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.

With the holidays fast approaching, we will probably not see a spike in activity until early 2008, regardless if the Fed lowers interest rates today. Experts like Sir John Templeton see things getting worse for the housing industry, but that is the US as a whole, not San Francisco which has enjoyed somewhat steady activity.

Here are the numbers for this week: 10/31/07:

• 4 new listings (average price $2,428,250 – low $649,000, high $6,750,000)
• 8 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,733,500 – low $450,000, high $4,395,000)
• 7 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,441,429 – low $726,000, high $3,250,000)
• 1 reduced at $919,000

- Janis Stone

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

The scope of the tragedy engulfing our Southern California neighbors is staggering. Nearly 2,000 homes have been destroyed by the fires rampaging through San Diego, Orange, Riverside and Los Angeles counties, and tens of thousands of people remain displaced. Let us all take a moment to offer our heartfelt prayers and best wishes to the victims of these fires. You may have heard that our colleague Brian Buffini and his family lost their home entirely – without the opportunity to go in and retrieve any items whatsoever. And there are many more victims without the financial resources of someone like Brian who face the unbelievable burden of recovering from this. I encourage those of you who choose to assist in the aid and relief of our Southern California colleagues, friends, and family members to make a donation through the Realogy Charitable Foundation – the details are at the bottom of this week’s Weekly Market Watch.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, buyers are starting to realize that selling prices are just not going to drop precipitously from where they are now in most of the Bay Area. If a deal is to be had, now is the time to negotiate it, and it seems the negotiating has begun. Offices in all areas reported increased sales activity and buyer interest, and our more than 600 homes held open were overwhelmingly well attended. Sales activity and buyer activity is reportedly increasing in practically every area.

Read the entire report here.

- Rick Turleyinfo@SFResidence.com with “weekly market report” in the subject line.

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

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.

THINGS COULD BE WORSE…much worse. While last week’s news showed some weakness in housing and a few assorted economic reports, the Stock market seemed to fare pretty well with good reports recently from big bellwethers such as Apple and Microsoft. And home loan rates were stable to slightly improved for the week overall. But let’s look back in time to exactly 78 years ago today, October 29th, 1929.

This day saw such crushing damage for the Stock market that it lives in history as “Black Tuesday”, and is generally thought of as the day that sent the US into the Great Depression, where unemployment rates rose to a whopping 25%. Imagine one out of four of your neighbors, friends, and family members all being unemployed! So while last week’s readings on housing, manufacturing and general consumer sentiment came in a bit weaker than expected – things could certainly be much worse.

And many of the soft economic reports helped confirm the market’s general belief that the Fed will again cut the Fed Funds Rate at their upcoming meeting. But what will this mean for home loan rates? Read on to find out what even the media consistently seems to get wrong.

Read the entire report here.

- Foster Weeks

Volume is down because there is nothing to sell. Inventories are low for residential housing. But the prices are holding firm. San Francisco real estate numbers may be seen for September on our website as well as a historical perspective.

- Janis Stone

• Calif. median home price – September 07: $530,830 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $588,970 last month)
• Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region September 07: Santa Barbara So. Coast $1,667,500 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $1,262,500 last month)
• Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region September 07: High Desert $271,940 (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to $287,390 last month)
• Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index – Second Quarter 07: 24 percent (Source: C.A.R.) (note: compared to 07:25 first quarter)

Mortgage rates – week ending 10/18:

• 30-yr. fixed: 6.4%; Fees/points: 0.5% (note: compared to 6.34% and 0.5% points last report)
• 15-yr. fixed: 6.08%; Fees/points: 0.6% (note: compared to 5.98% and 0.5% points last report)
• 1-yr. adjustable: 5.76%; Fees/points: 0.6% (note: compared to 5.65% 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.

Could people be getting weary of the constant barrage of bad news? We noticed a slight improvement in our numbers this week.

