news for Bonds and home loan rates. Wage-based inflation comes into play when the job market is tight and therefore employers are forced to pay their employees more. This naturally results in more dollars being injected into the economy for spending – as well as the cost of doing business moving higher for employers – all of which can cause prices on goods and services to rise. Read more.

- Foster Weeks