From the writers @ Inside SF Real Estate, Happy Holidays! We will be taking a few days off from the real estate market to enjoy laughs and love with our greatest gift of all… friends and family. We hope you enjoy yourselves and thanks for all your support in our short blog life. Your shares and referrals have helped us grow, and in return, hopefully we’ve shed some light on local market happenings.
Check back soon – we’ve got a lot of things in store for when we return!
Fannie Mae sent a memo (no, it wasn’t about TPS Reports) out on Tuesday advising lenders that new guidelines for condos are taking effect, particularly in Florida. The bullet points are:
Fannie will require higher loan-to-value ratios for borrowers. This means more money down. (Florida only)
To lend in a complex, Fannie will need to see a minimum of 70% owner occupied residences, up from the previous standard of 51%. (Florida only)
For all condos across the nation, no more than 15% of the owners may be delinquent in HOA dues.
To would-be condo purchasers in Miami, sorry, the developer gets to keep your deposit. An article published yesterday cites cases where condo speculators in Florida put deposits on condominiums, but out of fear of losing money, rescinded their sales contracts. The earnest money deposits were kept by the developers, and a battle over the money ensued. The developers came out on top, with the court ruling that they were under no obligation to return the money.
Our series “Snatched Up” is more than just reporting on homes that have sold. The reason we write this particular series is because we are interested in what home characteristics the market is showing an affinity towards. It’s given that the market likes good prices and a good locations, but what about styles, palettes, and finishes? Sometimes we’re surprised by what we find.
By focusing on homes that sold quickly, at or near their asking prices, we are able to discern what the market is demonstrating a liking for. In this edition, we’re taking a look at 58 Cityview Way in Midtown Terrace.
58 Cityview Way - Not a 10 on curb appeal but does a good job working with what it's got, and has a tasteful, neutral palette.
This 3 bedroom, 1 bath home came on the market on November 20, 2008 for $800,000. It boasts ~1,150 square feet, has a landscaped yard, 2-car tandem parking, views of the ocean from the back yard, and was built around 1955. It went under contract in just 8 days and closed today (22 days on market) for $795,000, which is 99.38% of its asking price.
Ever been curious as to how high HOA (homeowner’s association) fees can get? We ran a search to see what condo in the City, that is currently for sale, has the highest monthly HOA fees. Any guesses? $3K per month? $4K per month?? Try almost $5K per month for Penthouse B that is currently for sale at 1170 Sacramento in Nob Hill! (the exact figure is $4,716 per month)
Keep in mind, this is just for all condos that are currently on the market. We shudder to think about possible figures for condos that are not for sale. But hey, riches are relative, right? $5K a month in HOA’s is chump change to a lot of people, and if you’re from NYC, London, or Hong Kong, you’re probably smirking at how cheap it is here.
Here are some shots of the current “winner” of our HOA Fee contest:
We’re aware that the title of the post makes us sound like market cheerleaders, but we assure you, we’re not. We value the truth over everything, and we’re not afraid to tell it how it is. There is no reason to cheerlead when opportunities abound in any market condition. Besides, it’s just plain old corny.
However, it is great to know that one of our theories about the market seems to be holding up, and that theory is:
San Francisco’s desirable homes continue to sell near or above their asking prices, and values are continuing to drop for the homes that nobody wants.
Case in point, a sale that just closed yesterday (December 20th) at 4036 26th Street in Noe Valley. This single family home hit the market during the extremely turbulent month of October and was on the market for just over a month before it went into contract and closed escrow within 41 days. The 4 bedroom, 2 bath Victorian measuring ~2,021 square feet was originally offered at $1,398,000 and ended up selling for $1,365,000, which is 97.64% of asking. Check out the pics:
Because San Francisco is home to many wealthy people and attracts investors, real estate transactions paid for with all cash are more common here than in say, Wichita, Kansas. But just how common are they? And better yet, what sort of trends have all cash transactions seen over time in the City?
How many people are paying all cash these days?
We queried the MLS for the answers to these questions, and the results were very interesting. First, we limited the search to the city of San Francisco only (no outlying areas), and tallied up the number of all-cash transactions occurring from January 1, 2008 through December 18, 2008. We included single family homes, condominiums, tic’s, lofts, and stock cooperatives in our query. Next, we ran this same query for each year back to 1995 between the exact same dates. We then compared the total cash transactions of each year to the total number of ALL transactions during that same period of time to give us the percentage of transactions paid for with all cash. All figures are per the MLS.
Sometimes we get a good laugh from running this blog. The back-end analytics tell us what search engine terms people are using to find us. One that caught our eye and got a rouse from us was someone who went to Google and typed in:
“hot pocket listings”
We couldn’t help but think of one of our favorite stand-up acts, Jim Gaffigan on Hot Pockets. If you haven’t seen it, take a look and have a laugh!
