Looking at the numbers below, you will see that, despite the gloom and doom of the media reports on housing slumps and mortgage problems with sub-prime loans, real estate in California is alive and doing well. What we have noticed is that when the news reports record foreclosures the story is invariably about people having problems in other states like Texas, Florida or Michigan. Fortunately for us, San Francisco real estate is still strong!

- Janis Stone

• Calif. median home price – August 07: $588,970 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $586,030 last month)
• Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region August 07: Santa Barbara So. Coast $1,262,500 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $1,100,000 last month)
• Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region August 07: High Desert $287,390 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $296,220 last month)
• Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index – Second Quarter 07: 24 percent (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to 07:24 last quarter)

Mortgage rates – week ending 9/20:

• 30-yr. fixed: 6.34%; Fees/points: 0.5% (note: compared to 6.46% and 0.5% points last report)
• 15-yr. fixed: 5.98%; Fees/points: 0.5% (note: compared to 6.15% and 0.5% points last report)
• 1-yr. adjustable: 5.65%; Fees/points: 0.6% (note: compared to 5.74% and 0.6% 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.

Last week was a false alarm. The number of new listings is really not taking off as we had expected. Many professionals are saying that the media negative reports on mortgage problems and the housing slump are probably affecting a “wait and see” attitude among sellers.

Funny how people usually do the wrong thing! When inventory is as low as it is right now, this is the time to be putting your property on the market. Buyers are out there and will circle around like buzzards to an animal carcass (if the property is priced right) and drive the sales price up. Instead they will probably all wait until everyone else is selling and then compete for buyers. It is herd mentality at its best and something that is hard to overcome. After all, nobody wants to come out the loser, right?

Think about the dot com bubble a few years back. The people who really made money are the ones who got in early before the frenzy and then got out while everyone was buying and driving the prices to the point where the market crashed. Most people were not so lucky. So why follow the crowd right over the cliff? Beats me.

Here are the numbers for this week: 9/26/07:

• 4 new listings (average price $1,902,000 – low $969,000, high $3,295,000)
• 12 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,228,000 – low $469,000, high $2,950,000)
• 5 closed sales (sold) (average price $2,062,600 – low $483,000, high $7,250,000)

- Janis Stone

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

Though the Fed may have assisted the mortgage crisis a bit with its rate lowering and some policy changes, there haven’t been any significant changes in the San Francisco Bay Area market this past week that can be attributed to anything happening in the latest news. Perception is driving the market. The chasm between buyers and sellers seems to be closing a bit – but not quite enough in some communities.

Buyers are starting to realize that selling prices are not going to drop precipitously from where they are. Sellers, on the other hand, are starting to make the adjustments in condition and price that are necessary to remain competitive. Still, there are some sellers that refuse to lower prices to saleable levels, and buyers who are convinced they’ll be able to get an even better deal by waiting. We are seeing some sellers who don’t need to sell taking their properties off the market – if a deal is to be had, now is the time to negotiate it.

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.

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.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his Federal Open Market Committee probably measured their decision quite a few times before making their recent .50% cut to the Fed Funds Rate. But if the Fed’s history of making cuts and hikes in cycles continues – this cut is probably not a “one and done”.

Here’s what the Fed had to say as they announced the cut: “Economic growth was moderate during the first half of the year, but the tightening of credit conditions has the potential to intensify the housing correction and to restrain economic growth more generally. Today’s action is intended to help forestall some of the adverse effects on the broader economy that might otherwise arise from the disruptions in financial markets and to promote moderate growth over time.” This means that the Fed will take whatever steps are necessary in terms of rate cuts to try and prevent a possible recession, so long as inflation remains in check.

Initially, both Stocks and Bonds rallied on the comforting words from the Fed – but as Bond Traders analyzed the potential future impact of the Fed cut over the following days, they started selling off Bonds with both hands, causing fixed home loan rates to rise by .125 to .25%, actually higher than where they stood before the Fed Rate Cut. What happened?

Read the entire report here.

- Foster Weeks

A reader asks: Do you foresee a change in the market in the next few years with all of the new developments in San Francisco? How do you think it will effect the market?

Our reply: One thing I have to say first of all is that the market always changes! I do think that there is a pent up demand for property in San Francisco, both for permanent residences and for second and third homes.

I believe many of the new developments, the Infinity, One Rincon, Soma Grand to mention a few, (we have a list of projects in the pipeline on our website) are geared to not only the permanent residence buyer, but also to the second home buyer. There are many clients, that as they age, are wanting a smaller second home so they can now come to SF to enjoy all we have to offer.

