This is a very unnerving set of data. Let’s hope it’s too small a timeframe to give an accurate assessment, but we could very well be on the cusp of a drastic shift in the market if the Government doesn’t pull their head’s out of their a$$es and get back to work! Short period data … Continue reading Effect of Government Shutdown/Default Worries On The San Francisco Real Estate Market
Category: Doom & Gloom
San Francisco Neighborhoods Prone To Liquefaction And Earthquake Induced Landslides (Bedrock vs. Landfill Take Two)
Back on February 15th, 2008 (yes, theFrontSteps has been around that long) we were asked by a reader if we knew of any good maps showing areas in San Francisco that are either bedrock or landfill. You’d be amazed how many people, to this day, read that post, and how many more emails we get … Continue reading San Francisco Neighborhoods Prone To Liquefaction And Earthquake Induced Landslides (Bedrock vs. Landfill Take Two)
Can California Keep Her Bling?
I used to look at houses in Portland, OR like this 2/2 SFH in one of the most gorgeous neighborhoods, Sellwood, listed at $440K. And then I would look for somthing similar in SF. And then I would need a very large martini. We all know, even after the martini, that a comparable home … Continue reading Can California Keep Her Bling?
Recession: 3, Realtor: 1
A real email exchange from moments ago (edited for privacy, of course): Dear [buyer], Thank you for your emails regarding [some of the condos] we had seen with you and wanting to see them again. We set up some times for Friday from 1-3 pm. Are you available during that time to tour? Sincerely, [Realtor] … Continue reading Recession: 3, Realtor: 1
East Bay: Berkeley Named Top Spot For Selling Your Home
By Home Girl, aka real-estate blogger Tracey Taylor If you are selling your home, Berkeley is the place to be doing it, according to a piece in Forbes which ranks the ten best suburbs to sell a home. (Suburb? Ouch that hurts.) This is how they put it: Berkeley known sometimes as a hippie haven, … Continue reading East Bay: Berkeley Named Top Spot For Selling Your Home
Bay Area Home Prices: a la San Francisco Chronicle
From the Chronicle: Home prices down in 90% of Bay Area Zip codes. A bold statement indeed, and thank God we don’t live in 90% of the Bay Area, but what’s this? One of the few standouts was the 94114 ZIP in San Francisco, home of Noe Valley, where houses go for well over a … Continue reading Bay Area Home Prices: a la San Francisco Chronicle
New Developments Face a New Reality in SF
I’ve heard from multiple sources that SF real estate is, for the most part, immune to the havoc wreaked on other parts of the US. But sales at our most recent condo complexes show that happy-smile-don’t-worry line of rhetoric is about as reliable as the clown’s was in Poltergeist (Happy Halloween!). Socketsite … Continue reading New Developments Face a New Reality in SF
“Mortgage market weathers storms” – SFGate
Did we read that headline correctly? Is that quite possibly the first headline in over two years about the housing/mortgage market that doesn’t spell disaster? Or is it the shot of Tequila and can of Tecate (a bit of lime squeezed in and a touch of salt on the rim) talking? Home loan applications are … Continue reading “Mortgage market weathers storms” – SFGate
Plunging Home Sales in the San Francisco Bay Area
More doom and gloom data for you to ponder. We won’t even point out the silver lining to the always dark cloud of real estate reporting, but it’s in there…rest assured. From sfgate: The price of a typical single-family home in the San Francisco area plunged 22.1 percent compared with a year earlier, according to … Continue reading Plunging Home Sales in the San Francisco Bay Area
Weekly Fluj: Inventory, is there a lot of it?
Lots of people yapping on and on about how San Francisco listing inventory is through the roof, sales volume is in the toilet, and both median and average home prices have plummeted, but the Fluj says: Seemingly the perception is that there is a lot of inventory, but is there, really? And as for prices, … Continue reading Weekly Fluj: Inventory, is there a lot of it?
Isolated Panic amongst some San Francisco Realtors, or something larger?
Recently, we’ve been contacted by more than a dozen Realtors asking if we could “plug” their listings. Typically, this is not something we do as it defeats the purpose, honesty, and transparency of this blog, but we got to thinking…why not? We could make a little $$ from it, and help get the word out … Continue reading Isolated Panic amongst some San Francisco Realtors, or something larger?
Shining examples of more stellar “local” real estate reporting
This from a reader: Here is another shining example of disservice to the SF real estate market courtesy of the SF Gate. The SF Gate and KGO (ABC) reported ([yesterday and the day before yesterday], respectively) on the same story, but KGO was decent enough to report the foreclosure numbers IN CONTEXT, i.e. referencing that … Continue reading Shining examples of more stellar “local” real estate reporting
Mercury rising? San Francisco foreclosures on the increase?
Browsing TechCrunch today, we came across a site we had visited before, HotPads.com, that provides a fair bit of mashing goodness, and were reminded that we had never posted on the matter. Given all the continued hoopla in the media over the perpetual demise of real estate and the end of the world as we … Continue reading Mercury rising? San Francisco foreclosures on the increase?
Housing Outlook: Bleak
How’s that for a headline? Get your attention? Good. We’re just doing it like all the others. Now check out this video from IntoTheBox.tv (for real estate obsessed people like us): If comparing San Francisco to New York City is any indication of things to come for us, then this report is scary, especially the … Continue reading Housing Outlook: Bleak
The Wall Street Journal Front Page Story
US Mortgage Crisis Rivals S&L Meltdown Make sure you get to the very end of that scare the sh*t out of us article to read this: In spite of the gloom, the economy may avoid recession. Housing comprises a much smaller share of the economy than business investment, which dragged the U.S. into recession in … Continue reading The Wall Street Journal Front Page Story
Headlines versus Reality, Volume Down, Median Up…again.
Headlines: “Bay Area median prices rise, but overall home sales news grim. Reality: “As Homeowners, Volume is not Very Relevant. For what it’s worth, we’re happy to see our little report was right on the money as far as the decline in volume at around 41%. Guess we’re not so mathematically challenged after all. And … Continue reading Headlines versus Reality, Volume Down, Median Up…again.