West Portal/Forest Hill Real Estate Report

Here is this week’s West Portal Real Estate Report Average Price of Active Property: $1,129,000 Number of SFH’s listed: 0 Average Days on Market: 66 Average Price of Sold Property: $1,059,000 Number of Sold: 2 Forest Hill Real Estate Report Average Price of Active Property: $1,343,000 Number of SFH’s Listed: 3 Average Days on Market: 61 Number of Sold: 0 Stay turned for a new report on any changes next week. To get a full report on Forest Hill or West Portal real estate … [Read more...]

30-year rate up slightly but historically low: what’s the moral?

The Chronicle reports (of course from the Associated Press) that interest rates on 30-year fixed rate mortgages are up slightly (just above 5%). However, we continue to have amazingly, historically CHEAP MONEY. So, what's the moral of the story, you ask? You guessed it! Don't try to time the market perfectly. Check out this graph of 30-year fixed rate mortgages over the past 3 years? Does it seem to you like a good time to get a loan? Recently, I was at the San Francisco Association of … [Read more...]

West Portal/Forest Hill Real Estate Report

We are adding another two new neighborhoods to our weekly real estate reports; West Portal and Forest Hill.  Hope you find this information informative!  Again we are only showing the real estate activity for the past month.   West Portal Real Estate Report Average Price of Active Property: $1,059,000 Number of Properties listed: 0 Average Days on Market: 81 Average Price of Sold Property: $800,000 Number of Sold: 1 Forest Hill Real Estate Report Average Price of Active Property: … [Read more...]

San Francisco Real Estate in 2009: Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

"Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs..." So, what are the signs we should look for to help us forecast San Francisco real estate? I'm gonna "KISS" 2008 good-bye with 4 "Keep It Simple, Stupid" topics to keep an eye on. The 4 Pillars of 2009 San Francisco Real Estate Forecasting Foreclosures, Short Sales, Bank-Owned Properties (REOs): Loan modification programs Ease of Credit: Jumbo Loan Options and Availability Interest Rates General climate: What's the "feeling" on the street, at … [Read more...]

2008 was gr8 but 2009 will shine.

( The following is a reprint of the annual holiday letter I wrote for my clients, friends and real estate associates. A few of you suggested that I publish it on the blog so at the risk of going a little personal, here goes! I hope you find it helpful as we move forward into a healthy, happy and prosperous 2009.... ) Dear SFHotlist reader and San Francisco real estate devotee, Every year, I write a holiday letter. And, as is my way, it is usually geared more towards the New Year and its hope … [Read more...]

Zephyr Head Honcho Makes the Cover!

Well, it's not particularly great news but it's pretty fair and accurate considering how not so long ago the lovely Chron real estate folks seemed to only like to trash us agents. In the slowdown, have they decided to stop biting the hand that feeds them? Yet, I regress. I don't have time right now to pontificate (yes, you are so sad) because I'm on my way to a signing, aka closing appointment. Yes, folks are buying homes in San Francisco. In this case, they're buying a great single family in … [Read more...]

Have Single Family Homes in San Francisco Dropped in Value & By How Much?

Ripped from the coffee shop...or rather what I was asked today while getting an Americano. The question is how much have single family homes in San Francisco gone down in value over the past 6 months? This is a great question! How has the stock market crash affected the housing market? Of course, as you know, I hate looking at broad statistics. San Francisco is too big and variant to yield particularly helpful results if we look City-wide. Excelsior's market has little to do with that of … [Read more...]

The Tale of 2 Not-so-Hot Octobers: San Francisco Home Prices Over the Years

Curious about the state of home values in San Francisco? As I've written before, there is a tale of two cities here in San Francisco. I'd venture to say this is true for most metropolitan areas. Please don't put much stock in the San Francisco real estate statistics you see in the mass media. A lot of these indexes are actually Bay Area-wide and let me tell you, what happens in Hayward is not exactly what happens in the Castro! Or so they say... ;) Here in the City, the outer-lying areas have … [Read more...]

Ok, we must be near the bottom now. Manhattan has joined the fun!

At the risk of sounding bitter and petty (not for the 1st time, I'm sure), I found just a wee bit of glee to read in the New York Times that even holier-than-thou Manhattan real estate is feeling the downturn. Of course, be careful to understand the broader picture. Some neighborhoods have seen median home prices go down while others have seen their real estate values go up. Most notably, "the neighborhoods that fared the best through the third quarter included Fifth Avenue and Park … [Read more...]

California Housing Prices Continue Down BUT Number of Home Sales Continue Up

According the 2009 California Housing Market Forecast from the California Association of Realtors, prices will continue to decline into early 2009 while the number of sales will continue to increase. Of course, we usually have a holiday/winter slowdown. What does this mean? On the one hand, prices continue to adjust downward. Most economists foresee the decline to level soon-ish. How's that for vague? On the other hand, more homes are selling than was projected. This signals the beginnings … [Read more...]