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San Francisco Real Estate – Spring Market Outlook from Zephyr Real Estate

March 3, 2010 By Luba

In case you’re a regular reader here at the blog, you probably have noticed the ridiculous lack of steady posts over the last several weeks. Things in the SF real estate market have been anything but slow, and Zephyr has the scoop:

It’s true that after several months of decent home sales, we saw a dip in January. It’s also true that a slow down at this time of year is typical for San Francisco. People have other things on their minds (holidays, lousy weather, etc.) and will normally wait until early Spring to re-focus on selling or buying real estate.

At last, it appears that we have returned to the market normalcy that existed prior to the boom of 2003 through 2006. Every indication is that we have turned a corner with the market statistics and that home sales have at least stabilized, if not begun to rebound. We have everything going for us; mortgage interest rates, great home prices and the ever resilient San Francisco real estate market.

They say that the numbers don’t lie. Comparing the last year’s three month period of November 1st through January 31st to this year’s we have some pretty good results. Last year, 761 sales city-wide, this year 1182 sales. Also, last year’s median sale price for the same time frame was $685,000, while this year’s median was $719,000 (these numbers included SFDs, Condos and 2-4 unit buildings).

Not too shabby!

The numbers for each neighborhood can differ tremendously from the City-wide data. As they say, our neighborhood sales vary like our micro-climates! 😉

The real test of market recovery will be the numbers that we see for the coming three months, so stay tuned!

I’ll say that’s a pretty good indicator that the San Francisco housing market is picking up speed. If you have questions about the market, give me a shout at 415-307-1392 or email me at [email protected]! I’m always happy to talk real estate! 😀

Two Tales of One (Real Estate) Market

January 27, 2010 By Luba

Half Man

I called the bottom of the San Francisco real estate market last year. It felt like things were flattening out. And in some by some reports, prices were even increasing in SF!
Since the holidays, I’ve been busy as a bee trying to keep up with buyer and seller demands, and you may have even noticed that blog posts, and my “weekly” newsletter, The City Update(TM), have been rather sporadic.
So MY take on the market is that it’s picking up, volume is increasing, prices have stabilized and most agents I know are in a pretty good mood.
But still, there’s no consensus on whether or not we’re REALLY seeing the bottom of real estate prices in San Francisco, or the rest of the country for that matter.
Some people (like the folks at Freddie Mac) are saying the market is at or near the bottom, while other folks (like the Center for Economic Policy and Reseach) are saying prices are STILL too high and need to fall.
My thoughts? With interest rates at all time lows, if you’re looking to own a home in San Francisco for the long term, it’s a great time to buy if you do a traditional thirty year fixed mortgage. But if you’re looking at a housing here to try to make a quick buck, then back off and invest in something else.
Same thing goes if you’re selling. If you need to sell, and your situation dictates you do it now, you will find a buyer. They’re out there. (With the caveat that if you just bought a few years ago, don’t expect to make any money on the deal. )
And if you need help figuring out what side of the fence your buying or selling situation falls on, give me a call at 415-307-1392 or email me at [email protected]. I’ll call it how I see it – though fair warning, you may not always get the response that you want. 😉

Please, Won't You Be My Neighbor! SF Ocean View Flats for Sale!

January 18, 2010 By Luba

Ocean Beach Living!

It’s always a beautiful day in my neighborhood. If you read the blog regulary, you know I live here on Great Highway in the Outer Sunset.
You’ll also know that I LOVE my neighborhood. Even on a crappy day like today, with the wind blowing and the rain pouring, I can sit in the comfort of my very own house and watch the Pacific Ocean waves land on Ocean Beach.
It’s a different vibe over on this side of San Francisco. There’s an amazing community feel, and the local businesses are fantastic. Whether we’re talking about the Riptide Bar or Noriega Produce or Java Beach or The Pizza Place, you’d be hard pressed to find another group of business owners in the City that care more about their neighborhood than these folks do.
And, we also have amazing neighbors. People actually care about the neighborhood and they get involved. And with Carmen Chu making herself available to the community to both hear our concerns and respond to them (yes, she listens AND acts on what she hears! Crazy, right?) the hood just gets better and better.
So, I’m thrilled to announce that you’ll have an opportunity to be my neighbor. We won’t be living next door to each other, but when you live on Great Highway, all of your nighbors feel close, even if they’re a few blocks away. And better yet, your neighbors become your friends! 🙂
I won’t give you the whole spoiler about the listing because I think to REALLY appreciate it, you need to see it for yourself. But the website, www.2458-2460GreatHwy.com will give you a little tease as to what living at the beach can be like. Besides the ocean views and daily access to sunsets over the horizon, and your own ginormous landscaped yard perfect for parties (complete with bonfire pit!), you get an enclosed outdoor shower (the folks at Socketsite should appreciate that!) where you can get down to your birthday suit and not be afraid of neighbor’s prying eyes.

