Monthly Archives: June 2010

Redwood City Real Estate Market

Posted on June 11, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment
Electronic Arts, Redwood City, California, USA
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A suburban community in the San Francisco Bay area, Redwood City, California, lies in San Mateo County and has a population of more than 80,000. The community’s residents are fairly well-to-do, with a median annual household income of more than $70,000. The market for Redwood City real estate struggled initially when the recession hit the vast majority of towns in the U.S., but the beginning of 2010 has shown positive signs of improvement, especially in price, for the Redwood City market.

According to statistics from the San Mateo County Association of Realtors, in the first quarter of 2010 there were 216 new listings of Redwood City homes for sale in the first quarter of 2010, up slightly from 203 in the first quarter of 2009. Total inventory of single-family homes in the first quarter was 189 this year, down by just two from last year. Sales activity was up more than 25% in the first quarter this year, with 100 homes this year sold versus 73 last year. Homes spent an average of 74 days on the market in the first quarter this year, up from just 59 days last year’s first quarter. Most importantly, both the average and median prices have risen annually in the first quarter. The average price was almost $726,000, up more than $20,000, and the median price was $665,000, up by more than $100,000 from the same time last year.

The market for condos in Redwood City showed similar trends, mostly encouraging signs that the market is improving. In the first quarter of 2010, there were 22 new condos listed for sale, and inventory stood at 21, up from inventory in 2009 of just 12. Condo sales activity during the quarter actually fell compared with 2009, as there were only eight condos sold in Redwood City in the first quarter of this year, versus 14 last year.  The number of days condos are spending on the market has remained consistent, at 40 days now versus 39 days last year. However, both the median and average prices of condos sold in Redwood City have risen. The average price in the first quarter of 2010 was $467,250, up more than $60,000 from last year at the same time, while the median price was $482,500, up by more than $75,000 from the same period a year earlier.

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San Diego real estate market

Posted on June 10, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment
Seal of San Diego County, California
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The distress of the San Diego real estate market seems to be easing, as most indicators are rallying despite some signs of continued fragility. According to a May 25, 2010 article from San Diego 6 News, “San Diego has logged 11 consecutive months of increasing home prices, while much of the nation’s housing market continues to decline. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for San Diego rose 1.5 percent from February to March and was up 10.8 percent year-over-year.” The piece went on to say that “Nationally, the S&P index of 20 major cities fell 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2010, but was 2 percent higher from the same period last year. The index was down .5 percent from February to March. Prices in 13 of the 20 metropolitan areas tracked by the index declined from February to March.”

This same basic news – that the average price of a San Diego home for sale rallied once again in March – was mentioned in a May 25, 2010 article in the San Diego Union-Tribune. This piece found that “With 11 consecutive months of growth, San Diego County is leading the nation’s largest metro areas in home-price appreciation, the widely watched Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index showed Tuesday. In March, the index of San Diego prices was up 10.8 percent from the previous year, the biggest increase since the heady days of mid-2005.” The piece by Roger Showley continued to say that “By contrast, prices in the 20 metro areas that comprise the index declined by 0.5 percent from February to March, the sixth straight decline. They were up 2.4 percent year over year.”

Foreclosure rates, one of the usual indicators of distress in the San Diego real estate market, eased considerably in the most recent tracking period. According to a May 24, 2010 article also in the Union-Tribune, “Mortgage defaults dipped in San Diego County last month to their lowest level since January, as distressed-property owners found alternatives to foreclosures, MDA DataQuick reported Monday. Other signs of distress seemed [to] be easing, as delinquencies stopped growing, banks acted on their foreclosure backlogs, more homes were listed for sale and there were more building permits.”

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San Jose real estate market

Posted on June 9, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment
Old Santa Clara county court house. 161 North ...
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The San Jose real estate market, a subsidiary of the larger Silicon Valley real estate market, continued to make progress during the most recent months of the fiscal year. According to a May 20, 2010 article in the Mercury News, “Santa Clara County posted only a slight gain in home sales last month compared with April 2009, but the median home price jumped 26 percent. The median price of previously owned single-family houses sold last month was $550,000, up 26.4 percent from $435,000 in April 2009, and flat from March 2010, according to a report Thursday from MDA DataQuick.” The piece by Sue McAllister went on to say that “In San Mateo County, the median price of houses sold in April was $638,000, up 16 percent from a year earlier and down 9 percent from March…The number of houses sold in San Mateo County rose 21 percent from April 2009, with 442 houses changing hands.”

The average value of a San Jose home for sale declined sharply in the most recent assessment, according to a May 20, 2010 article in the Mercury News. This piece noted that “The crash in once high-flying Silicon Valley home prices came into sharper focus Thursday when county officials announced a new record in the number of properties that have dropped in assessed value.” The article by John Woolfolk went on to say that “All told, 118,400 houses, condominiums, duplexes and commercial properties will see their assessed values lowered by a total of nearly $21.4 billion. To put that in perspective, just 4,442 properties in 2006 saw assessed values drop, with losses totaling less than $3 billion. Assessor Larry Stone called the numbers ‘historically off the charts.’ This year’s figures top last year’s record reductions in value by $2 billion and 20,000 properties.”

The Bay Area communities surrounding the San Jose real estate market also faced some setbacks in the month of April, according to a May 20, 2010 article. This article from the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal found that “Bay Area home sales fell slightly below the year-ago level and remained well below average in April, according to a report Thursday by MDA DataQuick.”

