Laura Lambert - Fine San Francisco Homes

Luxury homes in popular Pacific Heights, Marina, and Cow Hollow neighborhoods are moving with many homes receiving multiple offers or selling over the asking price.

It appears that the basic economics of demand and supply are causing San Francisco prices of single family homes and condominiums to rise. Employment prospects continue to improve, with San Francisco Unemployment down to 8.8% in March 2011, after being well over 10% during the height of the Great Recession. This is still well below California’s average 12% unemployment and the 14.7% high California reached in 1940 during the country’s Great Depression. Some areas in California have unemployment rates over 25%. Technology jobs seem to account for most of San Francisco’s job growth, as companies like Zynga and Twitter increasing their local workforces.

As the economy improves and company profits rise, employees may be less concerned about layoffs. A rising stock market that raises savings, may also be giving buyers a feeling of increased security.

After record office space downsizing by large corporate tenants, the San Francisco office market is rebounding with the expansion of technology companies. Planned expansions at Twitter and Zynga, as well as new start-ups are helping improve the city’s employment. There are predictions that the technology sector could expand to the peak levels we saw during the 2000 Internet Bubble.

Couple increasing demand with lower supply and you get upwards pressure on prices. Supply is down by almost 50%, with single family home inventory down from highs of over 4 months to 2.3 months in March 2011.

San Francisco’s Golden Gate Yacht Club is hosting the 34th Americas Cup match September 7-22, 2013 as Oracle Racing attempts to defend the coveted title against challenger Club Nautico di Roma’s Mascalzone Latino. While sailing may not be the best spectator sport, the proposed race course should be seen from San Francisco’s northern waterfront between the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge. Many view homes in San Francisco’s Marina, Pacific Heights, Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Telegraph Hill and Downtown waterfront neighborhoods will benefit from having north facing views of the San Francisco Bay.

Want a 2 Bedroom condo with a view? There are 40 for sale with north bay views – ranging from $396,000 in the Financial District (710 sq. ft. – no parking but close to public transit) to $3,550,000 on Russian Hill (you can get 2,603 sq. ft. for $2,850,000 on Telegraph Hill). This one bedroom is a perfect Pied-a-Terre – check out the view!

If you want a single family home with a view, you have a choice of 14 homes ranging in price from $1,295,000 (c.1884 Telegraph Hill) to $45,000,000 (Pacific Heights). Expect to pay over $900 a square foot. The Telegraph Hill remodeled cottage is part of San Francisco’s early history of 19th century homes that survived the 1906 earthquake & fire. The home is surrounded by the lush foliage of the Filbert Steps and Grace Marchant Garden, home to and the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill.

New Stamps help Green America

The US Postal Service has released a new “green” stamp featuring cartoon drawings of simple actions we can take to conserve energy and improve the environment every day. The pane of 16 forever stamps sells for $7.04 (forever stamps are sold at the prevailing postage rate but are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate, so you pay 44¢ per stamp now and won’t have to add extra postage when the rate goes up!)

Award-winning animator Eli Noyes helped the Postal Service create the series of colorful individual scenes in a playful style illustrating the simple things we can do to make a difference. The stamps are sending the message that there are small changes we can make daily, and these simple things can save energy to help the environment.

The stamps are labeled: GO GREEN reduce our environmental footprint step by step. Here’s the list of things we should be doing daily:

• Buy local produce and reuse bags
• Fix water leaks
• Share Rides
• Turn off lights not in use
• Choose to walk
• Compost Let nature do the work (shows picture of clothes drying in the sun)
• Recycle more
• Ride a bike
• Plant trees
• Insulate the home
• Use public transportation
• Use efficient light bulbs
• Adjust the thermostat
• Maintain tire pressure

https://shop.usps.com/wcsstore/PostalStore/upload/htm/gogreen/?langId=-1&storeId=10052&storeId=10052&catalogId=10001&krypto=1sl2igLXZGXgkmSxfyF5jaSci8zZMgnnrFDpXimBtbOCwCFQG0HTAoCReTXOflZUKzX6Ay10p64%3D&ddkey=https:CategoryDisplay

Home Prices Continue to Rise - San Francisco housing market recovery is underway

Luxury homes in popular Pacific Heights, Marina, and Cow Hollow neighborhoods are moving with many homes receiving multiple offers or selling over the asking price.

It appears that the basic economics of demand and supply are causing San Francisco prices of single family homes and condominiums to rise. Employment prospects continue to improve, with San Francisco Unemployment down to 8.8% in March 2011, after being well over 10% during the height of the Great Recession. This is still well below California’s average 12% unemployment and the 14.7% high California reached in 1940 during the country’s Great Depression. Some areas in California have unemployment rates over 25%. Technology jobs seem to account for most of San Francisco’s job growth, as companies like Zynga and Twitter increasing their local workforces.

As the economy improves and company profits rise, employees may be less concerned about layoffs. A rising stock market that raises savings, may also be giving buyers a feeling of increased security.

After record office space downsizing by large corporate tenants, the San Francisco office market is rebounding with the expansion of technology companies. Planned expansions at Twitter and Zynga, as well as new start-ups are helping improve the city’s employment. There are predictions that the technology sector could expand to the peak levels we saw during the 2000 Internet Bubble.

