Real Estate Archives - Green Escrow Services, Inc

The housing crisis is … everywhere

November 25, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

While we’re very familiar withe housing crisis in major metropolitan areas – particularly the Bay Area – there is currently a shortfall of 3.8 million homes nationwide. Not surprisingly, California leads the way with a shortage of 978,000 homes.

The cost and demand for housing has far exceeded the supply and the ability to pay throughout rural regions as well as metropolitan areas.

Besides the high cost of building materials, other roadblocks include zoning regulations, environmental concerns, and the delay in getting building permits.

High-rise apartments coming to Bay Area suburbs?

November 21, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

Those Bay Area cities/towns that have a state-approved plan to meet their homebuilding goals, may resort to a little-known proviso in the state building law known as the “builder’s remedy” which allows developers to build projects of almost any size as long as a portion includes affordable units.

Cities have until January 31, 2023 to get their plans approved but so far only two in the Bay Area- Aameda and Emeryville – have secured approval.

Currently, the Bay Area is responsible for adding 441,000 homes – and increase of 15 percent in the number of total homes. The state is threatening to level fines, withholding housing funding, and limiting permitting authority to those areas that do not meet the requirements.

Will high-rise apartments be the result?

Bay Area voters support housing measures

November 17, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

Election Day saw Bay Area voters support a large number of ballot measures to build affordable homes and help strengthen renter protections.

In fact, the only housing initiative that was defeated was a $650 million bond proposal in Berkeley that failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority for passage.

Throughout the Bay Area, pro-housing candidates performed very well, giving hope that real progress can be made in the coming years.

Bay Area home sales in October the lowest in 15 years

November 10, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

A new report from Compass states that not only were Bay Area home sales down in October they were the worst since 2007.

Although home prices declined, they still remain high, which, in combination with interest rates over 7 percent, saw many would=be buyers step away while sellers were delisting their homes.

Of course, this could be an opportunity for savvy buyers as the competition has lest3enend and sellers are much more willing to negotiate.

Mortgage rates up, home prices down

November 7, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

As home prices continue to decline – currently down 6 percent since May – and mortgage rates continue to rise – currently over 7 percent and doubled since January – how close are we to where the two balance each other out? According to experts – not very.

IOn San Francisco and San José, for example, prices would have to drop an additional 10 percent to reach May’s monthly payments.

On the other hand, many Bay Area cities had very high prices before the pandemic, so they would have to fall less than 10 percent. But prices would still remain very high!

Mortgage rates rise to over 7%

October 31, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

For the first time since April 2002, mortgage rates have risen to over 7 percent, currently 7.08 percent compared to 6.94 percent last week. One year ago, mortgage rates were 3.19 percent.

This is a 56 percent increase in the monthly payment for the same amount borrowed in October 2021.

In 2002, a median single-family house in California cost $317,000; today it’s $822,000.

Bay Area homes selling for less than a year ago

October 27, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

September saw the price of single-family homes in the Bay Area drop 2.6 percent for the third consecutive month of year-over-year declines. This means that homes in the region are now selling for less than they were a year ago – even if the median price is $1.26 million. This is the only area in California in which this is happening.

According to the California Association of Realtors prices in the Bay Area had spiked higher than other California regions so there was more room for them to come down. Likewise, more residents seem to be moving out of the Bay Area.

Of course, the main reason remains high interest rates, currently around 6.94 percent which more than offsets the decline in selling prices.

California home prices down 8.7% since May

October 20, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

The median single-family home price in California dropped to $821,680 in September which is a decline of 2.1 percent from August and down 8.7 percent from the peak in May. Of course, these numbers are relative and this decline is still up 42 percent from February 2020.

In the Bay Area, the median in September is $1.26 million, down 0.5% from August and a whopping 16.5 percent from May, but still up 38 percent from February 2020.

As for the future, the California Association of Realtors predicts a drop of 9 percent in the median price statewide for all of 2023.

Mortgage rates continue to rise

October 17, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

As the U.S. Federal Reserve continues to raise short-term interest rates in an effort to get inflation under control, it is expected that mortgage rates will follow suit, as they typically do.

Using median list prices for September 2022 as compared with September 2021, buyers this year are paying almost 80 percent more for the same house!

Of course, this is pricing more and more would-be homebuyers out of the housing market.

The good news is that prices have come down slightly in many markets.

Leaving SF?

October 13, 2022 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

According to data from the American Housing Survey as reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, a whopping 18 percent of residents in the San Francisco metropolitan area are considering leaving their homes in the next year or so. Of these, 8 percent say they would move to another city. Only Seattle, with 7.3 percent considering leaving the city, was close to San Francisco’s numbers.

San Francisco lost over 55,000 (close to 6 percent) residents during the pandemic – the highest of any city in the country – after over a decade of population growth.

While the survey did not ask why residents are considering leaving, the usual reasons apply: the high cost of living, an acute housing shortage, and the ability to work remotely in roomier, more affordable homes.