The Enclosed Outdoor Shower!

Check out the website (www.2458-2460GreatHwy.com) or give me a call at 415-307-1392 for more info.
And, “Won’t you please, please won’t you, please…….. Please won’t you be my neighbor??? Hello Neighbor!”

A Castle in SF's Ingleside – Complete with a Drawbridge!

January 15, 2010 By Luba

: The Ingleside Castle

Some people say your home is your castle and they mean it figuratively. These folks say it, and mean it literally.

The blog posts haven’t been as frequent as I’d like lately, and it’s because I’ve been busy. Like “working 15-19 hour days and sleeping 5 hours a night most nights” busy.

It’s a good thing I love this San Francisco realtor gig I’ve got going, or I would have SURELY lost my mind by now. 😉

Anyhow, somewhere amidst my travels whilst looking at homes with a client today, I thought I actually HAD lost my mind when I thought I saw a DRAWBRIDGE!

Upon closer examination, the drawbridge (and wisteria) are merely a mural, but I have to say, for a minute there, it looked pretty damn three-dimensional.

If you ever are in the Ingleside and are curious enough to check this place out, it’s on the 100 block of Margaret Avenue.

And if you ever want to talk about buying or selling your (literal or figurative) castle in SF, give me a holler at 415-307-1392 or email me. Please leave the drawbridge open though, I’m not a fan of moats.

December 2009 San Francisco Housing Sales Data is Here!

January 12, 2010 By Luba

Yet again, Luba’s San Francisco Real Estate Blog brings you latest San Francisco Real Estate market report here. (You can also view previous market updates by selecting the archives on the upper right portion of the screen). Heres’s a little glimpse of the report:

Median Price for Homes Up Year-over-Year

The median price of single-family, re-sale homes in San Francisco saw prices up, year-over-year, for the third month in a row. The median price was up 6.6% compared to last December.

Sales of single-family, re-sale homes rose 2.7% last month compared to November, and were up 46.6% year-over-year. That’s the sixth month in a row year-over-year sales have been higher than the year before. For the year, home sales were up 4.3%. See the Annual Report for full details on 2009.

We expect sales to be strong through the Spring selling season because of the extension, and expansion, of the first-time home buyers tax credit of $8,000 for buying a principal residence. First-time buyer is a buyer who has not owned a principal residence in the three-year period prior to the purchase. There are some income limits. For full information, see: http://federalhousingtaxcredit.com.

In addition, the tax credit was expanded to include move-up buyers. The tax credit for move-up buyers is $6,500. A move-up buyer is a person who has owned and resided in the same home for at least five consecutive years of the eight years prior to the purchase date. Again, for full info, see the web site cited above.

P.S. The tax credit expires April 30th. You need to have a signed contract by then and close the sale within 60 days to qualify for the credit.

Condo/loft sales were up 5.8% month-over-month, and up 64.2% compared to December 2008. This is the fifth month in a row condo/loft sales have been up year-over-year. For the year, condo/loft sales were down 6.4%.

The median price for lofts/condos in San Francisco gained 5.2% from November, but was up 7.6% year-over-year. This is the first the median price has been higher than the year before since last August 2008.

Read on for full details.

30 Days of Sold San Francisco Property Listings

January 11, 2010 By Luba

San Francisco real estate

Want to know know what sold in San Francisco in the last 30 days? Sign up for The City Update(TM) – San Francisco’s Friendliest Newsletter. You’ll get the details, and then some, in your inbox (almost) every Friday.
If you just want the round numbers, you can check them out below.
Sold Listings 12/07/09 – 1/07/10

