Could it be true? “It is with much sadness that I write to inform you that Bank of America has opted to close its Wholesale Channel effective December 31, 2007. This is a bank strategy to become number one in direct to consumer… do not have much information at this time but it is my … Continue reading Bank of America exiting wholesale mortgage business?
Category: Economy
“The Real State of Real Estate”
This piece, the Real State of Real Estate (pdf) was sent to us by a very reliable mortgage broker in our city. However, he did not write it, so we can’t give credit to him, nor can we give credit to the person who wrote it, as we don’t know who did. If anyone can … Continue reading “The Real State of Real Estate”
Verbatim: “San Francisco is back!”
As if it ever left: By almost every measure, San Francisco is in far better economic shape than it was when [our Mayor] took office in 2004 and faced a nearly $350 million budget deficit. The city has recovered from the double whammy of the dot-com bust and the tourism crash that followed the Sept. … Continue reading Verbatim: “San Francisco is back!”
Rents on the rise in San Francisco
In case you missed it, a reader reminds us: “Rents are going ballistic. ‘Prime areas up 20% YoY [Year Over Year]’”. Bay Area Rental Market Roars Back [sfgate]
“Fed Cut the Rate! Seatbelts, please…”
From a reader (not Boomtime, not MarinaPrime, not me, not any of the other bulls…), verbatim: “Fed Cut the Rate! Seatbelts, please… * FED CUTS FEDERAL FUNDS RATE HALF POINT TO 4.75% * FED CUTS DISCOUNT RATE HALF POINT TO 5.25% * Yield curve steepened dramatically as the 2Y went from 4.13% to less than … Continue reading “Fed Cut the Rate! Seatbelts, please…”
San Francisco Foreclosures UP!!!!!
Yup, it’s true. Foreclosures in San Francisco are up from a whopping 62 63 notices in 2006 to 65 in 2007, or 3%. Dave, it looks like you were one of a very few to get your hands on a foreclosure in San Francisco. Hats off to you. We anxiously await the story. As always, … Continue reading San Francisco Foreclosures UP!!!!!
Bay Area sales volume down 9.8%, median price up 6.9%
“In the Bay Area, the [California Association of Realtors] said sales volume was down 9.8 percent from last year, while the median price was $841,660, up 6.9 percent from $787,540 last July.” –Home sales still weak in California and throughout the country [sfgate]
Keep pumping the bull shit, and the public will likely keep buying it
…and the downward spiral will continue until everyone forgets about it. We’re not denying the real estate market has/is experiencing a bit of a shake up, but all the “sky is falling” reporting is getting a bit tiring, and in no way an entirely accurate representation of the San Francisco real estate market. Don’t call … Continue reading Keep pumping the bull shit, and the public will likely keep buying it
A better comparison to our high end market performance
Damion Matthews kindly forwarded us this article, and added, “even though it’s about the New York market, I tend to feel we have more in common with that than we do the rest of the Bay Area.” We would tend to agree. From the article: ‘I’ve been doing this 20 years… I’ve never seen anything … Continue reading A better comparison to our high end market performance
Repricing of risk, not a bad thing
from “D” “This goes along with my comment yesterday about the repricing of risk. It’s not a bad thing. This concern about jumbo mortgages costing 6.8% or 7.5% is actually funny because for most of the 1990s boom, and well into the 2000s, interest rates were exactly at these levels! When I bought my condo … Continue reading Repricing of risk, not a bad thing
Mortgage Reportage
Big news yesterday in the world of Big (Jumbo) Loans, and big rate hikes, that fortunately appear to be stabalizing. Talk about creating panic. If you have the time, scan the links, then make sure to read “Some Reactions as well. Thanks to DL for sending the link and this quote below: The Fed leaving … Continue reading Mortgage Reportage
Businesses continue to move to San Francisco…and that’s good for housing
A lot of people, when looking at housing prices and the residential market, overlook the commercial market. The two markets are very much intertwined. Businesses need employees, and those employees will need a place to lay their head at night, unless they want to spend their life in hell (traffic) commuting from hell (Stockton comes … Continue reading Businesses continue to move to San Francisco…and that’s good for housing
Real Estate Bubbles and California’s Economic Growth, Part 2 and 3
Continuing our lesson on real estate economics from Humboldt State University courtesy of YouTube, we bring you the last two videos in the series. There is a lot of information in these videos that is very pertinent to our market, and it is a good lesson. However, it was filmed November 2006, making it a … Continue reading Real Estate Bubbles and California’s Economic Growth, Part 2 and 3
Real Estate Bubbles and California’s Economic Growth, Part 1
by Alexander Clark via YouTube and Humboldt State University School of Economics Amongst the sea of utterly useless bits of crappy real estate videos on YouTube, I was able to find this very informational piece that made me wish I was back in Santa Barbara attending a lecture. (Okay, maybe it was the carefree lifestyle … Continue reading Real Estate Bubbles and California’s Economic Growth, Part 1
Pending Home Sales report from NAR
“NAR: Pending Home Sales Down, Some Regions Up” Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, says that housing activity continues to be impacted by tighter lending criteria and a lack of buyer confidence. “Some transactions are being postponed from mortgage market disruptions,” he says. “But better supervised lending will put housing in a fundamentally healthier state over … Continue reading Pending Home Sales report from NAR
Is San Francisco still a Seller’s Market?
Without even asking the Realtor members of our Stammtisch what they thought, we could bet that all of them would consider our market very much a seller’s market. It appears from this recent Forbes.com article, we’re not alone in thinking that. And based off of his/her comments, we’re guessing “boomtime” would as well. (Thanks for … Continue reading Is San Francisco still a Seller’s Market?