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By admin, June 13, 2010 7:12 pm

Despite a decrease in sales volume, the Millbrae real estate market is showing mostly signs of strength, such as a fall in foreclosures and a higher median sales price. According to a May 20, 2010 article from Reuters, “Home sales in the nine-county San Francisco region continued to shift toward its more expensive markets in April, reducing overall sales and lifting the area’s median sales price from year-earlier levels, a report by MDA DataQuick said on Thursday.” The piece went on to state that “The region posted 7,003 sales of houses and condominiums in April, up 0.2 percent from March and down 1.9 percent from a year earlier, while the area’s median home price last month of $370,000 marked a decline of 2.6 percent from March and an increase of 21.7 percent from a year earlier, the report by the real estate information service said.”

The average purchase price of a Millbrae home for sale jumped in the month of April, along with the median price in the rest of the Bay Area. According to a May 21, 2010 article from the San Francisco Chronicle, “Median resale home prices in the Bay Area rose 30 percent in April compared with the prior year, in a market that featured fewer foreclosures and more activity in higher end neighborhoods, according to a real estate report released Thursday.” The piece, written by Robert Selna, went on to say that “Meanwhile, the total number of homes resold in the Bay area – that is, not newly constructed – fell slightly year-over-year as the higher-priced sales activity could not offset declines in the more affordable areas, according to data analyzed by MDA DataQuick, a San Diego real estate research firm that produces monthly market updates.”

The number of distressed mortgages in nearby markets such as East Bay declined in the month of May, a development that should decrease negative pressure on Millbrae real estate. According to a June 10, 2010 article from the Contra Costa Times, “Default notices – the first step in the foreclosure process – fell by about half in the East Bay during May from a year ago as more homeowners opted for short sales…In the Bay Area – which RealtyTrac.com defines as Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo counties – a total of 2,230 homeowners received a notice of default, down 38.9 percent from a year ago.”

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By admin, May 14, 2010 2:12 am

The Palo Alto real estate market is very closely related to the greater Bay Area real estate market, and seems to be showing some signs of improvement. According to a March 11, 2010 article from ABC 7 News, “For the first time in a long time, some of the Bay Area’s hardest hit counties are seeing their foreclosure numbers drop compared with last year. In San Joaquin County, foreclosure filings have dropped 42 percent since February 2009; in Alameda, foreclosure filings are down 16 percent and in Contra Costa County, filings are down 3 percent.” In the words of Elaine Brooks-Cox, a foreclosure contractor with Pacific Community Services, “Just recently we’ve seen a small slowdown. Our inventory for foreclosure inventory and short-sale inventory and a short-sale inventory in the local 680 corridor is down; we’re seeing probably a decrease by as much as 60 percent over what it was last year.”

Home prices are another bright spot for Palo Alto homes for sale, according to a  March 18, 2010 online article from the Los Angeles Times. The article stated that “The median price paid for a Bay Area home jumped 20% in February as fewer foreclosures were on the market, the San Diego research firm MDA DataQuick said Thrusday. Sales fell for the second month in a row. Potential buyers had trouble securing financing, were concerned about job security or had a difficult time competing for a home as inventory tightened, DataQuick said.” According to John Walsh, the President of DataQuick, “The market remains fundamentally off kilter. There’s still relatively little lending going on in the upper price ranges, and little adjustable-rate financing, which have been vital to the Bay Area.”

One possible negative influence on Palo Alto real estate for sale was negative news regarding home sales. According to a March 19, 2010 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, “The volume of Bay Area home sales dipped in February compared with a year ago, while the median price continued to rise, according to a real estate report released on Thursday…A total of 3,582 existing single-family homes changed hands in the nine-county region in February…”

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By admin, May 12, 2010 2:12 am

Palm Desert real estate, representative of the larger Coachella Valley area, seems to be stabilizing during the first quarter of the fiscal year, according to a March 29, 2010 article in the Desert Sun. This piece found that “The Coachella Valley’s real estate market remained in a ‘stabilizing’ pattern in February with a 14.8 percent jump in prices, while sales rose just .06 percent over February 2009, the California Desert Association of Realtors reported today.” According to Greg Berkemer, the executive directors of the California Desert Association of Realtors, “The desert appears to remain in a stability phase which should remain in place until there is either a change in the market dynamic either some outside force or event and/or buyers’ and sellers’ confidence in the future becomes more evident. Although prices remained flat in February compared to January, sales did move up some by 5.6 percent.”

