[raptorduck]

As to the industry comments, I tend to agree with fat_lazy well placed comments.

While the Biotech industry in SD remains strong (it is the 3rd largest such market in the US behind the Bay Area and Boston area), telecom and a few other tech industries have suffered in recent years. Silicon Valley is just very different from any other market and generates more VC capital than the next 10 markets combined yada yada, so you can’t really compare it with other markets.

But I don’t know what that really predicts about housing prices, other than any drop here will be less severe. But any increase here is more severe. We are not immune. The outlying areas of the Bay Area (East Bay on the other side of the East Bay hills/680, far South Bay south of San Jose etc) are getting hit as hard as SD is. The Penninsula (where Los Altos/Los Altos Hills/Atherton/Hillsbouroug/Portola Valley/Woodsid are) stay strong because there is still enough $$ with buyers who don’t want a long commute or work at Google in Mountain View. But in SD, I would say that CV is holding its own vs other areas for the same reasons, albeit on a smaller scale.

I noticed RSF has a lot of out of town/out of country owners, which makes that analysis much more difficult.

In other words, . . . hell I dunno.

[raptorduck]

Prices in my current neighborhood in San Jose have declined since I started looking to buy in the areas I mentioned. My own house has lost 10% of its value this past year. However, I am in a lower market ($1M give or take, more take these days) so my potential buyers are more impacted by the subprime crises.

In the Los Altos/Los Altos Hills higher end market, prices have not moved down very much. In Los Altos, they have actually stayed flat or gone up a little. In Los Altos Hills they have gone down for sure, but by maybe 5% overall. What you are seeing, is homes in LAH stay on the market a lot longer than Los Altos. That is becasue those homes are more expensive and “unique” than those in Los Altos. But, inventory is very low in both markets, which means that the really nice well priced homes are moving and getting multiple offers.

For you folks in SD, homes up here tend to be old and not updated so when you find one that is newer or updated, people act like they just saw a shooting star and quickly wish upon it with their checkbooks before it dissapears.

Homes that are very old, in bad locations, too agressively priced, odd, etc, however, are selling for as low as 90% of asking in these markets and sellers are having to drop prices on those, because buyers want the gems only in this market.

Many people in these markets up her can afford to hold out as sellers or carry more than one mortgage, which slows the drop in prices and keeps inventories relatively low.

While that sould also be true in RSF, it is not reflected in the market. RSF and LAH are both about the same size in population and median household income, yet RSF has 5 times as many houses on the market as LAH. In terms of nice houses (by my definition) RSF has 30 times as many “nice” houses for sale as LAH does right now.

[raptorduck]

Prices in my current neighborhood in San Jose have declined since I started looking to buy in the areas I mentioned. My own house has lost 10% of its value this past year. However, I am in a lower market ($1M give or take, more take these days) so my potential buyers are more impacted by the subprime crises.

In the Los Altos/Los Altos Hills higher end market, prices have not moved down very much. In Los Altos, they have actually stayed flat or gone up a little. In Los Altos Hills they have gone down for sure, but by maybe 5% overall. What you are seeing, is homes in LAH stay on the market a lot longer than Los Altos. That is becasue those homes are more expensive and “unique” than those in Los Altos. But, inventory is very low in both markets, which means that the really nice well priced homes are moving and getting multiple offers.

For you folks in SD, homes up here tend to be old and not updated so when you find one that is newer or updated, people act like they just saw a shooting star and quickly wish upon it with their checkbooks before it dissapears.

Homes that are very old, in bad locations, too agressively priced, odd, etc, however, are selling for as low as 90% of asking in these markets and sellers are having to drop prices on those, because buyers want the gems only in this market.

Many people in these markets up her can afford to hold out as sellers or carry more than one mortgage, which slows the drop in prices and keeps inventories relatively low.

While that sould also be true in RSF, it is not reflected in the market. RSF and LAH are both about the same size in population and median household income, yet RSF has 5 times as many houses on the market as LAH. In terms of nice houses (by my definition) RSF has 30 times as many “nice” houses for sale as LAH does right now.

[raptorduck]

Prices in my current neighborhood in San Jose have declined since I started looking to buy in the areas I mentioned. My own house has lost 10% of its value this past year. However, I am in a lower market ($1M give or take, more take these days) so my potential buyers are more impacted by the subprime crises.

In the Los Altos/Los Altos Hills higher end market, prices have not moved down very much. In Los Altos, they have actually stayed flat or gone up a little. In Los Altos Hills they have gone down for sure, but by maybe 5% overall. What you are seeing, is homes in LAH stay on the market a lot longer than Los Altos. That is becasue those homes are more expensive and “unique” than those in Los Altos. But, inventory is very low in both markets, which means that the really nice well priced homes are moving and getting multiple offers.

