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 Home Price Continues Rising

After hitting a two year low in January, the median price for single-family re-sale homes rose 18.6% in March from February. Year-over-year, the median price was off for the seventh month in a row, falling 3.1%.

After falling to their lowest level since January 2009 in February, home sales bounced back last month, which is normal for this time of year, and rose 75% from February. The 203 home sales last month were 7.7% lower than last March.

So sales of homes in San Francisco are well, moving like hotcakes.  Multiple offers seem to be the new norm for any property that’s cute and priced right.

This week, Zephyr real estate reported 29 sales in the company (these are sales that just went into contract, but haven’t closed yet) and 13 of those had multiple offers and 14 went over the asking price.  There’s still old inventory being eaten up (I just got an accepted offer on a place that’s been on the market 100+ days) but the new, cute, well-priced listings are MOVING!

Out of the last 5 offers I’ve written for clients, 4 properties received multiple offers.

But what’s MORE interesting, at least in my opinion, is that we seem to be seeing a major resurgence of the all cash offer!

Yup.  In the last few weeks, the words “all cash offer” are a phrase I’m hearing on a daily basis.  Lenders are talking about it.  Escrow officers are talking about it.  And without a doubt, real estate agents are talking about it.  I recently put in an offer on a property with clients that had a cash offer.  We came in 12th out of 13 offers, and our offer was accepted.  And then just yesterday, I helped clients (they did have a loan) get another offer acepted.  12 offers were received by the listing agent and THREE of them were all cash.  In January, I had clients beat out on an 8 offer situation where the highest bidder was an all cash offer.

But what does this all MEAN?

Someone asked me the other day, “Why the hell would enyone ever tie up so much money in San Francisco real estate?”  Well, I’m going to go out on a limb here, but it might mean that the folks that are smart enough (or lucky enough) to amass a giant pile of cold hard cash seem to think that dumping all of their dough into real estate RIGHT NOW is a smart investment decision.

Prices don’t seem to be going any lower and with sales spiking upwards and prices creeping upwards, it might be safe to deduce that the bottom of the SF housing market has come and gone.

And here’s the thing, the theory that interest rates are low and THAT’S why it’s a good time to buy don’t apply to the cash buyer.  Interest rates don’t affect them.

I’d love to hear from some of you cash buyers, or even agents with cash buyers whether my theories are sorta correct or completely far fetched.  You can drop a note in the comments, or if you want to keep yourself anonymous, email me.

For those of you that like your San Francisco 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

(Editor’s Note: Set forth below are Unit Sales/DOM/Monthly Supply charts for the month of February for single-family homes, condominiums and 2-4 units, as well as Supply/Demand, Sales Rate and Median Price charts for the same month.)

Single-Family Homes

Condos

2-4 Units

Median_Price_Co…	Median_Price_Co…	Median_Price_SF…	Median_Price_SF…	Median_Price_SF…
Median_Price_SF…	Sales_Rate_Cond…	Sales_Rate_Cond…	Sales_Rate_SFR_…	Sales_Rate_SFR_…
Sales_Rate_SFR_…	Sales_Rate_SFR_…	Supply_and_Dema…	Supply_and_Dema…	Supply_and_Dema…
Supply_and_Dema…	Supply_and_Dema…	Supply_and_Dema…	Units_UC_Condo_…	Units_UC_Condo_…
Units_UC_SFR_an…	Units_UC_SFR_an…	Units_UC_SFR_Be…	Units_UC_SFR_Ti…

NUMBER OF UNITS is the equivalent of number of sales/transactions. For condominiums, each unit is treated as a sale. For 2- t 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.

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:

The median home price bounced back in February, gaining 4.9% from January. Year-over-year, the median price was down 7.2%.

The graph below shows the sales price to list price ratio as reported at sale compared to the sales price to original list price ratio.

The following chart shows the median price difference compared to the year before.

Days on market for homes rose six days to 65 days. For condos/lofts, days on market soared sixteen days to 95 days.

According to a CNN Money article, “After four straight years of declines, sales of million-dollar homes and condos rose last year in all 20 major metro areas, according to DataQuick Information Systems. On average, these cities saw an 18.6% jump in high-end home sales.”

The article goes on to state that “”It hasn’t been a good six months for all people, but it was a good six months for rich people,” said Glenn Kelman, CEO of Seattle-based real estate brokerage Redfin. “When Wall Street goes up, rich people buy homes.”"

