Archive for June 29th, 2009

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Watch Out for these Moving Scams

June 29, 2009

Ahhh, movers.  They provide extremely valuable service but unfortunately, not all can be trusted.  I suppose that same statement could be uttered for many professions, but at least those professions don’t have all your stuff!

We’ve heard some doozies before, for example, the moving company that agrees to a certain price, but en route to your new home, changes their mind and holds your stuff hostage until you pay up.  Relocation.com published a list of three “moving scams you’ve never heard of” which we thought would be helpful to our readers.  Yelp.com is a great resource for local movers, and we’ve used and/or heard great things about Corrib Moving & Storage and Delancey Street Movers here in town.

Here’s the article from Relocation.com:

3 Moving Scams You’ve Never Heard Of

"We ain't unloadin' the truck till you pay up!"

"Heya pal, we ain't unloadin' the truck till you pay up... Capiche?"

To share this article, continue reading –> Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Tips | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Condo Projects Shelved

June 29, 2009

From a recent article at the San Francisco Business Times:

Some 3,019 new units of housing came online in 2008, the final burst of a condo construction bubble that peaked in 2006 and started to deflate in late 2007. Since then prices have dropped 20 to 30 percent. A recent Polaris Group report found there are 1,340 condominium units available for resale — 58 percent more than available in May 2008 and a 10.3-month supply. The one major condo project currently under construction, Jackson Pacific’s 180-unit One Hawthorne St., will come online in 2010.

Every major condo project expected to break ground in 2008 was shelved, including:

Urban West Associates’ 292-unit phase two of One Rincon Hill.

Bosa Development’s 318-unit phase two of the Radiance.

Crescent Heights’s 720-unit project at 1401 Market St.

Turnberry’s 227-unit tower at 45 Lansing St.

Some huge SF developments have been delayed or cancelled altogether

Some huge SF developments have been delayed or canceled altogether

As grim as the news sounds, we actually think this is a good thing for San Francisco’s real estate market, particularly the neighborhoods of Read the rest of this entry ?

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2009 : A Rough and Tumble Year

June 29, 2009

Here are some interesting facts and figures we ran today that corroborate the story of two markets, which we wrote about a few days ago.  What exactly did we look at?

We isolated all sales that have taken place from January 1 through June 1 and compared 2008′s performance to 2009′s.  The sales were divided up by price bracket.  Our goal was to see which price brackets have seen the biggest drops (or rises) in activity since this time last year.

Sales volume by price bracket - click to enlarge

Sales volume by price bracket - click to enlarge

  • The number of transactions in the sub $500K range is actually UP from last year… by 21.82%.
  • The number of transactions in the $500,000 to $749,000 range is down 13.55% from last year.
  • The $750,000 to $999,999 bracket is down 45.02% from last year.
  • The $1M to $1,249,000 bracket is down 55.38% from last year.
  • The $1.25M to $1,499,000 bracket is down 60.14% from last year.
  • The $1.5M to $1,999,999 bracket is down 60% from last year.
  • The $2M to $2,999,000 bracket is down the most: 64.89% from last year.
  • The $3M to $4.9M bracket is down 41.18% from last year.
  • And the $5M+ bracket is down the second most, with a 64.29% decease in transactions from this time last year.

Final Thoughts

For all price brackets, the number of transactions is down 32% year over year.  Since that seems to be the norm, it could be deduced that anything less is a sign of relative strength while anything more is a sign of relative weakness.

Sales on the low end continue to show signs of strength in 2009.  Essentially, homes priced less than Read the rest of this entry ?

Posted in Macro-Level Info, Nerdy RE Analysis | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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