Couple increasing demand with lower supply and you get upwards pressure on prices. Supply is down by almost 50%, with single family home inventory down from highs of over 4 months to 2.3 months in March 2011.

Earthquake Fault Maps online - no active faults in San Francisco

Earthquake fault zone maps are now available online from the California Geological Survey. The maps only show regions with active faults.

The site is organized by quadrangles. Since San Francisco has no active faults, there is no quadrangle for San Francisco, but many other areas are included.

If you decide to sell a home in a designated earthquake fault zone, sellers must disclose the earthquake zone to potential buyers. To determine if your home is in a fault zone, you can search for your address online at http://www.quake.ca.gov/gmaps/ap/ap_maps.htm

Real Estate agents cover this earthquake fault requirement by providing buyers with a customized disclosure report for the specific address. These reports are available for about $100-$150 from Property ID or JCP, and in addition to earthquake faults, they cover things like landslides and habitats.

John Parrish, California's state geologist and head of the California Geological Survey encourages people to look at the maps. He says “California is earthquake country. If people are purchasing property, they need to know whether they’re in an earthquake fault zone.”

Real Estate: Finally a Good Investment? 4 Reasons to Buy a Home Now

The housing market still looks pretty bleak: There were a record one million foreclosures last year, home prices are still falling in many regions and the number of "underwater" properties is at a record high.

And things don't look much better in other areas of real estate. The number of construction jobs continues to decline, even as other parts of the economy have added jobs. And mortgage rates have moved higher as long-term Treasury yields have backed up during the past few months. Basically, the real estate market remains a mess.

Real estate encompasses a wide range of markets – homes, apartments, hospitals, office buildings, strip malls, dormitories and other properties. But for our purposes, let's focus on residential real estate, or homes. Here are four reasons to think residential real estate might represent a bargain – with one big caveat.

• Everyone hates homes. Homes are probably the most hated asset class in the country. That's what happens when a bubble bursts. People avoid thinking about the value of their home. Sellers moan about no offers, buyers gripe about impossible lending requirements. Hatred of an asset is often the precursor to contrarian interest, and being contrarian is at the heart of many investment strategies. To paraphrase Warren Buffett, be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful. Mr. Buffett backed that idea when he invested in the stock market in the teeth of the financial crisis in late 2008 and early 2009. Of course, being contrarian for its own sake isn't wise investing. Gold was hated for years ("dead money") before it recently became an attractive asset class. Still, a lot of smart ideas begin with the question: What does everyone hate?
  
• Smart people are buying real estate. This cohort is led by John Paulson, the hedge-fund manager who made $20 billion betting against the housing bubble. Last fall he said in a speech: "If you don't own a home buy one. If you own one home, buy another one, and if you own two homes buy a third and lend your relatives the money to buy a home." Why is Mr. Paulson so adamant? Because he believes long-term interest rates are not going to get much lower. They have, in fact, risen since he gave that speech, but they remain remarkably low by historic standards. Low rates and the expectation that home prices will rise is his argument. For his part, Mr. Buffett has predicted the housing market will bottom this year.
  
• Real estate performs well during inflation. There's no inflation these days, but when buying a home one should take a longer view. And the longer view shows that the economy has enjoyed a disinflationary period since the early 1980s. A number of folks think that cycle is slowly reversing itself. If that's the case, then convention would argue for holding assets that do well in an inflationary environment. That includes Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, commodities and real estate. Remember that during the stagflation nightmare of the 1970s, real estate had a strong run. Inflation isn't a significant issue in the U.S., but it's a growing problem elsewhere. China and India have taken steps to fight inflation, the euro zone is getting flickers of inflation and the U.K. has had oddly higher prices (above 3%) for an extended period of time. If the cycle is slowly turning, real estate makes more sense.
  
• Demand may be coming back. Supply isn't as out of whack as it used to be. At the end of November, home builders reported 197,000 new homes on the market, the lowest level since 1968, according to Yardeni Research. The National Association of Realtors reports that the inventory of existing homes for sale fell 4% to 3.71 million homes, which represents a 9.5-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 10.5-month supply in October.
  

Those aren't pretty numbers, of course, but they are moving in the correct direction. And that may be a reason that many home builder stocks, such as KB Home ( KBH: 14.98, +0.21, +1.42% ) , Hovnanian ( HOV: 4.51, -0.15, -3.21% ) , Pulte ( PHA: 24.04, +0.06, +0.25% ) and Toll Brothers ( TOL: 20.70, +0.23, +1.12% ) , have come off their lows in the past several weeks.

It all comes down to jobs. There are a zillion caveats to any positive home thesis, but the big one is unemployment. If the economy is not creating jobs, the chance of a rebound in housing is diminished. It's hard to buy a home without a job, and folks who aren't working don't want to take long-term risks.

The job market is still struggling and the debate is hot about when it will recover. Optimists see recovery this year. Pessimists see pain for several years ahead. How this X factor gets resolved will say a great deal about whether housing will rebound.

Reprinted with Permission from C.A.R. SmartMoney.com http://www.smartmoney.com/personal-finance/real-estate/-1295050347411/#ixzz1BeppwZQC