And Wall Street has been going up!  Not to mention, the higher end of the job market seems to be on the rebound.  A friend that works for a tech recruiting company has mentioned that she’s busier than ever looking for job candidates in the well over six-figure incomes.

So IS luxury real estate in SF on the rebound?

In San Francisco, in 2010 there were 1,083 homes sold over the $1M price range.

So far, in the first 66 days of  2011, 111homes over the $1M price range have sold and another 146 are already in contract, meaning that so far, 257 luxury homes have sold in San Francisco.  At that rate, 1421 homes over the $1M will sell in 2011.  That’s a projected 31% increase in high end real estate sales in San Francisco.

OK, so the numbers are rough, they’re based on a period of increased activity that we have experienced since the beginning of this year, and they don’t take into account the fact that I have no crystal ball to tell you what the future holds.  But … there’s no denying that the outlook for 2011 is fairing better than years past, and if I had to place bets on how the luxury market will fair in SF, I’d say we’ll have a pretty good year ahead.

Where are you going to place your bets?

Based on the pic above, you might think San Francisco has just gotten slimed.  (Yes, this is a bad reference to the 80′s, the Ghostbusters and even Nickelodeon’s Double Dare – yes, I’m probably dating myself, but if you knew what I was talking about, you really have no room to judge. )

What you’re really looking at is a heat map that focuses on areas that are the most transit friendly.

Lucky for us San Franciscan’s, our transit situation is pretty bright, even WITH all of the drama that our lovely MUNI brings us on a daily basis – from crashes to late running buses to financial woes (visit the N-Judah Chronicles to get a good scoop on all things MUNI), we’re still probably one of the luckier cities in the nation.  (I mean, I’ve been in places that have NO public transportation on weekends at all!)

In one study, it was found that a good WalkScore added significant value to a property:

More than just a pleasant amenity, the walkability of cities translates directly into increases in home values. Homes located in more walkable neighborhoods—those with a mix of common daily shopping and social destinations within a short distance—command a price premium over otherwise similar homes in less walkable areas. Houses with the above-average levels of walkability command a premium of about $4,000 to $34,000 over houses with just average levels of walkability in the typical metropolitan
areas studied.

And being that a good WalkScore adds value, I can only surmise that a good TransitScore adds value as well. (In case it needs explanation, a good Transit Score judges how easily accessible public transportation is from a specific address.)

From Zillow’s Blog:

Transit Score provides a 0 -100 rating for more than 100 cities where public transit data is available. Ratings range from “Rider’s Paradise” that offer world-class bus and rail service, to areas with limited or no nearby public transportation.

How do they do it? A Transit Score is calculated by assigning a “usefulness” value to nearby transit routes based on the frequency, type of route (rail, bus, etc.), and distance to the nearest stop on the route. The “usefulness” of all nearby routes is summed and then it is normalized to a score between 0 – 100.

Now, while a good Walk Score has already proven to add value to a property, based on the frequency of buyer requests for locations near easy public transportation, I’d be willing to put my money on the fact that there’s a correlation between a good Transit Score and an increase in property value.

Either way, you can visit www.walkscore.com or their page for public transportation at www.walkscore.com/transit-score.php to find out whether your home or the home you’re considering purchasing has the added bonuses of walk-ability and transit-ability.

And of course, if you’re looking to buy or sell a walkable, transitable, or for that matter, any home in San Francisco, give me a shout -  we’ll  see if we work well together to achieve your SF real estate goals.

If you were signed up for Zephyr Real Estate’s Market Tracker, you’d already have an awesome newsletter in your email inbox waiting for you to open it right now.

The newsletter would have the latest San Francisco home sales (sortable by neighborhood or property type), the latest SF property listings (also sortable by neighborhood and property type), and some interesting tidbits about the City too.

Don’t believe me?  Check out this week’s edition for yourself by clicking here.

And if you LOVE it (and how could you not?) sign up here.

It’ll pop up in your inbox every two weeks and it will complete your life.  And if it doesn’t (though I’m sure it will), you can quickly and safely unsubscribe.

The title of the post almost sounds like a personal ad, right?

Well I was taking a look at my list of San Francisco clients that are looking for a home or have recently purchased a home and I realized that about 35% of them are single women.

