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.

Real estate just keeps chugging along. not too busy, but not too slow. It is amazing some of the prices of the higher end properties and how quickly they get sold. We keep hearing “recession” but someone has money… and they seem to be settling in San Francisco!

Here are the numbers posted this week: 5/21/08:

• 6 new listings (average price $3,577,000 – low $569,000, high $11,500,000)
• 6 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,598,500 – low $399,000, high $3,250,000)
• 8 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,150,125 – low $550,000, high $2,700,000)
• 1 back on market – $473,000

- Mick Orton

Red Frog owners meet in Minneapolis!

The owners had a meeting last week, and organizer, Chris Hahn, wrote a general overview of the outcome. Apparently many people who had been opposed to moving forward had their minds changed by the open disclosures of the Red Frog principals and were encouraged by the fact that funding may be just around the corner.

Read the article here.

- Mick Orton

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. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:

This past week saw both good and bad economic reports being released, which in turn set the stage for another volatile week in the Bond market. And because good economic news is typically bad news for Bonds and home loan rates, a better than expected Retail Sales Report started a rough ride for Bonds early on. Adding further upward pressure on home loan rates were some inflationary concerns expressed by Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker and Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto…and inflation is the arch enemy of Bonds because it erodes the buying power of the Bond’s fixed payment returns to investors.

And speaking of inflation, the highly anticipated Consumer Price Index hit the wires on Wednesday. This read on consumer inflation was tamer than expected for April. Bond prices reversed course on the news and continued to improve amidst an extravaganza of economic reports, which were mostly all friendly to Bonds and home loan rates.

On Friday, the rally for Bonds continued, as Bond prices recovered all of their losses from earlier in the week. Helping fuel the rally was the worst University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index in 26 years. Remember that bad economic news is good news for Bonds. And the negative sentiment is certainly a reflection of the higher food prices, spike in fuel costs, soft housing market and tightening credit conditions that all are weighing on consumers.

When the volatile, crazy week was over, Bonds and home loan rates took in the good news with the bad news and ended the week unchanged from where they began.

Read the entire report here.

- Foster Weeks

It’s kind of late notice for this year since the annual Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco happens every 3rd Sunday in May… that’s TODAY!

This can be good news or bad news, depending on where you live, what you’re doing and where you want to go. As a result of streets being blocked off and the added traffic of the onlookers, it can be tough getting around the City. But if you’re looking for something to do, this is a pretty exciting event.

If you want to participate, there are forms you can start filling out for next year. However, to many people, it’s just another chance to party!

What about the history? How did it get started? Wikipedia says this:

Started in 1912 as a way to lift the city’s spirits after the disastrous 1906 San Francisco earthquake, it is the longest consecutively running footrace in the world (other races’ courses and lengths have changed over time). During World War II participation sometimes slipped below 50 registrants, but the tradition carried on and the race held the Guinness World Record for the highest participation footrace with nearly 110,000 runners from 1986 to 1994 when it lost it against the Cursa of Barcelona. That record number was partly the product of the running fad of the 1980s; currently the average participation is between 70,000 and 80,000. The San Francisco Examiner publishes a list of the first 10,000 finishers the day after the race each year.

- Mick Orton 

San Francisco has had its share of characters over the years. One of the more eccentric citizens of the ninteenth century is self-proclaimed “Emperor” Norton. SFMuseum says this about him:

So much has been written about Emperor Norton, and interest in this ninteenth-century character continues into the twenty-first century. Many of the “decrees” attributed to Norton I were fakes; written in jest by newspaper editors at the time for amusement, or for political purposes. Those “decrees” listed here were, we believe, actually issued by Norton.

September 17, 1859 – Joshua A. Norton, who lost his money in an attempt to corner the rice market, today declared himself Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico.

December 2, 1859 – Norton I dismissed Gov. Wise of Virginia for hanging John Brown and appointed John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky to replace him.

February 1, 1860 – Decree from Norton I ordered representatives of the different states to assemble at Platt’s Music Hall to change laws to ameloriate the evils under which the country was laboring.

July 16, 1860 – Decree from Norton I dissolved the United States of America.

October 1, 1860 – Decree from Norton I barred Congress from meeting in Washington, D.C.

February 5, 1861– Norton I changed the place of his National Convention to Assembly Hall, Post and Kearny, because Platt’s Music Hall had burned.

September 17, 1861 – A new theater, Tucker’s Hall, opened with a performance of “Norton the First,” or “An Emperor for a Day.”

October 1863 – Death of Lazarus, Emperor Norton’s dog.

Read more here.

- Mick Orton

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.

Sales are holding steady… excellent considering the state of the current market. Listings are taking longer to sell, but sales are being made none the less.

Here are the numbers posted this week: 5/14/08:

• 6 new listings (average price $1,595,333 – low $699,000, high $2,895,000)
• 10 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,014,250 – low $339,000, high $3,350,000)
• 7 closed sales (sold) (average price $1,272,714 – low $425,000, high $3,900,000)
• 1 back on market – $6,995,000
• 1 reduced $699,000

- Mick Orton

It makes one wonder what our legislators are up to. When the housing market is tenuous as it is in so many areas of California, why would a representative (the one who is supposed to stand up for the little guy) propose legislation that would have a chance to wipe out any recovery the housing industry might make this year? But Fabian Nunez has introduced Assembly Bill 2678 that could do just that.

