The Countdown Begins - 17.5% of CA New Home Tax Credit left...

July 2nd, 2009

Basically, if you're not closing escrow in the next two weeks on your never been lived in home - don't plan on getting that $10,000 CA new home tax credit. What's going to be interesting is to see if the sales in new developments, that spiked in May, slow down as the news goes out that the tax credit is gone.

Tax Credit for New Home Purchase [Franchise Tax Board]
CA Tax Credit more than 65% gone in 3 months [SF Home Blog]
$10,000 Reasons to Buy a New Development this Year [SF Home Blog]

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If Case-Shiller March Figures were accurate...

July 2nd, 2009

I know, I've been on this rant before ... but every year or so, I just have to vent again.  Mostly because I get tired of hearing one of my very good friends and/or highly intelligent financial advisors my clients are working with quote the index ... ‘According to the Case-Schiller index prices are down over 40% in SF.' Case-Schiller, oft touted as being the most unbiased, thereby accurate measurement of home prices is an index that started 21 years ago.  There are no data points prior to 1988.  It uses the year 2000 as it's base-line and tracks the same single family homes that have re-sold.   According to the Case-Shiller index for March 2009 home prices in San Francisco are down 46.1% from their peak in 2006. Which means, if you are going to rely on those numbers literally, according to the Case-Schiller index, a Single Family Home that sold for $1,000,000 in San Francisco in 2006, was as of March 2009 selling for $539,000.   Now go find that sale! Case-Shiller March 2009 Press Release [Standard & Poor's] Here goes my Pet Peeve again the Case-Shiller Index [SFHomeBlog]

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Prices over the Years: 2 Bedroom Tenancies-in-Common

July 2nd, 2009

2 Bedroom Tenancies-in-Common

Click on graph
The periods in which both the lowest and highest number of sales occurred in each area are noted. When the number of sales is very low, statistical analysis is generally not meaningful.
The Median Sales Price is that price at which half the properties sold for more and half for less. It may be affected by "unusual" events in any particular period or by changes in buying trends, such as a market shift to lower-end home sales (such as is happening today - to a large degree due to the current difficulty in financing the purchase of more expensive homes, and for houses, due to the significant increase in foreclosure sales in some neighborhoods).

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