Stats & Numbers

Ask nicely and you shall receive. We did the Single Family Stats and Numbers last week, and a kind email request came for the same thing for condos. Thank you for reading, commenting on, and contacting the sfnewsletter BLOG.   Here are the graphs representing Median Price for CONDOS in San Francisco by zip code:

Inner Richmond/Presidio Heights

Richmond

Marina/Cow Hollow

Parkside

Pacific Heights

Mission

Noe Valley

Mission Bay/Potrero Hill/SOMA

South Beach

Sunset (added to post on 6/10/07 per request by reader)

Stats & Numbers

Thanks to “Boom”, who commented on one of our posts, and provided us with this link to the latest Bay Area Home Sale Activity for April 2007, which we copied below to show you just how San Francisco stacked up to the same month last year.

Our problem with relying on zip code data for median prices and market trends in San Francisco is the fact that the zip code doesn’t necessarily jive with the neighborhood and common type of property being purchased in those areas.  Examples: 94115 is Pacific Heights, but it also includes Lower Pacific Heights and the Western Addition; 94110 is the Mission, but also Bernal Heights; 94121 is Central and Outer Richmond, but also Sea Cliff.  See where we’re going with this?  

Regardless, here are some cool “real time” graphs you might find interesting as well. (Graphs are only for Single Family Residences.)

Innner Richmond, Laurel/Presidio Heights

Central/Outer Richmond, Sea Cliff

Marina/Cow Hollow

Parkside

Pacific Heights, Lower Pacific Heights, Western Addition

Mission, Bernal Heights,

Noe Valley, Corona Heights, Duboce Triangle

Mission Bay/Potrero Hill/SOMA, South Beach

South Beach, SOMA, Financial District

Sunset (added 6/10/07 per request by a reader)

If you’d like your zip charted, contact us.

-Your chance at fame…or missed fortune [sfn BLOG]
-More Stats & Numbers [sfn BLOG]
[image sources: Data Quick; and Altos Research]

Is What We’ve Been Saying for Months Finally Catching On?

“Bay Area’s housing prices buck national trend, Median cost is up 6.6%, driven by strong upscale market, but number of homes sold is down 20%” (source: SFGate)

“-The Bay Area appears to be shaking off the nation’s housing doldrums.
Local home prices are still going through the roof, even though far fewer properties are changing hands. That contradicts the national real estate trend of slumps in both price and sales volume.
Why does the region’s housing seem to defy gravity?
It’s the wealth effect.

-Marin County established its own record with a median home price of $1,010,000 — the first county in California to pass the million-dollar mark…

-The median price for a single-family home nationally was $215,300 (Bay Area is $720,000)”-SFGate

It appears the word on the streets is now hitting the media. Thanks D.L. for the link!

-“Bay Area’s housing prices buck national trend, Median cost is up 6.6%, driven by strong upscale market, but number of homes sold is down 20%” [SFGate]
-Stats & Numbers [sfn BLOG]
-Tour de San Francisco (real estate) [sfnewsletter's tour of San Francisco's Micro-Markets]

Stats & Numbers

[Numbers above for San Francisco provided by Altos Research]

-Calif. median home price – February 07: $564,700 (Source: C.A.R.)
-Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region February 07:
Santa Barbara So. Coast $1,000,000 (Source: C.A.R.)
-Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region February 07:
High Desert $319,860 (Source: C.A.R.)
-Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index – Fourth Quarter 06:
25 percent (Source: C.A.R.)
-Mortgage rates – week ending 4/5:
30-yr. fixed: 6.17%; Fees/points: 0.4%
15-yr. fixed: 5.87%; Fees/points: 0.5%
1-yr. adjustable: 5.44%; Fees/points: 0.6% (Source: Freddie Mac)

[Information obtained from the C.A.R Newsline]

Need a magnifying glass?

 

This is why we always recommend you pay close attention to the details of “bay area housing” reports.   We see San Francisco exactly as it is…low inventory, prices up.  How is that a bad thing?  Remember too, the media and other reporters (bloggers) are not representing clients who are getting out-bid, or can’t find a home, on a daily basis.  So essentially, they’re a bit behind “real-time”.