The question is not if you believe in global warming or not. It’s also not whether people support energy efficiency. They are. And people are making steps to be “green” on their own with solar heating, recycled building materials, energy efficient water heaters, etc.

The question is this; is it the government’s business to force people to do energy audits at the time of purchase including legislating energy “investments” the new owners must make? As is often the case with law makers, they look at their good intentions, not the real consequences of such leislation.

The San Francisco Association of Realtors makes some great points about what could happen to our already crippled housing market:

The California Association of REALTORS® has indicated that while it has no objection to increasing energy efficiency, AB 2678, if passed by the State legislature and signed into law by the governor, will be both dangerous to the real estate market and grossly ineffective. Here’s why the State Association believes AB 2678 is a bad idea:

• AB 2678 will hurt the real estate market. Heaping costly requirements on all sales will slow every residential AND commercial transaction, further weakening the real estate market and the economy.
   
• Point-of-sale approaches take too long. Research shows that only about 22% of the properties most in need of energy efficiency retrofits will actually be sold by 2020. AB 2678 will be grossly ineffective in achieving its results.
   
• AB 2678 will hurt housing affordability. The mandatory audit and retrofit requirements ultimately created could add thousands of dollars to every transaction. And every $1,000 increase in the price of a home disqualifies 26,600 families from owning.
   
• Politicians want to make an end-run around REALTORS®! They know REALTORS® will fiercely oppose point-of-sale mandates. By passing the buck to a State agency, they hope to make AB 2678 more acceptable to their colleagues. But if the bill is passed and the bureaucrats take charge, REALTORS® are not likely to have any voice in determining the State’s energy efficiency requirements.

To develop opposition to AB 2678, the State Association is urging REALTORS® statewide to contact their Assembly members to tell them that the bill, if it becomes law, will be grossly ineffective in achieving its results and further weaken the real estate market and the economy. San Francisco’s Assembly members are Mark Leno and Fiona Ma. Their telephone numbers are shown below.

Mark Leno:	916-319-2013
Fiona Ma:	916-319-2012

Please contact our local legislators today. Your call could make a difference.

As a real estate investor, I am insulted that our state legislators would try and impose these expensive and onerous regulations on an industry already in trouble. I urge you to contact your state representative and tell them you are opposed to Mr. Nunez’s bill.

- Mick Orton

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. Here’s what Mr. Weeks says about last week’s activity:

…last week, Bonds and home loan rates skated around, but ultimately closed out the week very close to where they had begun.

Bonds and home loan rates ended the week on a sour note, but had spent the early part of the week moving sideways and slightly higher on a blend of mixed economic news and action in the Stock market. Grim news arrived from insurance giant American International Group (AIG), who reported an enormous first-quarter loss of $7.81 Billion or $3.09 a share, compared with earnings of $4.13 Billion just a year ago. The important part of this loss is due to write-downs on Mortgage Bonds, which tells us that the credit crisis is not yet entirely behind us. On these negative headlines, Stocks moved lower and money flowed over into Bonds, helping home loan rates improve.

By Thursday, Bonds were looking good and holding their ground above several floors of technical support, as the weekly Initial Jobless Claims numbers were reported at 365,000, slightly below expectations of 375,000. The more closely watched four-week average of Claims edged higher to 367,500. This not-so-hot read on the labor market helped Bonds and home loan rates continue to improve.

But then on Friday, Bonds gave back some gains on news of oil hitting $126 per barrel – and the inflationary effects of high oil prices is bad news for both Stocks and Bonds. Oil prices are reaching exceptionally high levels, and may get higher still. Read on for where oil prices are forecast to go in the future – and what it means for home loan rates…

Read the entire report here.

- Foster Weeks

Gas prices are killing us, and you thought the $5 bridge toll to go over the Golden Gate Bridge was high enough; think again. The Golden Gate Bridge District is about to try and raise the toll, not once, but twice. So not only will people coming from Marin County have to pay an additional $1 to cross the Golden Gate, but if they do so during what they are calling peak hours in the morning and afternoon commutes, there will be an additional charge of $1! This is their way to get a double increase without calling it so.

The San Francisco Chronicle has a story from today that explains it better than I can. But what the geniuses at the bridge district didn’t take into account… afternoon traffic is LEAVING the City… and that is the FREE direction! So is this toll to pay for the extra wear and tear on the bridge? I don’t think so, and this plan proves it. Once they realize that they are not getting nearly enough in revenue from the afternoon traffic, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another toll increase. After all, those Bridge District Supervisors (who make an awful lot of money already) need those raises!

The photo above was taken by a talented photographer, Garry Heather, from his flickr photo album.

- Mick Orton

Not only is Alcatraz one of our San Francisco attractions, but it is also a historical site; first as a military fort to protect the bay 1853, then as a federal prison when the fort was demolished and the cellhouse built between 1908-1911. The prison was closed in 1963 and was briefly occupied by American Indians in 1969-1971 after which it became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in 1972. 

The SFGenealogy website has some interesting information about escapes from the prison that supposedly was inescapable!

- Mick Orton