I couldn’t have said it better myself - my company McGuire Real Estate came out with this recent post on the San Francisco, Marin, and Peninsula real estate market. We need more data specific to the area…the newspapers cover the Bay Area region and don’t have the bandwidth to get specific to our local city.  You would never know that several properties are selling quickly and over the asking price. Read on…

McGuire Assets Newlsetter…April 2008…

Everyday we see articles chronicling the collapse of the housing market and simultaneously hear anecdotal stories of multiple offers and properties selling for over the asking price. So which scenario is correct? Is it a buyers’ market? Is it a sellers market? Are home values declining or increasing? The short answer is yes. The Bay Area real estate market is a highly segmented marketplace; some areas are struggling while others continue to thrive. In some sub-markets there is very little inventory, which continues to push prices higher; while others are flooded with available homes and not enough buyers.

In San Francisco, the median price for single-family homes increased 23.74% to $1,237,000 in the 1st quarter of 2008 versus the same period in 2007, while the average days on market decreased 9.78% to 35 days. However, these strong gains can be deceptive due to a number of factors. For example, several neighborhoods reported extremely strong gains, but because of the small number of transactions they are not statistically relevant and skew the results for the overall market. These neighborhoods include Golden Gate Heights, Lower Pacific Heights, Haight/Ashbury, and Russian Hill. With that in mind many neighborhoods reported strong gains and a significant number of sales with Glen Park (42%; $1,250,000), Noe Valley (31.90%; $1,625,000), and Marina (21.63%; $2,382,500) leading the list. These gains were balanced by decreased median prices in Ingleside (-28.54; $566,000), Oceanview (-28.06; $502,500), and Potrero Hill (-23.60; $955,000).

In the condominium category in San Francisco, the median sales price increased a modest 2.68% to $729,000 and the average days on market decreased 3.93% to 41 days.  Cow Hollow (82.04%), Western Addition (74.65%), Noe Valley (51.84%), and Telegraph Hill (44.09%) showed the largest increases. However, these gains were primarily buoyed by restricted inventory and a reduction in the number of sales, e.g. Noe Valley and Telegraph Hill reported a 66% and 73% drop in the number of sales, respectively. Just to keep things interesting, however, the Western Addition reported a 50% increase in the number of sales, further demonstrating that there is no single answer to explain the growth within San Francisco’s housing market.   

In Marin County, the median sales price for single family dwellings remained flat, decreasing a modest 0.98% to $959,000. The strongest areas of appreciation were San Geronimo (56.37%; $797,500), Ross (44.33%; $2,800,000), and Larkspur (40.35%; $1,824,000). Greenbrae increased 41.76%, but with an 82.61% decline in the number of sales to just 4, it is not statistically relevant. The only decreases in median price were in areas with too few sales to be statistically relevant. All of Southern Marin reported increases in the median sales price with Tiburon (34.50%; $2,690,000) and Belvedere (26.32%; $3,300,000) leading the list. Southern Marin also saw a decline in the average days a home is on the market, decreasing 29.68% to 72 days. For the county as a whole, the average number of days on market decreased 4.3% to 79 days.

In the condominium category in Marin, the median sales price decreased just 2.63% to $550,125 during the 1st quarter of 2008. The strongest areas of appreciation were Mill Valley (8.79%; $715,000) and Greenbrae (7.42%; $517,750). It is important to note that the number of condominium sales decreased 43.75% to just 72 sales in the entire county, making the majority of the intercity analysis statistically irrelevant. The average number of days on market also increased dramatically, rising 11% to 84 days.   

San Mateo County saw similar trends with the median price for single-family homes increasing 1.12% to $900,000 in the 1st quarter of 2008 versus the same period last year, while the average days on market increased 23.18% to 60 days. In the condominium category, the median sales price decreased 9.48% to $525,000 and the average days on market increased 22.29% to 65 days.

Aldo Congi, vice president for McGuire Downtown said, “Inventory has been very limited during the 1st quarter of 2008, which is reflected in the relatively low days on market and the increasing median sales price. Well-priced listings continue to receive multiple offers—indicating that buyers are out there. However, inventory is beginning to increase these past few weeks, which given the number of buyers currently in the market, should lead to a spike in the number of sales and in the median prices in the 2nd quarter.”

If you would like information on a specific district or category, please contact me. I’m happy to assist you and help you to better understand this fast-paced, ever changing market.

All information deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. All data subject to errors, omissions, or revisions and is not warranted. Data provided by San Francisco Association of Realtors, BAREIS MLS, and REInfo Link.

www.jenndavis.com

Earth Day and Eco Tuesday came together last week (4/22) at the W Hotel. The Keynote speaker was Brian Gitt, the CEO of Build It Green (www.builditgreen.org), a non profit dedicated to promoting healthy, energy, and resource-efficient buildings in California.