-Bay Area Home Sales lowest since 1996, prices still flat [Data Quick]

Stats & Numbers

“The index measures housing contract activity. It is based on signed real estate contracts for existing single-family homes, condos and co-ops. A signed contract is not counted as a sale until the transaction closes. Modeling for the PHSI looks at the monthly relationship between existing-home sale contracts and transaction closings over the last four years.”

More About the PHSI

In case you missed it, some STATS & NUMBERS

Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2007C.A.R. reports sales decrease 12.6 percent in January, median price of a home in California at $559,640, up 1.9 percent from year ago

LOS ANGELES (Feb. 27) – Home sales decreased 12.6 percent in January in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home increased 1.9 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.

“After holding steady in the range of 450,000 units on a seasonally adjusted annual basis since July of last year, home sales activity was slightly lower in January,” said C.A.R. President Colleen Badagliacco. “On a regional basis, sales fell an average of 13 percent, while median prices declined in all areas except Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Riverside/San Bernardino.”

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled 437,580 in January at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local REALTOR® associations statewide. Statewide home resale activity decreased 12.6 percent from the 500,470 sales pace recorded in January 2006.

The statewide sales figure represents what the total number of homes sold during 2007 would be if sales maintained the January pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.

The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during January 2007 was $559,640, a 1.9 percent increase over the revised $549,460 median for January 2006, C.A.R. reported. The January 2007 median price decreased 1.7 percent compared with December’s revised $569,560 median price.

“The unsold inventory of existing homes jumped to 9.1 months in January, after hovering around the long-run average of 7 months since mid-2006,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “There was a slight increase in statewide listings last month, which is characteristic of the start of the year. However, listings remained near the long-run average. As such, the increase in the unsold inventory index–the ratio of listings to sales–was driven primarily by the sales decline.”

Highlights of C.A.R.’s resale housing figures for January 2007:

. C.A.R.’s Unsold Inventory Index for existing, single-family detached homes in January 2007 was 9.1 months, compared with 5.7 months (revised) for the same period a year ago. The index indicates the number of months needed to deplete the supply of homes on the market at the current sales rate.

. Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 6.22 percent during January 2007, compared with 6.15 percent in January 2006, according to Freddie Mac. Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 5.47 percent in January 2007 compared with 5.17 percent in January 2006.

. The median number of days it took to sell a single-family home was 75 days in January 2007, compared with 48 days (revised) for the same period a year ago.

Regional MLS sales and price information is contained in the tables that accompany this press release. Regional sales data are not adjusted to account for seasonal factors that can influence home sales. The MLS median price and sales data for detached homes are generated from a survey of more than 90 associations of REALTORS® throughout the state. MLS median price and sales data for condominiums are based on a survey of more than 60 associations. The median price for both detached homes and condominiums represents closed escrow sales.

In a separate report covering more localized statistics generated by C.A.R. and DataQuick Information Systems, 42.3 percent, or 145 out of 343 cities and communities, showed an increase in their respective median home prices from a year ago. DataQuick statistics are based on county records data rather than MLS information. DataQuick Information Systems is a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates. (The top 10 lists are generated for incorporated cities with a minimum of 30 recorded sales in the month.)

Note: Large changes in local median home prices typically indicate both local home price appreciation, and often, large shifts in the composition of housing market activity. Some of the variations in median home prices may be exaggerated due to compositional changes in housing demand. The DataQuick tables listing median home prices in California cities and counties are accessible through C.A.R. Online at http://www.car.org/index.php?id=MzcxMDk.

. Statewide, the 10 cities and communities with the highest median home prices in California during January 2007 were: Los Gatos, $1,400,000; Manhattan Beach, $1,269,000; Danville, $970,000; Morgan Hill, $907,000; Santa Barbara, $900,000; Santa Monica, $880,000; Yorba Linda, $819,000; San Ramon, $760,000; Laguna Niguel, $759,000; San Rafael, $758,000.

. Statewide, the 10 cities and communities with the greatest median home price increases in January 2007 compared with the same period a year ago were: Laguna Niguel, 55.9 percent; Santa Clarita, 30.8 percent; Los Gatos, 30.2 percent; Grass Valley, 17.1 percent; Rancho Mirage, 16.7 percent; Glendale, 14.2 percent; La Mesa, 13.6 percent; Santa Monica, 13.5 percent; Carson, 13 percent; Yucaipa, 12.7 percent.