Palm Desert homes for sale, along with the rest of California’s real estate market, managed to boost a nation-wide measure of real estate health. According to a March 31, 2010 article in the Desert Sun, “A national index of home prices rose unexpectedly in January, with California cities posting strong gains, but some experts warned that the nation’s struggling housing market could be headed for another dip. The closely watched Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index of 20 metropolitan areas rose 0.3 percent from December on a seasonally adjusted basis.” The article continued to note that “That marked eight consecutive months of home values improving or at least holding steady. That rise is good news for people who plan to sell their homes this spring.”

Home sales were one especially positive piece of news for Palm Desert real estate for sale, according to a March 18, 2010 article by John Hussar in the Desert Sun. This article observed that “The Coachella Valley’s ‘season’ of postcard-perfect weather and tourism helped propel a jump in existing home sales 10.5 percent in January while prices rose 17.4 percent over January 2009, the California Desert Association of Realtors reported today…The median price of an existing home in the Coachella Valley was $179,760 in January, up 4.3 percent from December and 17.4 percent from January 2009.”

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By admin, May 6, 2010 2:17 am

The Beverly Hills real estate market, traditionally among the most expensive and prestigious in the country, has been recovering strongly from the aftermath of the economic recession. According to an April 13, 2010 article in the Associated Press, “The median home price in Southern California rose 14 percent last month from March 2009, as more high-end homes trickled into the region’s sales mix, a tracking firm said Tuesday. San Diego-based MDA DataQuick reported that last month’s median of $285,000 was up from $250,000 in March 2009 and up almost 4 percent from February’s $275,000.” The article, written by Jacob Adelman, continued to state that “DataQuick President John Walsh said the increases showed that the market was continuing on a slow, upward trajectory, but that sales still remain well below their March average of around 25,000.”

Foreclosures, which have recently been a problem for Beverly Hills homes for sale, have sharply declined in recent months. According to an April 20, 2010 article in the Press Telegram, “The number of Los Angeles County homes slipping toward foreclosure dropped by 43.5 percent in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period in 2009, a real estate information service reported today. Lenders sent default notices to 15,797 homeowners in Los Angeles County in the first quarter, down from the previous year’s first-quarter total of 27,981, according to La Jolla-based MDA DataQuick.” The piece continued to note that “Statewide, default notices were sent to 81,054 homeowners in the first quarter of the year, DataQuick reported. That was a 4.2 percent decrease from the previous quarter’s 84,568 notices and down 40.2 percent from the same quarter in 2009, when 135,431 default notices were sent.”

This same general trend of positive news for Beverly Hills real estate was echoed by an April 16, 2010 article in the Los Angeles Times. This piece, noted by Alejandro Lazo, found that “The median price paid for a California home in March jumped 14.3% compared with the same month last year, reflecting a reduction in the number of foreclosure properties on the market and the comeback of higher-priced coastal areas.”

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By admin, April 23, 2010 8:46 pm

The Ashland real estate market, a subset of the larger Oregon real estate market, is facing a slow and challenging road towards recovery. According to an April 9, 2010 article in the Oregonian, “The housing markets around the Portland area and Central Oregon will not rise back to their peak-era pricing levels until after 2015, according to research firm Fiserv.” The piece, composed by Ryan Frank, continued to state that “The Northwest forecasts are far better than the Sand States – California, Arizona, Florida, Nevada – where a return to boomtime prices isn’t expected until after 2025. The forecast is based on data from Fiserv, the Case-Shiller Index, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and Moody’s Economy.com. (via HousingWire) David Stiff, Fiserv’s chief economist, said in a statement that the index points to another 7 percent decline in home prices through 2010, with a prolonged recovery starting in 2011.”

The situation confronting Ashland real estate and the rest of the state of Oregon has become severe enough that the state has received almost one hundred million dollars to help relieve the foreclosure crisis. According to a March 29, 2010 article in The Oregionian, “The good news and bad news are one and the same: Oregon is one of five states that will share in a $600 million federal program aimed at helping regions hardest hit by unemployment, home foreclosures and upside-down mortgages.” The piece, composed by Eric Mortenson, continued to state that “The agency will distribute the $88 million awarded to Oregon under an aid program expansion announced Monday by the Obama administration to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.”

The volume of Ashville and Oregon homes for sale, however, has most likely increased, according to an April 7, 2010 article in the Oregon Business Report. According to this article, “The University of Oregon Lane County Business Index (LCBI) rose 2.5 percent to 88.2 (1999=100) in the fourth quarter of 2009, the first increase since the first quarter of 2007. The increase is consistent with evidence that the national and state economies exited recession in the second half of 2009.” The article, composed by Tim Duy, continued to say that “Housing markets improved during the quarter, with home sales rising to a monthly rate of nearly 300 units, a 46 percent increase from the second quarter low. Moreover, the average days on market declined as homes sold more quickly.”

