This comes from the Mesothelioma Cancer Center:

Many types of asbestos occur naturally in California due to its location and geologic history. Many of its citizens are becoming increasingly aware of the harmful health ailments that can occur as a result of asbestos exposure. An epidemic has been hitting workers of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department.

Currently, San Francisco is the 14th largest city in the United States and there are still many public facilities and homes that likely contain asbestos and other contaminants. Asbestos deposits are found naturally in 44 of California’s 58 counties. Homes and buildings built before 1980 could still contain asbestos-materials. Potential homebuyers, remodelers and real estate agents should be aware that there are now many healthy options that replace the need for asbestos entirely.

Although asbestos has been used as a form of piping and insulation, the biggest threat of asbestos exposure occurs in the shipyard industry. Throughout World War II, the U.S. military produced the majority of its vessels in shipyards located in San Francisco. Mesothelioma is an aggressive form of asbestos cancer that accounts for nearly three percent of all cancer diagnoses in the country. Mesothelioma treatment is unfortunately almost always unsuccessful and physician prognosis is poor.

In 2004, the state of Florida was hit with Hurricane Charlie. With many storms, homes suffer a large amount of damage, which amounts to asbestos fibers becoming airborne throughout neighborhoods. A Daytona Beach Real Estate company reported that many citizens were affected as a result of the release of toxins and spills from the damage. One of the extreme contaminants of concern was asbestos. San Francisco residents experienced a similar situation in 1989, when an earthquake registering 7.1 on the Richter scale destroyed many structures and disturbed asbestos-containing materials. These types of events have lead to the Environmental Protection Agency to consider the hazards of asbestos in the wake of natural disasters.

The California Department of Industrial Relations administers a number of programs which are aimed at preventing asbestos exposure in public facilities, workplaces and homes. The removal of asbestos must be performed by licensed abatement contractors who are specially trained in handling hazardous materials. It is highly recommended that those who believe they live or work in an area where asbestos are found to leave it undisturbed. Contractors come equipped with protective gear in case its fibers become airborne immediately after it is broken up.

Once the remove is finished, healthy alternatives should be considered as replacements. These options include the use of recycled building materials like cotton fiber, cellulose and lcynene. The use of these eco-friendly materials will also result in a decrease in energy costs. The United States Environmental Program states that that cotton fiber insulation can reduce costs anywhere from 25 to 35 percent annually. Not only do these alternatives save you money, they allow a lifestyle free of health corroding materials.

For additional information contact:

Jesse Herman
Mesothelioma Cancer Center
jesse@asbestos.com

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.

As the new year starts off, we expect the market to pick up steam as the year progresses. Regardless of who you voted for, just the fact that the election is over is probably a good thing for the economy. Unfortunately, the same philosophy that Bush had (i.e. throwing money at the problem) seems to have carried over to the Obama administration. So we can expect another multi-billion dollar attempt to kick start the economy. It didn’t work the first time, so who knows if it will work a second. All signs point to a steady San Francisco real estate market.

Here are the numbers for this week, 1/7/09:

• 1 new listing at $525,000
• 6 ratified sales (pending) (average price $1,657,667, low $499,000, high $3,750,000)
• 4 closed sales (sold) (average price $949,750, low $629,000, high $1,475,000)

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

“AN OPTIMIST STAYS UP UNTIL MIDNIGHT TO SEE THE NEW YEAR IN. A PESSIMIST STAYS UP TO MAKE SURE THE OLD YEAR LEAVES.” Bill Vaughan. 2008 turned out to be a historic year on many counts, and optimists and pessimists alike were glad to close the books and say goodbye to the old year. In observance of the New Year’s holiday, the Bond market closed early last Wednesday and was closed all day Thursday, but there was still plenty of time for volatility due to several noteworthy news items. With a great deal of midweek activity, Bond pricing ended the week slightly worse with home loan rates about .125% higher than where they began.

Early last week, a renewal of military conflict between Hamas in Palestinian Gaza and Israel sent crude oil jumping higher on concerns of supply disruption, causing volatile activity in both Stocks and Bonds. The strife in the region continues, and may cause more movement in the financial markets over the coming weeks.

GMAC received a $6 Billion lifeline from the Treasury to help stave off a bankruptcy protection filing or complete shutdown. This would have spelled big trouble for GM, as GMAC helps to finance purchases of most GM vehicles. This assistance is part of a larger effort to help aid the troubled auto industry, and GMAC announced that they will immediately resume financing to a wider range of car buyers. Stocks moved higher on the good news, which pulled a bit of money out of Bonds and caused home loan rates to rise.

NOTE: Stocks have made some nice moves higher of late, breaking above a key line in the sand at their own 50-day Moving Average. And with a great deal of cash on the sidelines waiting to be put back to work, as well as retirement money getting ready to be invested before tax time, this could spell better days ahead for Stocks. While money flowing into Stocks can sometimes pull money from Bonds and cause home loan rates to rise, the Fed has said they will be doing some buying of Mortgage Bonds, which could help home loan rates weather the storm much better than they have in the past.

In economic report news, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index – which measures manufacturing activity – came in at 34.1, very close to estimates of 33.0. But Consumer Confidence somewhat unsurprisingly missed advance expectations of 45.5, arriving at a dismal, record low of 38.0. Just by way of perspective, last year at this time, Consumer Confidence was at 88.6…so there’s been quite a decline during 2008.

Also adding to the movement in the markets last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission recommended against suspending FASB 157, otherwise known as fair-value accounting rules or “mark to market”. These rules led to the failure of many financial institutions that really weren’t in bad shape, but simply made them appear to be overleveraged as they were forced to value their assets against distressed institutions selling at steep discounts. This announcement was not a surprise, as it wasn’t expected that they would completely eliminate the rule and go back to the days of Enron-style accounting and valuation systems which lacked transparency. For now, the SEC is instead suggesting “improvements” to deal with illiquid markets and reducing the number of models used to measure impaired assets…but the details of those “improvements” are yet unknown.

Rest assured that as 2009 kicks into full gear, I will be watching closely and keeping you updated as to all the latest financial news stories, market action, and home loan rate developments. Because windows of opportunity can be fleeting, please call me to look over your own financial situation so that we are ready to act on your behalf.

Read the entire report here.

- Foster Weeks