For you folks in SD, homes up here tend to be old and not updated so when you find one that is newer or updated, people act like they just saw a shooting star and quickly wish upon it with their checkbooks before it dissapears.

Homes that are very old, in bad locations, too agressively priced, odd, etc, however, are selling for as low as 90% of asking in these markets and sellers are having to drop prices on those, because buyers want the gems only in this market.

Many people in these markets up her can afford to hold out as sellers or carry more than one mortgage, which slows the drop in prices and keeps inventories relatively low.

While that sould also be true in RSF, it is not reflected in the market. RSF and LAH are both about the same size in population and median household income, yet RSF has 5 times as many houses on the market as LAH. In terms of nice houses (by my definition) RSF has 30 times as many “nice” houses for sale as LAH does right now.

[raptorduck]

Prices in my current neighborhood in San Jose have declined since I started looking to buy in the areas I mentioned. My own house has lost 10% of its value this past year. However, I am in a lower market ($1M give or take, more take these days) so my potential buyers are more impacted by the subprime crises.

In the Los Altos/Los Altos Hills higher end market, prices have not moved down very much. In Los Altos, they have actually stayed flat or gone up a little. In Los Altos Hills they have gone down for sure, but by maybe 5% overall. What you are seeing, is homes in LAH stay on the market a lot longer than Los Altos. That is becasue those homes are more expensive and “unique” than those in Los Altos. But, inventory is very low in both markets, which means that the really nice well priced homes are moving and getting multiple offers.

For you folks in SD, homes up here tend to be old and not updated so when you find one that is newer or updated, people act like they just saw a shooting star and quickly wish upon it with their checkbooks before it dissapears.

Homes that are very old, in bad locations, too agressively priced, odd, etc, however, are selling for as low as 90% of asking in these markets and sellers are having to drop prices on those, because buyers want the gems only in this market.

Many people in these markets up her can afford to hold out as sellers or carry more than one mortgage, which slows the drop in prices and keeps inventories relatively low.

While that sould also be true in RSF, it is not reflected in the market. RSF and LAH are both about the same size in population and median household income, yet RSF has 5 times as many houses on the market as LAH. In terms of nice houses (by my definition) RSF has 30 times as many “nice” houses for sale as LAH does right now.

[raptorduck]

Prices in my current neighborhood in San Jose have declined since I started looking to buy in the areas I mentioned. My own house has lost 10% of its value this past year. However, I am in a lower market ($1M give or take, more take these days) so my potential buyers are more impacted by the subprime crises.

In the Los Altos/Los Altos Hills higher end market, prices have not moved down very much. In Los Altos, they have actually stayed flat or gone up a little. In Los Altos Hills they have gone down for sure, but by maybe 5% overall. What you are seeing, is homes in LAH stay on the market a lot longer than Los Altos. That is becasue those homes are more expensive and “unique” than those in Los Altos. But, inventory is very low in both markets, which means that the really nice well priced homes are moving and getting multiple offers.

For you folks in SD, homes up here tend to be old and not updated so when you find one that is newer or updated, people act like they just saw a shooting star and quickly wish upon it with their checkbooks before it dissapears.

Homes that are very old, in bad locations, too agressively priced, odd, etc, however, are selling for as low as 90% of asking in these markets and sellers are having to drop prices on those, because buyers want the gems only in this market.

Many people in these markets up her can afford to hold out as sellers or carry more than one mortgage, which slows the drop in prices and keeps inventories relatively low.

While that sould also be true in RSF, it is not reflected in the market. RSF and LAH are both about the same size in population and median household income, yet RSF has 5 times as many houses on the market as LAH. In terms of nice houses (by my definition) RSF has 30 times as many “nice” houses for sale as LAH does right now.

[raptorduck]

I continue to believe that a lot of the blame goes to selling agents. Just this weekend I looked at a home that has been on the market for over a year. They dropped the price by 2% and relisted it after 2 months off the market, but it is still 20% above comps. I know it has gotten 2 offers in the past year at about 90% of asking that the seller turned down.

Yet, when I went to the new open house, the selling agent said that a couple that was there with me and just left was writing an offer immediately at asking. I have heard this well over a dozen times this past year and only once, ONCE, did it turn out to be true. Selling agents themselves are in denial still living and negotiating like it is the boom times. Do they really think they can scare a buyer to “compete” for a home with haste in a market like this? They are also part to blame for the optimistic asking prices. At this point, I think it is 50/50 the fault of sellers and their agents.

After touring so many houses that I have lost count, I have seen it all by now. My Cielo story is still one of my favorite crazy seller stories, but that seller’s agent shares some of that blame too.