Neighborhood	Total Listings	Average Price	Average DOM
Alamo Square	1	$695,000	66
Bayview	5	$321,800	98
Bayview Heights	3	$466,767	34
Bernal Heights	15	$743,627	75
Buena Vista Park	3	$766,333	50
Central Richmond	8	$792,063	82
Central Sunset	13	$815,838	59
Central Waterfront	2	$706,500	36
Clarendon Heights	4	$1,284,500	84
Corona Heights	2	$1,207,000	60
Cow Hollow	5	$1,329,000	99
Crocker Amazon	1	$615,000	26
Diamond Heights	1	$288,000	159
Downtown	8	$471,563	132
Duboce Triangle	5	$602,933	30
Eureka V./Dolores Hts	11	$1,221,591	89
Excelsior	9	$446,778	62
Forest Hill	1	$1,253,000	44
Forest Hill Extension	1	$1,000,000	26
Forest Knolls	3	$722,167	94
Glen Park	6	$858,703	106
Golden Gate Heights	3	$1,014,833	125
Haight Ashbury	9	$656,222	89
Hayes Valley	7	$783,607	81
Ingleside	4	$672,000	87
Ingleside Heights	5	$411,180	60
Ingleside Terrace	3	$1,009,667	71
Inner Mission	19	$835,861	72
Inner Parkside	1	$787,000	63
Inner Richmond	8	$1,061,125	126
Inner Sunset	6	$924,167	41
Lake	5	$807,400	77
Lake Shore	5	$833,600	71
Lakeside	1	$825,000	74
Laurel Heights	2	$1,607,500	111
Lone Mountain	3	$1,138,333	63
Lower Pacific Heights	12	$927,917	59
Marina	1	$967,387	66
Miraloma Park	1	$910,000	43
Mission Bay	6	$741,667	76
Mission Dolores	7	$579,429	136
Mission Terrace	4	$597,500	90
Monterey Heights	1	$2,400,000	83
Mount Davidson Manor	2	$870,500	23
Nob Hill	9	$758,444	90
Noe Valley	13	$1,067,577	187
North Beach	4	$1,399,750	84
North Panhandle	5	$804,800	86
North Waterfront	2	$620,000	61
Oceanview	4	$391,250	8
Outer Mission	6	$490,667	108
Outer Parkside	6	$682,833	49
Outer Richmond	7	$679,571	82
Outer Sunset	4	$632,250	73
Pacific Heights	15	$2,730,500	82
Parkside	6	$754,667	71
Parnassus/Ashbury Hts	1	$790,000	45
Portola	5	$549,000	63
Potrero Hill	5	$843,800	120
Presidio Heights	2	$1,409,900	84
Russian Hill	11	$1,287,636	177
Sherwood Forest	1	$1,920,000	168
Silver Terrace	5	$460,100	66
South Beach	7	$682,357	173
South of Market	21	$840,429	93
St. Francis Wood	2	$1,477,500	61
Sunnyside	9	$643,556	70
Telegraph Hill	8	$1,132,750	75
Twin Peaks	2	$857,000	126
Van Ness/Civic Center	10	$634,490	130
Visitacion Valley	5	$459,200	14
West Portal	3	$1,244,917	63
Western Addition	2	$579,500	45
Westwood Highlands	2	$746,500	103
Westwood Park	1	$703,000	65

San Francisco Real Estate Fast Facts: November 2008 vs November 2009

December 17, 2009 By Luba

San Francisco Association of Realtors District Map

For those of you that like your SF real estate market data without commentary, here ya go. Take a look, check it out, come to your own conclusions.
Or – you can always ask me questions.

Fast Facts
Single-Family Homes

Condos

2-4 Units

NUMBER OF UNITS is the equivalent of number of sales/transactions. For condominiums, each unit is treated as a sale. For 2- to 4-unit buildings, the “building” is treated as a sale.
NUMBER SOLD is the number of properties in the market segment that closed escrow during the month.
NUMBER FOR SALE is the number of active properties on the market for one day or more during the month.
MEDIAN PRICE (SOLD) reflects the “middle” price point of a group of properties that have successfully closed escrow on a monthly basis, i.e. half sold for more and half sold for less than the median price. Tracking the movement of median prices over time provides a good indicator of the direction market forces are moving.
If the percentage change is positive between the two periods then there is upward pressure on prices in that market segment. If the percentage change is negative between the two periods then there is downward pressure on prices in that market segment.
AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET (DOM) reflects how long it has been taking (on average) to draw an offer on a reasonably priced property exposed to the market. The AVERAGE DAYS ON MARKET is defined as: The average number of days it took all of the properties that went under contract during the period to accept a first position offer.
MONTH’S SUPPLY OF INVENTORY (MSI) is a measure of how long it would take, in months, to sell the existing inventory at the current sales rate for the specific neighborhood and property type. The MONTH’S SUPPLY OF INVENTORY is defined as: The number of active properties on the market for one day or more during the month, less the number of properties that have been withdrawn or expired, divided by the number of properties that have gone under contract during the month.

* * * * *

Data provided by Terradatum.

Newsom Facebook's his Press Release about Treasure Island Transfer from Navy to SF

December 16, 2009 By Luba

Photo from Inhabitat.com

According to a Facebook update (yes, I’m Gavin’s FB friend, I’d like to think we’re actually really close and he reads my status updates and laughs. 😉 ):

[Mayor Newsom] just announced an agreement with the Navy to transfer Treasure Island (TI) to San Francisco. The development of TI will create thousands of jobs and one of the most environmentally sustainable developments in US history.

Um, pretty cool!
In fact, if you haven’t heard about the plans for Treasure Island, Inhabitat.com had some good details about the path to a green and sustainable mini City. It could be one of SF’s new awesome AND green neighborhoods in the near future!
So if you’re a real estate developer planning on, say, selling any awesome new green developments in the next 50 years in that area and need an awesome San Francisco realtor, give me a holler so that I can fit you into my business plan. 😀
You can read the press release (I found the link in the FB post) HERE.