Brian is a charismatic speaker and simply captivated the room of green enthusiasts. Brian is an example of starting with an idea of how to ‘green California buildings’ and running with it to become something larger than originally thought possible. What began as Build It Green’s ’voluntary guidelines’ for developers and architects building green real estate soon morphed into these same groups *clamoring* for more information.  Today, he is beseiged with requests for his knowledge, training, guidance and personal presentations to educate this rapidly growing community.  I think we’ve just scratched the surface. Thanks to people like Brian Gitt and organizations such as www.builditgreen.org we can really make some positive change in our communities.

www.jenndavis.com

sanfranoaklandfremontcawealthgain

Coming from the National Association of Realtors, I thought this would be interesting to all home buyers and sellers!

www.jenndavis.com

jdavis@mcguire.com

The San Francisco real estate market has its peak and valleys. Clearly the valleys are not as deep or devastating as the outlying areas of San Francisco, and we are quite blessed to be living and owning real estate in this city.  Of course, there are certain neighborhoods in the city that may be a bit more weatherbeaten than others, but take heart. The longer you own, the better off you are. The attached chart demonstrates what can happen over several cycles.  You can see the overall pace of growth of single family homes for past 30 years in San Francisco.

sf_single_family_dwellings_1970-20071

Everything goes in cycles.  Buy for the long term. Just think what your home could be worth 30 years from today!

Stay tuned for more stats on property sales.

www.jenndavis.com

jdavis@mcguire.com

I just finished Michael Pollan’s ‘In Defense of Food’ and ‘Omnivore’s Dilemna’.  As I write a lot about how to green your San Francisco home it is natural that I am looking for ways to green my own self, if there is such a thing. The premise in Michael Pollan’s book is simple, ‘Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.’ Food that is ‘enriched’ is not food. Food with ingredients that have more than 5 syllables, is not food. Look at bread labels - last time I checked bread was made with flour, yeast, water, and butter. Peruse some of the labels on ‘enriched breads’ and you will find ingredients that are unpronounceable.  Is that food?

Visit San Francisco’s farmers markets.  Get back to basics, whole foods, whole grains, local (and seasonal) organic fruits and vegetables, and get educated about organic meats. For example, free range chicken many times means the chicken has a tiny dirt area to run around in for a very limited time. This is a big subject that could be written about at length but hopefully this will spur one to research further.

Pollan’s recommendations:

Pay more, eat less. Buy the higher quality organic foods (which cost more) but overall you will be more satieted and eat less.

Eat meals. Not at your desk. Eat meals with others.

Buy a standalone freezer. It holds more food than a traditional refrigerator freezer so that you can buy in bulk at farmer’s markets and preserve the food. Studies show you can freeze food and not lose as many nutrients as previously believed.

Bless your food. You’ll eat less (so they say). A preschooler shared this saying with me recently. ‘We love our bread, we love our butter. But most of all, we love each other!’

Green your San Francisco home and while you are at it, green your body! If you choose to live in a green, healthy environment, why stop there? Look at the quality of your food intake. You will be more satieted, possibly eat less and who knows, lose a few pounds while you’re at it. I would bet there is a connection to healthy eating and better quality sleep too.  That’s my guess and my hope as well.

www.jenndavis.com

jdavis@mcguire.com

I ran the Guardsmen Presidio 10 Miler/10K this morning in San Francisco’s Presidio.  We ran over the Golden Gate Bridge and back (I just ran the 10K) and finished in Crissy Field. I’ve run many races in my time but never have I seen such an array of quality post party food and product giveaways such as breakfast burritos from Asquew, coffee from Peet’s, giveaways of Accelerade drink and San Francisco Magazine, oh and even a free Bloody Mary drink if you felt so inclined. But what really caught my attention was the complimentary bottle of a hand sanitizer from Method and the brochure on how to ‘Detox Your Home’.  If you are unfamiliar with Method, please pay attention! Method develops non toxic, planet friendly cleaning products that smell fantastic. And now, they have a handy ‘Detox your Home’ brochure that I will summarize for all you San Francisco and Marin homeowners.

Cleaning can be gentle on your eyes. Do you ever clean and get stinging eyes or burning lungs from the smell of the cleaning product? That’s your body reacting badly to the chemicals. Method’s products are friendly to the body.

You are naked under your clothes. Hmm….so it makes sense you may want a non toxic laundry detergent cleaning your clothes. Method deveops a detergent with products you wouldn’t mind wearing.

Your kid knows what your tile tastes like. Method believes cleaners should be safe for your bare hands (or your bare kids). And that goes for your floors too. Kids are down on the floor all the time. Just think what they must be sampling…At least with Method products you know you are cleaning with toxic free cleansers.