Demographic information projects the population growth to be tremendous in the next generation as the baby boomers’ children have more children and more people immigrate into the United States. So I feel that these new buildings will provide new housing that San Francisco has needed for many years. I do not think that they will negatively affect the existing housing in a significant way.

There may be temporary “glut” of units in a particular area when several buildings come online but I do think there is a market for these properties.

- Janis Stone

Yahoo Travel says this about the Kertesz Fine Art Gallery:Specializing in Fine 19th and 20th century American and European Paintings, this gallery was established in 1969. It features primarily romantic, realistic paintings and takes pride in making available to its customers both contemporary and old master works, including works of early California painters. You’ll even see paintings by Mr. Kertesz himself. Whether you are looking for a lively painted landscape of the West Coast or a postcard view painting of Venice, the charm of this gallery reminds you that buying art can be an artistic experience in and of itself.

Neighborhood: Union Square

535 Sutter Street
San Francisco, CA 94102-1101

+1 415 626 0376
jvenosa@sbcglobal.net

Open Hours: 10a-5p M-Sa

- 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, Part 30 – Aquarium of the Bay, Part 31 – Haas-Lilienthal House, Part 32 – San Francisco Zoo, Part 33 – Stow Lake Boat & Bike Rentals, Part 34 – Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival

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.

This week we are starting to see some new listings finally coming on the market. And along with the numbers below, agents announced 6-7 properties that are not going to be listed on the MLS. Therefore, being in the top office in the City has some advantages!

Here are the numbers for this week: 9/19/07:

• 13 new listings (average price $1,606,692 – low $565,000, high $7,900,000)
• 4 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,239,500 – low $428,000, high $1,650,000)
• 5 closed sales (sold) (average price $968,800 – low $580,000, high $1,495,000)

- 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.

…it is hard to go broke taking profits off the table…and this is exactly what Bond Traders did last week, pressuring Bond prices lower and causing home loan rates to rise by about .125%, as money moved out of the Bond Market.Remember that conforming home loan rates are tied to Bonds or “Mortgage Backed Securities” – so when Traders sell off Bonds, it causes the Bond price to go down, which in turn causes home loan rates to rise. And although most of last week’s economic news was “Bond-friendly”, and should have resulted in higher Bond prices and lower home loan rates, Bond Traders decided to sell some holdings and lock in their recent gains instead, ahead of what could be a volatile week of market action.

The Federal Reserve is meeting this coming week, and will release their highly anticipated Interest Rate Decision and Policy Statement on Tuesday at 2:15pm ET. So do you know what is expected from the Fed, and how their actions might save you money right away? Read on and learn, in the upcoming Forecast for the Week.

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 consensus seems to be that there are plenty of buyers out there, and that they are serious, qualified and eager to purchase. However, these same buyers are listening to media reports about the housing market and some are hesitant to commit to buying a home due to an erroneous thought that housing prices will plummet.

The reality is that in most Bay Area communities, housing prices are remaining steady, or seeing increases. In fact, DataQuick, a company that compiles data and reports on real estate trends each month, indicated this week that while median selling prices in Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties have seen moderate declines, every other county in the greater Bay Area saw an increase in median prices ranging from 4 to 12.4%. This is not the time to sit on the fence. It is the time to commit, as our Walnut Creek manager eloquently stated, “to buying homes as opposed to houses.” Price and condition are always important deciding factors, but the deals are out there right now, so now is the time to decide! And there may be even greater opportunity when we find out what happens after the Fed meet next week.

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.

Yahoo Travel says this about the Ferry Building Marketplace:

Ferry Building Marketplace is a must-see for San Francisco visitors. This multi-million dollar development has an abundance of activities for the entire family. Take a tour of the historical Ferry Building, browse through antique shops (Culinaire), enjoy a view by the bay and a bowl of chowder at Ferry Plaza Seafood, or buy organic produce at the Farmer’s Market. Enjoy the sights and sounds of what makes the Ferry Building one of the Bay’s most popular destinations for entertainment, food, and fun. Ferry Building Marketplace has a near year-round schedule of interesting activities like their annual October Harvest Festival and a Holiday Lights Celebration. Visit the website for full details on their calendar of events.

Neighborhood: North Waterfront

Ferry Building Marketplace
San Francisco, CA 94111

+1 415 693 0996

info@ferrybuildingmarketplace.com

http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com

- 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, Part 30 – Aquarium of the Bay, Part 31 – Haas-Lilienthal House, Part 32 – San Francisco Zoo, Part 33 – Stow Lake Boat & Bike Rentals, Part 34 – Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival