Home Sales trending Up

New-Home Sales Up

This week has seen two more pieces of good housing news. The Census Bureau announced Thursday that new homes increased 3.6 percent nationally in July compared to June. Based on July’s data, the total for his year will be 372,000 sales, up 3.6 percent from June’s annualized rate of 359,000.

Bay Area Home Sales are Up

Homes are selling in San Francisco and Marin.  Even though the supply is limited the sales are up.

The year-over-year increase from July 2011 to July 2012 was a whopping 25.3 percent. The word on new-home sales came just one day after the National Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales rose 2.3 percent in July compared to June—and are up 10.4 percent from the previous year.  That's good news.

If you are considering buying or selling then now's a good time to get going.  Interest rates will likely tick up and the good homes or qualified buyers are where you find them. 

Get the help and information you need here:

North Bay Home Buyers

Mill Valley or San Francisco

I'm looking at private open houses in Mill Valley today,
just for lucky folks like you getting this email or notice.

Whether you want to live in San Francisco or Marin, there
are just a few homes that might work for you and many people
looking.  Inventory is low but I still bring you the best values.

Do you want the city life day and night or do you want a more
peaceful existence in the green hills of Marin?  Conveniently close
to all the city has to offer and right across the Golden  Gate Bridge
you'll find life a little less hectic in Marin.

Where ever you choose to live we bring a bigger and better market
to your search for the right home and community.

Spencer

North Bay Homebuyers

PS. If you don't want to wait for the private open house
just call or text me now and we'll get in you in ASAP…

Closing Costs and Your Savings

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Federal regulations are helping to significantly reduce the amount new homebuyers are paying come closing time.

San Francisco, this adds up to California savings.  Make sure you and your Realtor are working with a good loan agent.  It's OK to shop for one but more important to make a good choice and stick with it.  Your Realtor can help with good loan officers he's worked successfully with in the past.
Now is a great time to refinance, mortgage rates may never be lower, and it's a great time to buy a home if you can find the one you want.  It's a seller's market now in the Bay Area.

The average cost of closing on a mortgage has fallen by 7.4% over the past year, according to a recent survey by Bankrate.com. At the end of June, a homebuyer looking to close on a $200,000 mortgage with 20% down paid an average of $3,754, $300 less than 12 months earlier.  The rates are great on a "conventional" mortage, one at $417,000. or less.  Your broker can find you a Jumbo.

Included in those costs are origination expenses, such as application fees and the cost of doing credit checks, and third-party fees, such as those paid for title searches and insurance.  Those should be estimated fairly acurately in advance.

The decline can be attributed to new regulations that require lenders to be more accurate when estimating closing costs for borrowers, said Greg McBride, Bankrate's senior financial analyst.
The regulation, which was put in place two years ago as part of the Real Estate Settlement Practices Act requires lenders to provide a "good faith estimate" of third-party fees that is within 10% of the actual amount the buyer will pay.  It's one of the aspects of the Consumer Protection Act that really is being enforced. "The big drop in third-party fees indicates the lenders are doing a better job at estimating what the costs will be," said McBride.

In short you want a good Realtor and a very good lender to see you get the best available financing for all your real estate needs.  Here's a good place to start:

North Bay Homebuyers

San Francisco and Marin housing upswing

San Francisco and Marin County have low inventory, just not that many homes for sale and the competition is fierce.  Home sales and buyer interest is up in July and we expect this to continue for the year.

There is some hope for the real estate market. According to a report published by the Commerce Department the number of homes purchased in May of 2012 was the highest number in over two years. The number of purchases increased from April to May by 7.6%. That number is the best increase since April of 2010 when the tax credit for purchasing a home was still in effect.  That's true nationally and especially true in San Francisco and the Bay Area's strong economy.  San Francisco rents are out of sight.

Areas of Highest Growth
The places that saw the largest increases were the South and Northeast. The number of homes purchased in the South grew by 12.7% while the growth in the Northeast was 36.7%
Although the total number of sales across the country seems to be off pace from the 700,000 transactions favored by economists, the market is showing other signs of improvement.
San Francisco and Marin are high end markets and will differ from the national statistics
but the trends are very encouraging.