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Sacramento real estate market

Posted on June 7, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment
This is a picture of the Sacramento Riverfront...
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The Sacramento real estate market is showing signs of improvement, although the number of home sales did decline slightly in the latest period. According to a May 20, 2010 article in the Sacramento Bee, “For once California’s economy looks good compared to that of some other states. A foreclosure crisis that has dimmed the state’s golden glow with images of financial ruin and broken government is beginning to wane, says a leading trade group for the U.S. mortgage industry.” The article by Jim Wasserman went on to say that “The new data confirmed improvements in California and the Sacramento area recently cited by researched MDA DataQuick. Last month the firm said mortgage defaults have fallen for a year straight in the state and region, with foreclosures dropping now as well. In hard-hit Sacramento suburbs such as Natomas, Lincoln and Elk Grove, residents see dwindling evidence of the crisis.”

After remaining quite low for some time, the average price of a Sacramento home for sale rallied slightly in the month of April. According to a May 24, 2010 article in the Sacramento Business Journal, “Sacramento-area home prices are climbing off the mat, increasing 12.4 percent from the bottom reached in April 2009, according to a report released Monday.” The piece, written by Ron Trujillo, continued to note that “The fourth-county region – arguably one of the hardest hit, with an abundance of foreclosures and 35 percent-plus home price declines – had a median-home price of $188,100 in April, compared to the so-called ‘trough’ price of $167,340 a year ago, according to the California Association of Realtors.”

Home sales in the Sacramento real estate market decreased somewhat in the most recent tracking period, according to a May 20, 2010 article in the Sacramento Business Journal. The piece by Michael Shaw said that “Home sales in the four-county Sacramento region were slightly lower in April than the same month last year, according to figures released Thursday from real estate information company MDA DataQuick. There were 2,873 home sales of all types, including new homes, and existing homes and condos, in April compared with 3,036 sales a year ago, the company reported.”

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Hawaii real estate market update

Posted on June 6, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment
Image of Oahu taken by NASA.
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The Hawaii real estate market is extremely hard to predict, with different indicators often pointing towards different potential paths for the future. According to a May 7, 2010 article in the Honolulu Star Bulletin, “Real estate markets are usually defined in terms of whether they are good for buyers or sellers. But what emerged last month on Oahu during the waning days of the federal homebuyers tax credit was more of a transitional market.” The piece by Allison Schaefers continued to state that “Sometimes it was good for buyers, sometimes it was good for sellers and sometimes it was not good at all, according to Oahu’s real estate watchers. ‘It’s a more difficult market to predict,’ said Chason Ishii, president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties. On the one hand, Oahu residential real estate sales posted a double-digit rise in April, according to results released yesterday by the Honolulu Board of Realtors.”

Oahu homes for sale, which represent the largest component of Hawaii homes for sale, are also showing signs of indecision. According to a May 26, 2010 article from the Honolulu Advertiser, “A federal report suggests that O’ahu home values aren’t as positive as indicated by local sales data, though the market appears to be on a path of improvement. The Federal Housing Finance Agency yesterday reported that O’ahu single-family home values in the first quarter were down 4.5 percent compared with the same quarter last year.” The article by Andrew Gomes went on to say that “The figure compares with a 4.4 percent rise in the median price for O’ahu single-family  homes sold in the first quarter as reported by the Honolulu Board of Realtors. It’s debatable which assessment is more accurate.”

Although the economy overall was recovering in the month of April, the rate of foreclosures in the Hawaii real estate market continued to increase during the same time period. According to a May 13, 2010 article from the Honolulu Advertiser, “Real estate in Hawaii’s foreclosure pipeline hit a high for the year last month, signaling that homeowners continue to struggle with mortgage payments even as the economy and real estate market are showing signs of a slow recovery.”

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Newport Coast real estate market

Posted on June 6, 2010 by admin| 2 Comments
The Newport Center Skyline in Newport Beach, C...
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The Newport Coast real estate market, which is quite closely connected to the larger trends of the Newport Beach and Orange County real estate markets, seemed to be relatively healthy despite retreating slightly from some earlier gains. According to a May 18, 2010 article from the Orange County Business Journal, “Orange County’s median home price edged down $2,000 in April from March, but still stands $50,000 higher than the prices seen here a year ago. The median price of a home sold here in April was $430,000, a less than 1% drop from a month earlier, according to San Diego-based MDA DataQuick, a unit of Canada’s MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates.” The article by Mark Mueller continued to say that “Median home prices are now about 13% higher than they were a year ago, but still are off nearly 33% from their highest level, seen in mid-2007.”

A May 18, 2010 article in the OC Metro provided a different perspective on the same set of statistics, pointing towards increases in the pending volume of Newport Coast homes for sale. According to this piece, “Orange County saw gains in its median home price and sales activity in April, compared to the same time last year, according to a new report from MDA DataQuick. The county’s median home price hit $430,000 last month, up 13 percent from $380,000 in April 2009.” The article by Kristen Schott continued to state that “Sales rose 11.6 percent in Orange County in April, compared to 2009. Buyers snapped up 2,669 homes in the period, up from about 2,391 at the same time last year. The number also rose slightly from March.”

Another indication of rising strength for the Newport Coast and Orange County real estate markets was mentioned in a May 24, 2010 article in the Orange County Register. This piece, composed by Jon Lansner, said that “Appraisers found price strength in central Orange County (+3.4%, year-over-year for April) and in southern and beach communities (+2.8%). Northern O.C. values were down 1.8% by the RERCSC math…Orange County was one of three SoCal counties showing year-over-year price gains, albeit small ones.”

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