Shokoofeh Nowbakht
www.shokoo.com

Thanks to Zillow for providing a detailed video of “A Guide to the Zestimate” to explain how the home values are generated. I hope you will find this video helpful!

Posted by Annie W. Chang | www.TalkofRealEstate.com

The takeaway from Carson and Dastrup’s research is that the farther prices ran up in a hot market, the farther they tend to run down in the subsequent cooling. Not surprisingly, the hottest markets – Las Vegas , Riverside , Miami and Sacramento – have fallen the farthest and cooled the fastest. Many of these markets are now as cold as an Arctic winter, particularly Las Vegas , where home prices have dropped 50% and more.

However, cold markets often provide the best buying opportunity. Consider Las Vegas : a home that cost $200,000 in 2007 and lost 50% of its value costs $100,000 today. A 50% gain pushes its value up to $150,000. In other words, prices do not have to appreciate back to their peaks for people to book considerable equity or an investment gain. This simple math is worth repeating to homebuyers and residential real estate investors, especially to those residing in or near frigid markets.

www.deanrizzi.com

Shokoofeh Nowbakht, Realtor
Prudential California Realty
www.shokoo.com

Nicole Machado- Prudential California Real Estate

So far, in 2010, San Bruno real estate inventory is low making it a great new environment for homeowners who have been thinking of selling! Currently there are only 30 homes for sale ranging from $299,000 for a small one bedroom home to $1,000,000 brand spanking new homes in a new developement! Md range is about $550,000-$600,000.

With interest rates still teetering between 5 and 6%, home buyers are out in full force looking for good deals before the rates hike up!

What we are seeing is pretty quick sales of homes in the lower and mid ranges while the high end homes are taking awhile. They are selling though! It took quite a few months but the new homes in the Skycrest Develoment next to Lunardi’s have all sold! One most recently at $918,000!

 FHA loans are popular with a low amount of 3.5% down but many homebuyers are purchasing with 10-20% down that has been saved or come from equity lines on a home meaning that many of our buyers these days are move up buyers who have managed to build equity in their first homes! That’s great news!

The competition in the low and mid ranges are still bank owned homes and short sales but there are some regular sales out there amongst them!

As I walk the neighborhoods placing neighborhood newsletters and notepads on people’s doorsteps, I notice that most people are staying put. People who own homes or rent them for that matter like where they live here in San Bruno and don’t plan on selling anytime in the near future unless a fantastic job opportunity comes along, a new family grows out of a small home, or an senior downsizes. I don’t blame them. I live here, too, and I enjoy my neighborhood in Huntington Park. I like that I am walking distance to everything, even though I choose to drive. I imagine that’s how a lot of people feel.

At this point of my life with my kids in elementary school and taking part in all that San Bruno Park and Rec has to offer, I am here as a San Bruno neighborhood resource. If you want to know what’s going on in the park, Chamber of Commerce, real estate, or anything else, chances are I can help you. I also help people buy and sell houses in San Bruno and other parts of the peninsula. Please visit my website and check out my videos at: www.KarinCunningham.com

Your friend,

Karin

Looking ahead to 2010, we see continued improvement in home sales and home prices. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised if the market turns to a sellers’ market from a buyers’ market by year’s end. We are almost certain that will be the case if we see a two to three percentage point drop in the unemployment rate. Low mortgage rates and income tax credits are contributing factors in stabilizing the market, to be sure, but no factor is more important than employment in not only maintaining stability but stimulating activity.    

We also think 2009 will mark the end of the sub-five-percent 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for the foreseeable future. Many economists predict rates quoted in the low sixes will be the norm for 2010. We agree. But that’s not bad news. The higher rates will likely be accompanied by a more robust economy, with more jobs and greater consumer demand. We also think that higher rates will be accompanied with more relaxed underwriting standards, as banks and other lenders become less risk adverse.

In the meantime, mortgage rates are still very good, as are housing prices, which is why we continue to urge borrowers to refinance and buyers to qualify for a loan and buy. It’s worth remembering that today’s deals in both the mortgage and housing markets are the anomaly not the norm, and that the norm can return faster than many of us expect.

 Visit my website at www.deanrizzi.com

* Existing, single-family home sales increased 4.7 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted rate of 536,720 units on an annualized basis.
* The statewide median price of an existing single-family home increased 2.4 percent in November to $304,520 compared with October 2009.
* C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index fell to 4.5 months in November, compared with 7.1 months in November 2008.

According to the C.A.R.’s President Steve Goddard: “First-time buyers continued to drive the market in November, as many opened escrow to take advantage of the federal tax credit prior to its original Nov. 30 expiration.  The extension and expansion of the tax credit until April 30, 2010, along with low interest rates, should continue to positively impact the market in coming months.       Efforts by lenders and the government to assist homeowners at risk of foreclosure have led to fewer homes available for sale, and an increase in the state’s median home price. California’s median home price increased year over year in November for the first time since August 2007.”

For the full article, see:  http://www.car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/novsalesandprice/

Along with others, I’m hopeful for the new year and have definitely seen an increase in interest among potential home buyers.  At the same time, however, I have to be a little hesitant in painting too rosy of a picture in the year to come.  In the past month alone, I’ve spoken with three families who are looking at the prospect of losing their homes in the near future due to either loss of employment, a resetting of their loans to higher interest rates and higher payments, the fact that their property is not worth the remaining balance of the loan, or a combination of these factors.  Loan modification is not a viable option for them, nor will any of the proposed or newly passed housing programs be of any help.  All three are actually continuing to make their payments on ethical principles, even if this means eating into their savings.  And I’m sure that their cases are not isolated ones. 

So while I hope for the best and want to believe that the economy is taking a turn for the better, it seems to me that we’re still not out of the woods yet.  I’d be interested to hear from other agents and homeowners as to what they’re seeing on a practical level.  In the meantime, here’s to hoping for a truly Happy New Year to all of us, and especially to those in difficult situations.