Strong Signals from the Market
First and foremost, builders have begun to increase production. More construction is always a positive sign, no matter how small the increase. Second, interest rates for mortgages are still at historically low levels making it easy to afford a home. It's important to be qualified for a mortgage and that's more difficult these days. Third, and this is important too, is the stabilization of home values. Most regions around the country have noticed home values finally holding steady. All of these factors have lead to people buying up existing homes, paving the way to build more properties.
As San Francisco and Marin are "built out" we don't see much new home construction but there are some interesting multi-unit projects.  Luxury condos might make sense for many homebuyers.

More than Just Statistics
The main reason why economists and financial analysts pay so much attention to construction comes from their overall economic impact. Building a new home or remodeling an existing home normally produces about three new year-long jobs. It also leads to an increase in taxable revenue by an average of $90,000. Although new homes are only 20% of the entire housing market, the numbers above show how constructions helps the economy thrive.  San Francisco has a strong economy, especially in the creative and high tech fields.  New people filling new businesses will need a home.

Supply is Down
At the end of May it was reported that a total of 145,000 new homes were on the market throughout the entire country. Based on current sales numbers the market should go through the existing inventory of new homes in about 4.5 months nationly and even less in the Bay Area. Economic experts feel that a 6 month supply of new homes keeps the economy healthy, but who wants that commute. With a lower than average supply it is possible that home prices could go up simply because demand will be higher.

Prices Already Higher
Speaking in general averages, the price of a home bought in May of 2012 was down ever so slightly from the average price in April. However, when looking at sales from one year ago shows that average prices have gone up by 5.6%.  We are seeing bidding wars again so be prepaired.  Be sure to find a good agent with a good company who can greatly improve your chances and respect your time.

Find the agent you will like and trust here:

North Bay Homebuyers

B of A and Short Sale help

If struggling homeowners aren’t interested in $150,000 free gifts how are real estate investors going to motivate them to sell at big discounts?  If homeowners reject help aren't they going to get the worst possible results for themselves?

Bank of America claims an incredible absence of takers on a $150,000 principal reduction offer sent out to 60,000 borrowers. Why aren’t borrowers responding and what does that mean for real estate ?

Clearly a big part of the reason homeowners aren’t responding to letters like this is that they are just burnt out from all the mail and marketing they receive once they become delinquent. Of course many just don’t trust the banks anymore and with good reason.

Additionally many experts doubt whether major lending institutions are really making good faith efforts to assist homeowners under their obligations which were a part of the multibillion dollar mortgage settlement. Review have found the system fraught with incorrectly calculate income used to deny loan modification requests, borrowers being given the run around on the phone and ‘lost’ paperwork, which one attorney has suggested is merely a tactic to avoid granting modifications and short sales.

So what does this mean for real estate?  Firstly is suggests there are thousands of homeowners out there who still desperately need help.  Homeowners should seek professional help and either keep their home if possible or exit gracefully.  Foreclosure is the worst possible option so homeowners in distress really need to explore their options, pick the one that's right for them and take action.  Avoiding a problem will make it worse, we can do better.

Explore Short Sale options here:
San Francisco Bay Area

Mortgage relief and debt forgiveness

Here's my home site for all your real estate needs:
Better Homes & Gardens

Let's talk soon,

Spencer

Better Homes & Gardens in San Francisco

Record tight inventories are making it increasingly difficult for growing numbers of buyers,
homebuyers who are creating multiple-bid environments in markets that haven’t seen buyers
trying to outbid eachother on San Francisco Bay Area homes in six years.

It's still a great time to buy an home if you can find the one you want.  Find a buyer's agent
you like and trust, me, I only work with qualified buyers.  If we know what we're looking
for and are ready when it comes along we improve our chances.

The housing market has turned-at last. The U.S. finally has moved beyond attention-grabbing predictions from housing "experts" that housing is bottoming out.  That's great news for sellers.
We're here to help you find out what your property is worth and how to get the best results.

The numbers are now convincing all over America but this is especially true in San Francisco
and the Bay Area.  We have an exceptionally strong economy, a crazy rental market and
are experiencing leadership in today's creative businesses.  These are the jobs and the companies
that will keep San Francisco and Silicon Valley strong.

Here's the best source of information on the housing market.
It's the place to find home you want or the right buyer for the home you have.

Better Homes & Gardens

Distressed Homeowner Help

There is help for homeowners in distress.  Visit the site and see what we can do for you.

Help is Here