If you own a San Francisco property, a condo, single family home, commercial property or if you are a Marin homeowner, you will be pleased to know the Method founders live right here in our own backyard.

A consistent question I pose…Do we live in paradise or what?

www.jenndavis.com

jdavis@mcguire.com

There are very simple steps you can take to green your home. The benefits are unlimited, saving on energy bills, conserving our resources, and it even can make your home more marketable if you are thinking of selling your home in San Francisco.

A few simple steps:

Use low ‘VOC’ paints - (paints with low volatile organic compounds)

Install low flow water fixtures

Put in low water plants

Install a programmable thermostat

Upgrade to Energy Star appliances

And when you shower, reduce your shower temperature. You’d be surprised the impact that has on your heating bill. For example, reducing your shower temperature from 140 degrees to 120 degrees could shave 6-10% off your heating bill!

 Stay tuned for more ways to green your San Francisco home!

www.jenndavis.com

Can green be luxurious? I attended a panel this evening presented by The Luxury Marketing Council in San Francisco. The panelists consisted of Eric Corey Freed principal of organic Architect, Mike Freed co-owner of Passport Resorts (resorts such as Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur), Kimberley Gardiner, Hybrid Marketing Manager with Lexus, and Helge Hellberg, Executive Director of Marin Organic. A touching answer to the question whether green can be luxurious came from Eric Corey Freed. He explained to the roomful of San Francisco and Marin realtors that being green (nature) is naturally luxurious and abundant. Think about it, leaves fall off trees and are recycled into the earth to prepare for the next cycle of trees.  The concept is that our environment is naturally abundant if left alone. How luxurious! This applies to almost every consumer product. Unused clothing can be recycled into new hip, trendy clothes. Discarded wood can be recycled into beautiful tables, chairs, and hardwood floors. Recycled materials can be used by developers of green buildings. Green hybrid cars have come to be a very comfortable, stylish ride (luxurious) all while conserving on fuel (good for the environment).

 The overall recommendation from the panelists to live a green life was to pick one green mission and do it well. Do it with authenticity. Recycle, eat organic foods, buy green products, learn how to green your San Francisco or Marin home. The green movement is not perfect and there is still a lot of ground ahead of us. However, there are several experts willing to share their knowledge.  Many were in the room this evening. You may find ‘living green’ is luxurious, tasty, and satisfying.

Jenn - your San Francisco EcoBroker

www.jenndavis.com

jdavis@mcguire.com

I attended EcoTuesday in San Francisco tonight held at Le Colonial. I was surrounded by green enthusiasts, sustainability entrepreneurs, and socially conscious business people. As I am on a mission to educate my clients on how to green their own homes I met an interesting person.  Jason Teramoto, Democrat for Assembly in the East Bay. He was at the event in the hopes of launching an EcoTuesday evening in the East Bay but it was clear he was on his own mission to better his own community. You can find more information about him at www.teramoto2008.com. It was clear he understands that there needs to be a thoughtful approach to understanding global warming, greening of our community, and what it actually takes to be a socially conscious individual.

 We need more people like him running for public office.

 Jenn

http://www.jenndavis.com/

jdavis@mcguire.com

Today, Thursday, March 20th, was one of those glorious sun filled days in San Francsico where you just wanted to pinch yourself to appreciate you live in paradise. In San Francisco. Or in a slice of heaven. And look what wonderful things our Building Inspection Commission is doing to bring San Francisco to a greener city. They just approved to send green building standards to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.  If the supes agree on these standards, then Mayor Newsom will sign them into law.  This Chronicle article explains this in a wonderful way. Basically developers would have until 2012 to comply with the new codes. And there are ways to green the existing building you live in. I just love this since there is relatively little new construction happening in the city so most residents have an older structure to try and ‘green’ (if motivated). Here’s what one can do:

Install solar panels (reduce the use of electric and gas utilities)

Companies can encourage employees to ride bikes to work by allowing large bike storage rooms (less cars on the road, less gas used, cleaner air)

Landscapers can use plants and flowers that do not require a lot of watering (preserves a natural resource)

Remodeling companies can use recycled wood and other products in homes. You should see some the quality of these products! Check out http://www.greenhomeguide.com/ for recommendations.

Have you seen the Federal Building on 7th Street? You may have been struck by the style of architecture. One of the many goals of a green building is to maximize the amount of light that can enter a building to reduce the use of electricity.  That Federal Building is a prime example of a green building maximizing light!

 I feel truly blessed to be living in San Francisco and it was its temperate weather and environment that drew me here years ago from the East Coast. It started as a simple dream, I just wanted to be able to run year round. I now want to run year round and preserve this phenomenal environment we live in.

 A slice of heaven all over San Francisco! Can you imagine owning property anywhere else?

http://www.jenndavis.com/

jdavis@mcguire.com