January 2007 Regional Sales and Price Activity*
Regional and Condo Sales Data Not Seasonally Adjusted

	Median Price	Percent Change in Price from Prior Month	Percent Change in Price from Prior Year	Percent Change in Sales from Prior Month	Percent Change in Sales from Prior Year
	Jan-07	Dec-06	Jan-06	Dec-06	Jan-06
Statewide
Calif. (sf)	$559,640	-1.7%	1.9%	-3.2%	-12.6%
Calif. (condo)	$410,850	-2.4%	-4.5%	-18.2%	-9.9%
Region
Central Valley	$334,810	-2.1%	-3.5%	-22.9%	-18.9%
High Desert	$317,380	-2.2%	-1.3%	-12.5%	-29.7%
Los Angeles	$586,980	0.1%	4.7%	-14.7%	-8.4%
Monterey Region	$699,540	-0.4%	-2.1%	-27.4%	-4.0%
Monterey County	$664,000	-0.2%	-3.1%	-24.7%	-12.0%
Santa Cruz County	$715,000	0.7%	-2.0%	-30.2%	6.6%
Northern California	$381,400	-1.1%	-8.3%	-27.8%	-11.3%
Northern Wine Country	$587,040	-2.9%	-9.0%	-28.4%	-9.6%
Orange County	$688,610	-0.6%	-1.5%	-23.2%	-14.0%
Palm Spgs/Lwr Desert	$348,900	-5.5%	-9.4%	-11.3%	-17.6%
Riverside/S. Bernardino	$415,170	1.2%	6.5%	-26.6%	-27.3%
Sacramento	$360,340	-0.6%	-3.4%	-22.3%	-20.9%
San Diego	$581,780	-0.7%	-3.9%	-29.7%	-8.2%
San Francisco Bay	$719,320	-0.9%	1.7%	-27.5%	-6.5%
San Luis Obispo	$569,080	5.8%	-4.0%	-25.0%	-11.4%
Santa Barbara County	$800,000	37.6%	0.4%	-37.1%	-14.5%
S. Barbara So. Coast	$1,150,000	-8.0%	2.2%	-24.7%	-9.4%
No. S. Barbara County	$414,290	-4.0%	-11.7%	-51.2%	-23.6%
Santa Clara	$740,000	0.3%	0.0%	-25.9%	-7.6%
Ventura	$664,400	-1.0%	-2.6%	-21.6%	-18.3%

na – not available

*Based on closed escrow sales of single family, detached homes only (no condos).  Reported month to month changes in sales activity may overstate actual changes because of the small size of individual regional samples. Movements in sales prices should not be interpreted as measuring changes in the cost of a standard home.  Prices are influenced by changes in cost and changes in the characteristics and size of homes actually sold.

sf = single family, detached home

Source:  CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® 

Median Prices By Region – Current Month vs. Year Ago

	Jan-07	Dec-06		Jan-06
Statewide
Calif. (sf)	$559,640	$569,560	r	$549,460	r
Calif. (condo)	$410,850	$420,990	r	$430,270	r
Region
Central Valley	$334,810	$342,160		$347,080	r
High Desert	$317,380	$324,560		$321,500
Los Angeles	$586,980	$586,540	r	$560,740
Monterey Region	$699,540	$702,300		$714,580
Monterey County	$664,000	$665,000		$685,000
Santa Cruz County	$715,000	$710,000		$729,500
Northern California	$381,400	$385,570		$415,850
Northern Wine Country	$587,040	$604,820		$645,080
Orange County	$688,610	$692,980		$699,060
Palm Spgs/Lwr Desert	$348,900	$369,090		$385,070
Riverside/S. Bernardino	$415,170	$410,160		$389,820	r
Sacramento	$360,340	$362,660		$372,900	r
San Diego	$581,780	$585,970		$605,600
San Francisco Bay	$719,320	$725,900		$707,390
San Luis Obispo	$569,080	$537,740		$592,590
Santa Barbara County	$800,000	$581,250		$796,880
S. Barbara So. Coast	$1,150,000	$1,250,000		$1,125,000	r
No. S. Barbara County	$414,290	$431,710		$469,350
Santa Clara	$740,000	$738,000		$740,000
Ventura	$664,400	$670,830		$682,250

na – not available
r – revised
Source:  CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®