[raptorduck]

I continue to believe that a lot of the blame goes to selling agents. Just this weekend I looked at a home that has been on the market for over a year. They dropped the price by 2% and relisted it after 2 months off the market, but it is still 20% above comps. I know it has gotten 2 offers in the past year at about 90% of asking that the seller turned down.

Yet, when I went to the new open house, the selling agent said that a couple that was there with me and just left was writing an offer immediately at asking. I have heard this well over a dozen times this past year and only once, ONCE, did it turn out to be true. Selling agents themselves are in denial still living and negotiating like it is the boom times. Do they really think they can scare a buyer to “compete” for a home with haste in a market like this? They are also part to blame for the optimistic asking prices. At this point, I think it is 50/50 the fault of sellers and their agents.

After touring so many houses that I have lost count, I have seen it all by now. My Cielo story is still one of my favorite crazy seller stories, but that seller’s agent shares some of that blame too.

[raptorduck]

I continue to believe that a lot of the blame goes to selling agents. Just this weekend I looked at a home that has been on the market for over a year. They dropped the price by 2% and relisted it after 2 months off the market, but it is still 20% above comps. I know it has gotten 2 offers in the past year at about 90% of asking that the seller turned down.

Yet, when I went to the new open house, the selling agent said that a couple that was there with me and just left was writing an offer immediately at asking. I have heard this well over a dozen times this past year and only once, ONCE, did it turn out to be true. Selling agents themselves are in denial still living and negotiating like it is the boom times. Do they really think they can scare a buyer to “compete” for a home with haste in a market like this? They are also part to blame for the optimistic asking prices. At this point, I think it is 50/50 the fault of sellers and their agents.

After touring so many houses that I have lost count, I have seen it all by now. My Cielo story is still one of my favorite crazy seller stories, but that seller’s agent shares some of that blame too.

[raptorduck]

I continue to believe that a lot of the blame goes to selling agents. Just this weekend I looked at a home that has been on the market for over a year. They dropped the price by 2% and relisted it after 2 months off the market, but it is still 20% above comps. I know it has gotten 2 offers in the past year at about 90% of asking that the seller turned down.

Yet, when I went to the new open house, the selling agent said that a couple that was there with me and just left was writing an offer immediately at asking. I have heard this well over a dozen times this past year and only once, ONCE, did it turn out to be true. Selling agents themselves are in denial still living and negotiating like it is the boom times. Do they really think they can scare a buyer to “compete” for a home with haste in a market like this? They are also part to blame for the optimistic asking prices. At this point, I think it is 50/50 the fault of sellers and their agents.

After touring so many houses that I have lost count, I have seen it all by now. My Cielo story is still one of my favorite crazy seller stories, but that seller’s agent shares some of that blame too.

[raptorduck]

I continue to believe that a lot of the blame goes to selling agents. Just this weekend I looked at a home that has been on the market for over a year. They dropped the price by 2% and relisted it after 2 months off the market, but it is still 20% above comps. I know it has gotten 2 offers in the past year at about 90% of asking that the seller turned down.

Yet, when I went to the new open house, the selling agent said that a couple that was there with me and just left was writing an offer immediately at asking. I have heard this well over a dozen times this past year and only once, ONCE, did it turn out to be true. Selling agents themselves are in denial still living and negotiating like it is the boom times. Do they really think they can scare a buyer to “compete” for a home with haste in a market like this? They are also part to blame for the optimistic asking prices. At this point, I think it is 50/50 the fault of sellers and their agents.

After touring so many houses that I have lost count, I have seen it all by now. My Cielo story is still one of my favorite crazy seller stories, but that seller’s agent shares some of that blame too.

[raptorduck]

I am bumping this to try to get some fresh solicited feedback on the 4 areas above for those additional homes.

You can ignore the foreclosure now. That turned into a soap opera of sorts. Foreclosures are not for the timid, that is for sure.

[raptorduck]

I am bumping this to try to get some fresh solicited feedback on the 4 areas above for those additional homes.

You can ignore the foreclosure now. That turned into a soap opera of sorts. Foreclosures are not for the timid, that is for sure.

[raptorduck]

I am bumping this to try to get some fresh solicited feedback on the 4 areas above for those additional homes.

You can ignore the foreclosure now. That turned into a soap opera of sorts. Foreclosures are not for the timid, that is for sure.

[raptorduck]

I am bumping this to try to get some fresh solicited feedback on the 4 areas above for those additional homes.

You can ignore the foreclosure now. That turned into a soap opera of sorts. Foreclosures are not for the timid, that is for sure.

[Author]

Posts