While it does appear that I tend to work with more single female home buyers than national averages, across the country, I did find some interesting statistics while searching the net:

Not bad for girl power, eh?

The demographic includes all women, including never married, divorced or widowed.

Each person’s motivations for buying a home is, without a doubt, different.

Past generations waited for Mr. Right to come along and give the poor helpless female financial security.

But TODAY’S woman is ready to take her financial destiny into her own hands. According to an older article from USA Today:

The trend is striking, because in 1981, the number of single women and single men home buyers was virtually the same. Since then, the percentage of buyers who are single women has almost doubled, while the percentage of single men buyers slipped 1 percentage point to 9% last year.

The article goes on to say:

“For the first time in history, women have access to the same resources men have always had — money, social status, power,” says Donald Hantula, professor of organizational psychology at Temple University in Philadelphia.

“Women can go and acquire them on their own rather than searching for a mate to provide them. These demographic and social changes are not in line with how we adapted in the hunter-gatherer era.”

In SF, women have a number of options when it comes to buying a home. My clients’ searches have included houses, condos, TIC’s, lofts, fixer-uppers, new construction, Victorian architecture, modern design and so many other variables that there’s just too many to list.

And now that we are seeing some better deals in the San Francisco housing market, I’ve been getting more calls from single women ready to take the plunge and buy a home. In fact, now that the real estate prices have softened in SF, I’ve gotten calls from some past single female clients that are ready to jump in and buy investment property, with a big enough down payment, they are actually able to see a positive net gain on a rental property in San Francisco.

If you’re a single woman and you’re thinking about buying property in San Francisco, whether for your primary residence or for investment purposes, give me a holler – I’m happy to help you decide whether now really is the right time for you to buy.

Oh, and the embedded video??? Just a gratuitous baby dancing to the Single Ladies song because who doesn’t like to watch babies boogie!

We seem to be seeing an increased inventory of real estate in San Francisco.  So far, we haven’t just been seeing MORE inventory, but we’ve also been seeing BETTER inventory!

And while we don’t know if the flow of good properties will continue (though I can vouch that I have a few fabulous listings coming up in a variety of price ranges), there is anecdotal evidence that the flow of inventory will continue.

You see, when you need to sell a home, you need to pull what we in the real estate industry call a 3R Report.  It’s also known as the report of residential record.

It includes:

- Address of the building including condominium or unit number if any
- Block and Lot
- Present authorized occupancy or use
- If the property is classified as a Condominium
- If the building contain any Residential Hotel Guest Rooms
- Zoning district
- Building Code Occupancy Classification
- Expiration date for non-conforming use
- Building construction date
- Original occupancy or use
- Building permit application history and status of building permit:
N = Unknown
I = Issued
X = Expired
C = Completed
- Franchise Tax Board lien
- Abatement case on the property
- Number of residential structures on the lot
- If energy inspection has been done and proof of compliance has been issued

The above information will be shown on the report if available through the Department of Building Inspection microfilm records.  In many cases, submittal of additional  records from other city agencies such as the Assessor’s Office and SF Water Department will be required for the completion and/or revision/update of a 3R. Please note that a 3R does not list the electrical or plumbing permit history, cancelled or withdrawn building permit applications and any building permits taken for the commercial portion of the building.

You need a 3R report whenever you sell a property.  And we recently received a notice from our (MARVELOUS!) office staff at Zephyr letting us know that the 3R department is taking about 3 weeks and up to process requests that normally take just over a week to fulfill!

In fact, rumor has it that there are 70+ requests a day flying into the 3R department!  That’s quite a few new San Francisco listings that would appear to be heading to the market in the near future!

We’ve yet to see whether these properties will be quickly snapped up, but I’d say that if they are priced in line with recent comparable SF sales, they’ll quite possibly see the multiple offer game we’re seeing these days at quite a few properties are selling for WELL over the asking price!  (But they’re marketed aggressively, so the selling price is still the true current market value.)

But in the meantime, it’ll be great to see some more good San Francisco real estate porn!

San Francisco Real Estate Fast Facts – Sans Commentary, Provided by the San Francisco Association of Realtors

(Editor’s Note: Set forth below are Unit Sales/DOM/Monthly Supply charts for the month of January for single-family homes, condominiums and 2-4 units, as well as Supply/Demand, Sales Rate and Median Price charts for the same month.)

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.