Here are the numbers for this week: 10/24/07:

• 5 new listings (average price $1,311,400 – low $339,000, high $2,620,000)
• 8 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,367,750 – low $485,000, high $2,595,000)
• 5 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,573,365 – low $770,000, high $3,450,000)
• 1 back on market at $1,295,000

- Janis Stone

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

Our Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage agents are brimming with enthusiasm. Reports this week indicate that, in many areas, our more than 560 open houses were seeing steady streams of visitors, and buyer interest is up. There are slower spots around the Bay Area to be sure, but for every slow spot, there is another that is seeing exceptional activity. As I keep saying, real estate is a very local industry. The trends, numbers, statistics and “facts” we read about tell a regional story, but that story isn’t indicative of market conditions in specific locations, neighborhoods and communities. There are cold spots with high inventory levels, and there are hot spots where competition to buy a home is fierce.

The reality is this – the increased median prices that are reported in most areas are affected by the fact that, in those hotter markets, the prices have barely dropped, if at all. In addition, homes in the $2 million plus range are selling quickly and often over asking price…

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.

..for the past week the Stock market’s pain has been the Bond market’s gain. Last week, the Dow lost around 500 points – and as money flowed out of Stocks and into Bonds, this helped home loan rates improve by .125 – .25% over the course of the week.

But if you want to revisit some real Stock market pain, just dial back the clock twenty years from last Friday. On October 20th 1987, the Stock market suffered its very largest one day loss ever, with the Dow falling 508 points and losing 22.6% of its value overall. That’s like the Dow losing over 3100 points today! And just prior to that wild meltdown, 1986 and 1987 had been banner years for the Stock market – fueled by hostile takeovers, leveraged buyouts and merger mania.

The rest of the economic news for last week was a mixed bag, including lower than expected Housing Starts and Building Permits for new construction homes, and also an overall tame read on consumer inflation via the Consumer Price Index.

Read the entire report here.

- Foster Weeks

Lone Mountain as described on the SFResidence neighborhood guide taken from Wikipedia:

“Lone Mountain is… the area immediately surrounding the University of San Francisco campus, to the south of Laurel Heights. It is bordered by Geary Boulevard to the north, Arguello Boulevard to the west, Masonic Avenue to the east, and Fulton Street to the south. Lone Mountain is one of San Francisco’s historic hills. The neighborhood rests on the former location of the Odd Fellows Cemetery, Masonic Cemetery, and Greek Orthodox Cemetery. Graves in these cemeteries, along with most graves in San Francisco, were moved to Colma by the 1940s. Lone Mountain is also home to the Angelo J. Rossi Playground and Rossi Pool at Arguello Boulevard and Anza Street.”For more information on other neighborhoods and street maps visit our website.

- Janis Stone

Previous Neighborhoods

A reader asks: How will new buyers be affected if they are purchasing a unit in a two unit building, in the middle of the condo conversion process?

Our reply: I am unclear what you mean by in the middle of the condo conversion process. It is a very complicated process so I would recommend asking the condo attorney who is drawing up the CC&R’s for that building. They should be able to tell you if there is any risk in losing your “1 year” occupancy requirement.

- Janis Stone

Yahoo Travel says this about Saints Peter and Paul Church:

Despite the popular misconception, Joe DiMaggio did not marry Marilyn Monroe in this opulent church (that was at City Hall). He did, however, marry his first wife, starlet Dorothy Arnold, here and it was this church that celebrated his funeral mass. Dating only from 1922, this Roman Catholic church is awash in marble, gilding and ornately carved wood, starting with the life-size marble angel at the entrance. Inside the hushed sanctuary, redolent with the aroma of burning candles, is an elaborately carved and painted ceiling glinting with gold leaf. Pendant chandeliers in aged brass and frosted glass hang from the arches of the colonnade on either side of the nave. The altar is an explosion of marble carved with the titular saints of the church, plus cherubs, angels and all the niches and domes needed to contain them. Statues and shrines, including one to Our Lady of Lourdes that features a faux grotto, line the walls and the elaborate chapels.

Neighborhood: North Beach

666 Filbert Street
San Francisco, CA 94133-2805

+1 415 421 0809
gibbons@stspeterpaul.san-francisco.ca.us

Open Hours
Mass: 7:30a, 9a, 12:15p M-Su
http://www.stspeterpaul.san-francisco.ca.us/church/

- 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, Part 35 – Kertesz Fine Art Gallery, Part 36 – City Hall, Part 37 – SS Jeremiah O’Brien