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By admin, June 18, 2010 8:12 pm

The Rancho Santa Fe real estate market, a part of the larger San Diego and Southern California housing markets, showed some signs of recovery and a few specific strengths in the first half of 2010. According to a May 17, 2010 article from the San Diego Union Tribune, “Southern California home prices remained flat from March to April, as sales shifted into May for tax-credit reasons, MDA DataQuick reported Tuesday. The median price for the six-county region was $285,000, an increase of 15.4 percent from April 2009.” The piece by Roger Showley went on to say that “As reported Monday, San Diego County’s median price slipped to $325,250, from $330,000 in March, but was up 12.2 percent from April 2009’s $290,000. Prices followed the same pattern in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties – down from March but up from April 2009.”

A May 27, 2010 article in SDNN focused on the continued year-over-year rise in Rancho Santa Fe and other San Diego homes for sale. The piece noted that “In this volatile – and frequently gloomy – housing market, San Diego stands out as a metropolitan city with continued home prices, says a Standard and Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index released Tuesday.” The article, composed by Anne Subramanian, went on to state that “The study highlighted that despite many metropolitan cities reporting new index lows, San Diego boasts an eleven-month streak of increasing home prices. Of the 20 national metropolitan cities studied, San Diego’s 10.8 percent increase in home prices since March 2009 is only surpassed by San Francisco’s 16.2 percent increase. Housing prices climbed by 1.5 percent in San Diego between February and March of this year while the national trend reflects a .5 percent decrease.”

This same positive news for the previously ailing Rancho Santa Fe housing market was reported in a May 25, 2010 article from The Voice of San Diego. This article by Kelly Bennett went on to note that “There’s no doubt housing prices have come roaring back this year. New numbers released this morning showed San Diego County home prices rose again in March – marking the 11^th straight month they’ve been headed up.”

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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.”