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By admin, April 22, 2010 8:39 pm

The Savannah real estate market remains in a dismal state, with home sales and foreclosures both suggesting continued troubles for the state of Georgia and the city of Savannah. According to an April 8, 2010 article in the Times-Herald, “Foreclosure advertisements in the Times-Herald are up 18.6 percent over the same month last year, with 216 scheduled for listing in this Thursday’s legal advertisement section.” New York Times columnist Paul Krugman confronted the financial crisis facing Georgia in an April 11, 2010 article, stating that “To appreciate Georgia’ specialness, you need to realize that the housing bubble was a geographically uneven affair. Basically, prices rose sharply only where zoning restrictions and other factors limited the construction of new houses.”

One central problem confronting Savannah real estate, foreclosures, was reported in an April 7, 2010 article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. This piece found that “Foreclosure rates and mortgage delinquency rates continued to grow in February in metro Atlanta and Georgia, according to data Wednesday from FirstAmerican CoreLogic. The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta region had a foreclosure rate of 2.79 percent in February, compared with 1.61 percent in February 2009. The 90-plus day delinquency rate for the area was 11.12 percent, compared with 6.79 percent in February 2009.” The piece continued to note that “Georgia’s foreclosure rate in February was 2.45 percent, compared with 1.41 percent in February 2009. The state’s 90-plus day delinquency rate was 9.73 percent, versus 5.99 percent in February 2009.”

Savannah homes for sale have also been facing extremely low rates of new home sales, according to a March 24, 2010 article in WSAV News. This piece found that “As the housing market struggles to recover from the recession, the government released a report Wednesday showing sales of new homes fell to record low levels last month.” The article, written by Tuquyen Mach, continued to state that “The report on February home sales was not what most folks wanted to hear but what many expected. Sales of new homes last month fell to the lowest level since record-keeping started about 50 years ago.”

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By admin, April 7, 2010 8:05 pm

A notable suburb of the Phoenix area, Chandler, Arizona, lies in Maricopa County and is home to a population nearly a quarter of a million. The fast-growing city experienced start rises in real estate prices in recent years, but many of those gains were brought to an abrupt halt at the onset of the U.S. credit crisis, when housing markets across the country collapsed.

According to local realtors John Hall Associates, most recent months have shown some slight signs for optimism in the Chandler real estate market, as sales activity rises. In March, there were 408 homes sold in Chandler, a sizable increase from February’s 275 sales and January’s 234. The figure was the highest monthly figure since October 2009. It is an improvement on figures from one year ago, when there were just 296 sales.

The number of listings has steadily risen as well, tracing an upward-leaning path since September 2009, when it reached a trough. In April, there were 1,671 active listings of Chandler homes for sale, up from 1,613 in March and 1,519 in February. The figure is a drop from one year ago, however, when there were 1,752 listings.

Prices per square foot of homes sold in Chandler are beginning to form a steady line, remaining basically constant over the past year. In March, the figure was $105, the exact same figure as it was one year ago. March also showed a troubling sign however: a spike in foreclosures. There were 391 foreclosure notices in March and 249 trustee sales, both sizable increase from the previous month. Foreclosure notices have fallen since last year though, when there were 438 in March. Trustee sales, however, have risen; there were just 106 last March.

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By admin, April 7, 2010 7:59 pm

Burlingame, a city in San Mateo County in Northern California, has a resilient real estate market. Despite falls and drops in prices brought about because of the U.S. financial and credit crisis, the Burlingame real estate market has fought on. Though prices still remain below where they were during the pre-recession highs, they are still high compared with other regions in the country.

According to statistics compiled by local realtor Vicki Moore, at the end of 2009, December saw 43 active listings of Burlingame homes for sale, with nine new listings. This was an improvement on November’s market, when there were 70 active listings and 20 new listings. There 26 homes sold in Burlingame in December, an improvement upon November’s 17 sales.

The prices of homes in Burlingame in December were on the rise as well. The median sales price in the month was $1.25 million, up from $1.05 million in November and the highest median since September. This figure is just slightly less than the median sales price during the boom years: In 2007, the median sales price in the city was $1.35 million.  December’s average price was $1.4 million, also up from November’s $1.05 million and nearly meeting September’s average.

