Our agent on the ground, SFhotlist founder and Zephyr real estate agent Danielle Lazier, attended First Republic Bank's holiday luncheon this week. In the opening remarks, the bank addressed the performance of the San Francisco Bay Area luxury homes market in their recently released Prestige Home Index. The small group of realtors also had the pleasure of hearing Ken Rosen,Chair of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at UC Berkeley, speak on the topic "Economic and … [Read more...]
November 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment
San Francisco: Owning a home is less expensive than renting a home
Traditionally, November and December are slower months for Real Estate. Add the recent elections, which have most people watching their wallets (and their stocks), to this annual shift and we may see a quiet couple of months. At SFhotlist, we like to buck trends! We consider this time of year a hot time to buy and sell. Buyers: inventory may be lower but so is interest - stay in the game. Sellers: buyers won't really stop looking at this time of year - don't shy away from putting … [Read more...]
October 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Home Prices still on the rise in San Francisco reports the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for August 2012 were released today and the US housing market is staying strong! The good news: home prices continue to rise in August 2012. According to the S&P press release, "average home prices increased by 0.9% for both the 10- and 20-City Composites in August versus July 2012.". This is the fifth consecutive month of gains reported by the index. The slightly bad news for our neighbors to the North (and by North, I mean Seattle, … [Read more...]
June 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Our Tricky San Francisco Summer Market
From our Zephyr Real Estate Market Tracker Newsletter: SFHotlist comments in <> It is known that San Francisco real estate marches to the beat of its own drum. Time and time again, out-of-state Realtors have asked in utter disbelief if it's really true that in San Francisco an asking price is set and then the price is bid UP? That makes no sense, they would protest: When you buy a car, you bargain down; even when you buy a mattress the sale price is usually below asking. So why is … [Read more...]
June 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Best time to buy a home in decades
Best SF Home Buying Conditions in 30 years? Yesterday on NPR, I listed to Bob (Robert) Shiller, famed Yale economist say that he felt the real estate buying conditions were the best he has seen in decades. Decades, people. Yes, the government is playing a role by supporting home ownership. Yes, the mess in Europe helping to keep home loan interest rates low here in the United States. Yes, according to Zillow, a third of homeowners in the San Francisco Bay Area are underwater. Nonetheless, … [Read more...]
April 26, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Sunday Streets are Full Swing in San Francisco!
"Sunday Streets are in full swing! If you have yet to happen across one here's the scoop: Sunday Streets is a series of events put on by the City of San Francisco to encourage health, community and fun. In layman's terms? Streets are blocked off to cars on pre-determined Sundays for you and your friends and neighbors to bike, walk, dance, hula-hoop, do the worm, Macarena, moon walk, you name it! Here's a schedule of remaining dates: • May 6: Mission • June 3: Mission • July 1: Mission • … [Read more...]
April 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Low Inventory a Boon to Sellers in San Francisco
With the new quarter's statistics coming out it is becoming more and more clear that it's currently a great time to be a seller and once again a more challenging time to be a buyer. Over the past year the average days on market for single family homes, condos and TICs has gone from about 70 days all the way up to 100 days around the holidays and now has come way, way down to an average of just over one month on the market. Most properties are selling FAST! Sellers may want to prepare … [Read more...]
March 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Lookin’ Good, San Francisco Real Estate Market!
As you may have overheard in crazed cell phone calls while waiting in line at Whole Foods, or while dishing with friends over coffee – the San Francisco real estate market is back, baby! We're currently seeing a flurry of activity unmatched since the pre-2008 go-go days. Over the last 30 to 60 days there have been countless reports from real estate offices of multiple offers and well-above asking prices in neighborhoods throughout the City. Example: my Pacific Heights condo received 14 … [Read more...]
March 12, 2012 by 1 Comment
Commercial Real Estate Buzz in San Francisco!
"While our focus is residential real estate, we can learn quite a bit about the state of our real estate market and economy in general by watching the commercial real estate market. Here are three big signs things are moving in the right direction: • The plan to convert St. Joseph's Catholic Church at 10th and Howard into 18,260 square feet of office space, 1,300 square feet of retail space, and 2,500 square feet of assembly space cleared another hurdle as it was approved unanimously by the … [Read more...]
February 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Noe Valley – Neighborhood of Choice for “Non-Suburban” Silicon Valley Professionals
"I heard that many buyers want to get in now before Facebook goes public (and spawns scores of new millionaires), which is pushing demand." -Bernard Katzmann Three weeks ago, a client (who works for a big pharmaceutical company in the South Bay & is looking to buy a home in San Francisco) asked me if it was true that social tech was pushing up real estate values in San Francisco and in particular, Noe Valley. Two weeks ago, I spoke with Carolyn Said about this exact topic as she … [Read more...]