How to Tell You're in a Safe SF Neighborhood

December 15, 2009 By Luba

I hate to say it, but the title of this post is kinda of misleading. It’s actually a bit of a trick question.
Why?
Well, everyone has a different idea of what makes a neighborhood “safe.” Frankly, each person has a different tolerance to risk.
I live in the Outer Sunset where we seem have a higher than average amount of auto break-ins and thefts and grafitti tends to be fairly common (my fence AND my garbage can got tagged recently AND I chased down two teens I saw tagging on EVERYTHING they saw on the street) but I still tend to consider it a “safe” neighborhood. Other neighborhoods have higher rates of drug dealing or prostitution. Others, still, have a high rate of murders and homicides. Others still have gang violence.
San Francisco is diverse, and if you’re thinking about buying real estate here, you really need to examine YOUR tolerances.
What YOU consider to be a safe neighborhood depends primarily on your personal aversion to risk. Your standard of safety is not necessarily my standard of safety. (Though I’d be so bold as to go out on a limb and say that most people feel less safe in areas with high murder rates, just sayin’.)
But that doesn’t mean that you need to jeopardize your safety by wandering the streets at night looking for crime.
To find out about crime in SF, you need only look as far as your computer!
You can easily find statistics about San Francisco crime by pointing, clicking and filling out some parameters.
CrimeMapping.com, according to their site, “is a site developed by The Omega Group to help law enforcement agencies throughout North America provide the public with valuable information about recent crime activity in their neighborhood. Our goal is to assist police departments in reducing crime through a better-informed citizenry. Creating more self-reliance among community members is a great benefit to community oriented policing efforts everywhere and has been proven effective in combating crime.”
CrimeReports.com claims to be the world leader in online crime mapping, with over 600 law enforcement partners across North America. It also features sex offender data and allows you to create email alerts about crime in a specific area.
SF Crime Maps is a site that’s hosted by our very own sfgov.org. To use the site, check out the various FAQ’s and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click “I Agree.” From there, click the crimes you want to search for (you’ll notice homicides are conspicuously missing from the list!) and select the area parameters. You can search up to the last 90 days.
San Francisco Crime Blog picks up where SF Crime Maps leaves off. The SF Crime Blog covers a variety of crimes in the blog section but really focuses on the murders that have occurred in SF. In addition to a countdown of the homicides that have occurred, you’ll find a map that details those homicides for 2007 and 2008. *While I liked the format of this blog, a little birdie dropped a note in the comments that informed me of some potential copyright type issues surrounding the blog, and since I HATE it when people copy my content and put it all over the internet (y’all know who you are), I removed the link.*
Once you have access to statistics, you can make your own decisions whether the neighborhood you want to live in is safe enough for you.

Tags: San+Francisco+Safe+Neighborhoods,+SF+Safe+Neighborhoods,+SF+Crime,+San+Francisco+Crime,+SF+Crime+Statistics, SF+Real+Estate+Blog, San+Francisco+Real+Estate+Blog

Just in Case I Need to Sell Houses in the Afterlife…

December 15, 2009 By Luba

…I can announce my arrival with a business card that doubles as a head stone. (padum, bump)
I’ve been sick with a cold/swamped with work duties the last few days (almost all performed from the comfort of my couch/recovery bed), so have nothing awesome, or even interesting to report about San Francisco Real Estate.
But I have been reading articles and commentary about the newest rule change at the National Association of Realtors and pondering the move.
I would have LOVED it is it was something like forced transparency to the public on every level, or something that would help our rep instead of hurt it.
Instead, they made a new policy that allows the use of the REALTOR(R) trademark on headstones. Yup. Just in case you get up to the pearly gates of heaven and you realize you forgot your business card, you can just point down to earth right at your headstone.
Um, no thanks, not for me. Besides, I’d rather end up as fertilizer than as landfill, so I won’t need much of a headstone when I’m gone someday anyway.
Oh, and the article that I think best sums up a variety of reasons we don’t want to do cheesy things like this points out that:

In a Harris Poll released in August it was noted:
“[in] a survey of thousands of consumers ask[ed] to talk about different job classifications [] it used to be that Real Estate agents were ahead of used car salesman but now they are dead last.”
It gets worse. Another report released this year by Readers Digest (Australia) asked respondents to list the most trusted professions. Domestic cleaners, bartenders and sex workers topped real estate agents.

Sigh. I guess soon we can replace lawyer jokes with REALTOR(R) jokes. Thanks for helping the image, NAR, thanks.

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Median Price SFR…	Supply and Demand Condo SFR…	Supply and Demand Condo…	Supply and Demand SFR…	Units UC Condo SFR…
Units UC Condo.pdf	Units UC SFR.pdf