Burlingame sellers are getting a good proportion of the asking prices on their homes for sale. In December, the sale price-to-list price ratio was 96.9%. In November, it was 96.7% and in October it was 98%. The average number of days homes in Burlingame spent on the market in December rose from November, when it was just 47, to 60, back to constant with levels in October, when the average was 61 days.

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By admin, February 11, 2010 3:55 am

You might be one of those people that have long dreamed about investing in Hawaii real estate but don’t have enough funds to finance the property.  Well it’s not a futile case if you think about it.  Yes, real estate properties here in Hawaii carry an extravagant price tag, but did you know that you can still invest in these properties even with your average salary range?  Since a lot of the real estate properties here in Hawaii are very costly, you might as well consider seeking the help of a good realtor, as well as a reliable banker, and then weigh your options very carefully afterwards.

Your banker

A competent and trustworthy banker will be able to assist you in the assessment of the properties that will fit your budget.  In determining a suitable monthly payment option, your discussion with your banker must include other financial liabilities such as credit card bills, monthly car amortization and your children’s tuition fees.  You must also take into consideration your other smaller responsibilities like your monthly bills – be it utility bills, telephone and internet.  Besides these monthly payments, you must also make allowances for emergency situations and establish a budget that you must set aside should these situations occur.  You might want to ask questions such as how much you are willing to give up in order to pay bigger monthly instalments, the risk you are willing to take in setting aside less for savings in order to allocate more for your real estate investment, and whether you like to spend most of your savings in the down payment or pay less and just pay the higher interest rates.  Your banker can help you decide the best course of action on all these questions and more.

Your realtor

A realtor is someone who can guide you into looking at properties which are determined by the preferences or standards that you have discussed with him/her previously.  Preferences such as your budget threshold, parking space, floor area and other related matters will help your realtor find the most suitable piece of property for you.  Since the Oahu real estate is quite limited when it comes to space, making a decision on how much area you want can be quite a hard task.  You might want to ask yourself a few questions like whether you want to focus on location or on the space of your property, and how much you are willing to give up in acquiring a residence in Hawaii.

While you are looking at your choices for real estate property, it is not unusual that your preference might change.  Sometimes, it may well be worth getting out of your price threshold in order to get a better home that truly suits your needs.  Most sellers will have an asking price, but more often than not, these asking prices are pretty much negotiable.   This is especially true for properties that have been in the market for quite some time or if the seller fails to make a deal with his previous price offerings.  It is in this negotiation process that your realtor can provide you with great help.

Take advantage of the economy

A slow economy translates as a buyer’s market, although not every seller is willing to lower down their prices.  There are a lot of people in Hawaii who are patient enough to wait for favourable market conditions before making negotiations with the property they are shooting for.  If you are lucky, you might encounter sellers who need to sell their property in a rush – this usually means that the seller is willing to accept offers below the asking price.  This is one way of acquiring a decently priced property in Hawaii, an offer you wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise.

Heads up!  Should an offer for a real estate property seem very expensive for your price range, then consider it that – expensive!  So try to maintain a good distance from these properties.

Acquiring a residence in Hawaii is quite expensive, although it is really not far from being achievable.  If this is really one of your dreams in life, then you might want to do some research on some available properties and who knows, you might get a good deal!

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By admin, January 21, 2010 4:14 am

An expanse of land stretching across the coastal region in New Hampshire, the Seacoast area, as it is commonly called, has, like many markets, seen a shift in residential real estate over the past couple of years. Prices had risen to all-time highs in the pre-housing-burst period, and once the bubble popped, values came tumbling back down, hurting many mortgage holders.

The year 2009 however, has seen some relief on the Seacoast real estate market. In November, according to the Northern New England Real Estate Network, the area saw 1,652 homes sold, an increase from last year at the same time, when that figure was just 998, but lower than 2005′s figure of 2,062.

Homes for sale on the Seacoast are also spending about the same time, on average, on the market. In November, the average was 144 days, up slightly from 141 during November 2008, but lower than figures in earlier months of 2009. The uptick in sales volume has been largely attributed to the government program offering tax rebates to those who purchase new homes, but as foreclosures mount, more and more homes are coming on to the market as well.

Prices of real estate on the Seacoast have fallen from their highs, though not as hard as in other areas on the East Coast. The median sale price of a property sold on the Seacoast in November was $188,000, down slightly from last year’s $190,000, and down more from 2006′s high of $227,000. The average selling price per square foot for homes was at around $128/square foot in November, also down slightly from last year’s mark of around $132.