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. Compared to past years, interest rates are still very low. But the only news we hear from the media is gloom and doom for the housing market, though some experts predict that the worst is over. Home loan rates improved for the week.

…our recently overheated Stock market suddenly took an icy plunge lower last week. Just as quickly as the Dow had cracked the record level of 14,000, Stocks reversed course and lost 586 points for the week overall. The big cool down was triggered by a few different factors, including several weak Stock earnings reports and continuing concerns about the backlash from the subprime mortgage situation and tightening mortgage credit. And when the mood in the Stock market went sour, it happened fast – Traders and investors unloaded Stocks hand over fist.

But when they sell off Stocks, that money has to get parked somewhere, right? The glad beneficiary of the selling was the Bond market. As money flowed out of Stocks and into Bonds, the Bond market overall enjoyed a move higher with the influx of money, helping home loan rates stabilize and even improve very slightly.

Read the entire report here.

- Foster Weeks

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

The media enjoyed a field day with the real estate industry this week in attempting to analyze major reports issued by N.A.R. and the Commerce Department regarding the nationwide housing market. Combined with subprime lending issues and Wall Street’s wobbly performance, most reporters took the easy route of predicting doom and gloom, and a longer downturn for real estate on a national front.

The media forgot, however, to mention a few key points which indicate that this is an excellent time to buy real estate, and savvy sellers are reaping the rewards. Regarding issues with lending, the simple fact is that lenders are more than happy to lend money to people who can afford to borrow it. Standards for documented income, assets and cash flow have become stricter, but rates remain relatively low. Additionally, when Wall Street suffers from volatility, people tend to cash out of the stock market and reinvest in real estate.

Read the entire report here.

- Rick Turley

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

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- Janis Stone

Previous things to do:

Parts 1 – 20, Part 21 – Yerba Buena Ice Skating & Bowling Center, Part 22 – 49-mile Scenic Drive, Part 23 – Segway San Francisco Electric Tour, Part 24 – Vesuvio, Part 25 – Haight-Ashbury Street Fair, Part 26 – Wyland Galleries, Part 27 – Metreon, Part 28 – Angel Island, Part 29 – San Francisco Fire Engine Tours & Adventures

Creeping interest rates are no doubt hurting the housing market. Even though interest rates are low from a historical perspective, the constant drumbeat of the evening news makes it sound worse than it is. As a result, some of the markets in California are being hurt and the number of foreclosures continues to rise.

Here in the Bay Area, our market is very strong, partly due to the heavy restrictions on builders and partly due to the desirability of living in San Francisco (low supply and high demand).

Although the number of houses sold has fallen off, prices remain high, with over asking price sales still being the norm. Our current market report may be seen here. June numbers from California Association of Realtors are listed below.

- Janis Stone

Calif. median home price – June 07: $594,260 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $591,180 last month)

Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region June 07: Santa Barbara So. Coast $1,375,000 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $1,325,000 last month)

Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region June 07: High Desert $306,310 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $313,550 last month)

Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index – First Quarter 07: 25 percent (Source: C.A.R.)

Mortgage rates – week ending 7/12:

• 30-yr. fixed: 6.73%; Fees/points: 0.4% (note: compared to 6.69% and 0.5% points last report)
• 15-yr. fixed: 6.39%; Fees/points: 0.4% (note: compared to 6.37% and 0.5% points last report)
• 1-yr. adjustable: 5.71%; Fees/points: 0.5% (note: compared to 5.66% and 0.7% points last report)

- California Association of Realtors & Freddie Mac

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.

The summer lull is officially here, with regard to the Giants, new listings as well as the weather. The fickle finger of fog is back and has blanketed the City for about a week now. Warmer temperatures inland draw the cool, moist air in from the Pacific which is typical for this time of year. It’s called natural air conditioning! This morning I used my lights and windshield wipers from Marin to our office. Yet even with the lack of new listings, agents in our office are continuing to sell homes to buyers. Our pending sales outpaced new listings by 4 to 1. Can you say shrinking inventory… again?

Here are the numbers for this week:

7/25/07

• 4 new listings (average price $837,750 – low $539,000, high $1,188,000)
• 16 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,585,250 – low $559,000, high $6,800,000)
• 11 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,735,227 – low $599,000, high $5,775,000)

- 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. What began as another rough week for home loan rates ended with them being slightly improved for the week.

EASY COME, EASY GO…Last week, Stocks surged to cross the 14,000 mark on the Dow for the first time ever. But just as the party hats came out, so did a disappointing earnings report from Wall Street darling Google. Suddenly, the Stock that could do no wrong was showing chinks in the armor, and led to fears that other Stocks might follow suit, which caused an across the board sell-off. But every cloud has a silver lining – the money coming out of Stocks was parked over into Bonds. This helped home loan rates improve from levels hit earlier in the week, and end up about .125% better for the week overall.

And as if that weren’t exciting enough, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke took center stage last week, speaking to Congress about inflation, housing, and the economic outlook. He stated that although the recent inflation numbers have been moderating, the Fed remains very concerned about inflation. He underscored that they are staying very alert to economic changes and indicators, but based on their continuing concerns over inflation, it certainly appears that there will not be a cut to the Fed Funds Rate in the near future.

Read the entire report here.

- Foster Weeks

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

This week DataQuick, the real estate information firm relied on by the local media, released its report on the condition of the Bay Area real estate market for the month of June. The report is a solid reflection of what we’re seeing in July as well, and what we’ve been identifying in the Weekly Market Watch for months now – some areas are witnessing high activity and others are struggling. The report indicates that median sales prices have increased, but that sales of homes are down over all in most areas. For a change, however, the report has identified the booming luxury homes market as being not only strong but also largely responsible for elevating that median sale price. Buyers in lower priced markets are adopting a “wait and see” attitude.

Read the entire report here.

- Rick Turley

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

A reader asks: In San Francisco, what makes a good rental property investment? I know rent control has taken away some of the market, but are there other properties I could buy that would make sense as an investor?

Reply: My opinion is that if you do not want to deal with rent control, buy properties that were built after 1978 because they are exempt from rent control. In San Francisco, an investor typically does not make money from monthly cash flow but from appreciation (except maybe in an all cash situation). So you would have to subsidize the properties while you own them, but more than make up for it in appreciation when you sell.

Or you could sell them “differently” than how you bought them. For instance– you buy a 6 unit building that is in disrepair and when you are able to get the units vacant, you remodel them so you can then sell them as TIC’s. In this instance the individual units are much more valuable than the building as a whole.

But it is very difficult to make “income” property in San Francisco make sense especially with rent control and the high price of property.

- Janis Stone

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- Janis Stone

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.

The market in San Francisco just keeps rolling steadily along, even with the 4th of July holiday “week” and in spite of the usual summer slowdown. Ratified deals continue to outpace new listings, though there were quite a few pocket listings announced for the office’s knowledge only. So it is worth mentioning again that, if we don’t have it listed, there’s a good chance we represented the buyer.

Here are the numbers for this week:

7/18/07

• 6 new listings (average price $1,673,000 – low $759,000, high $3,500,000)
• 14 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,157,071 – low $515,000, high $2,650,000)
• 12 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,225,750 – low $275,000, high $3,150,000)

- Janis Stone