What the heck is a pocket listing? A pocket listing is a home that is not being advertised to the general public through the MLS or a listing that will come on the market in the future but right now is still a secret. Many homes in San Francisco sell while off the open market, so pocket listing culture is a big deal. Every week, we’ll be sharing info about pocket listings that we know about. Information on pocket listings is sparse and secretive, so pardon us if we seem short on details for the purposes of our blog. If you are interested in learning more, you can click HERE to contact us. Without further adieu, here are this week’s pocket listings:
Out of our pocket and over to you
To see this week’s pocket listings, continue reading –>
It seems the question on everyone’s mind is how the stock market crash of October 2008 has affected activity in the local real estate market, ie: numbers of home sales. We set out to find the answer, and here’s how we did it.
Are buyers and sellers in a stalemate?
First, we limited our search from November 1 through December 16. The reason we chose November 1st is because there is a lag of activity in the market. Many people were in escrow during the crash of early October and ended up closing in late October despite conditions. What we wanted to find out is how many people were willing to move forward with a purchase after the crash rocked everyone’s boat, hence the November 1 start date. The reason we capped the search at December 16 is because today is the 17th and the 16th was our last full business day.
Next, we constrained our numbers to the City of San Francisco only. No outlying areas are included. Property types in these numbers include single family homes, condominiums, tics, lofts, and stock cooperatives.
Lastly, to get a point of comparison, we ran this query for each year during the exact same time-frame, going all the way back to 1995. How did it stack up?
Mission Dolores is one of our favorite parts of town. It’s been changing for the better for many years now, yet still retains a slight tinge of edginess to keep it honest. Dolores Park (aka “DP”), the main park in the neighborhood, has also improved dramatically over the years from its once drug-dealer, crime-ridden past.
Dolores Park - courtesy of indifference.com
Properties around the nabe are spectacularly unique (you won’t find a plethora of cookie cutter condos here). Victorians and palm trees line Dolores Street, which runs through the center of this artsy area. Shops, restaurants, boutiques, and bars are abundant and all within walking distance. Some properties have views of the City and public transit is easy peasy.
Condominiums are popular in the area, mainly located in 2, 3, and 4 unit Victorian-styled buildings. We ran some numbers to find out the scoop on median condo prices over time, and to see how 2008 shaped up. Here’s a look: Read the rest of this entry ?
Today as I was browsing the MLS, I couldn’t help but notice a 3 bedroom, 3 bath condo in one of my favorite buildings went into contract. 999 Green sits high atop Russian Hill (maybe that’s why they call it “The Summit” – hehe) and has amazing views in all directions. The 315 foot tall structure was built in 1965, has 104 units on 32 floors, and was one of the earliest modern high rises to be built on Russian Hill.
Unit 2302 has been on the market for 76 days at $2,195,000 and went into contract this morning. The unit caught our eye because it registered about a 9.5 on our real estate tachometer (aka the ‘tacky meter’). Apparently someone who could see past the clutter snatched up this great unit and once the owner’s stuff is out, will enjoy incredible views of the city skyline, a Bay that changes colors throughout the day, and sunrises emerging from California’s mountains. Good for them, and hats off for the ability to look through the decor.
We recently toured 600 18th Avenue with camera in hand and wanted to share our tour with you. This 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath Edwardian located in the Richmond District occupies a corner lot (think lots of windows) and has no shortage of square feet (coming in at over 3,000). The home has hardwoods throughout, 2 car side-by-side parking, gets lots of natural light, has been recently remodeled, and has a deck leading out to the back patio and terrace. 600 18th Avenue currently ranks #4 in our Top 5 listings in the Avenues, and #2 in the Richmond District (by price). It’s currently listed at $1,688,000. Enjoy the tour:
Next up for our 2008 neighborhood rankings, we ranked each of the 85 neighborhoods in San Francisco by the value of their highest sale thus far (includes January 1, 2008 through December 13, 2008). This effectively shows us where the “ceiling” is in these neighborhoods, so we’ll call this our “Neighborhood Ceiling Ranking” from now on.
Where is your ceiling?
The ceiling was determined by the highest sale for single family homes, condominiums, stock cooperatives, lofts, and TIC property types in each neighborhood. Here’s the run-down:
We went through all 85 neighborhoods in San Francisco (as determined by the MLS), calculating the median sales prices for 2008 (January 1 through December 13). Included in the medians are single family homes, condominiums, stock cooperatives, lofts, and TIC property types.
Where is your neighborhood on the totem pole?
The rankings were, shall we say, quite interesting, and we’ve decided to take a look at this list periodically to see how it’s changing. We also have another ranking of all 86 neighborhoods coming out, so stay tuned.
