S.F. Bay Area Home Prices on the rise

The S.F. Chronicle reported this morning that the Case-Shiller/S&P Home Price Index for the S.F. metro area, which includes Marin County, rose 2.8 percent in August , following an increase of 3.3 percent from June to July and a 3.8% increase the previous month. This index tracks changes in home values by comparing recent home sales with previous prices for the SAME home. This eliminates the bias introduced when one segment of the market is more active than another, which has been the case recently, with multiple offers on low-priced homes. More activity in that segment, which has seen more than its share of short slaes and foreclosures brings down the widely reported median price when in fact the typical home my actually be increasing in value.

For the complete report, see http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/28/BU6F1ABEUI.DTL.

Peter Nielsen, Peter@MarinRealtyExperts.com, 415-472-6243