Friday, October 26, 2007

Countrywide's Bail Out Plan

IT'S A NIGHTMARE for any homeowner: An interest-rate hike pushes your monthly mortgage payments into such costly territory that you fall behind, and soon the foreclosure notice arrives in the mailbox. Unfortunately, this scenario has already played out for hundreds of thousands of homeowners across the country and could become a harsh reality for many more Americans whose adjustable-rate loans are about to reset in the upcoming months.

Making matters even worse: Home values continue to slide and lending standards remain tight. Those factors have made the one logical solution for homeowners that face ballooning mortgage payments — refinancing their mortgage to a loan with a lower rate — nearly impossible, especially for those with subprime loans.

So when Countrywide Financial, the U.S.'s largest mortgage lender, announced on Tuesday that it was launching a program aimed at helping cash-strapped homeowners by canceling rate resets or modifying their loans, you could almost hear a collective sigh of relief.

After all, lenders are facing a glut of foreclosures, so it's no surprise that they're warming up to the idea of helping delinquent borrowers by, for example, restructuring a mortgage so the homeowner can catch up on missed payments. However, the actual act of a lender like Countrywide reaching out to people who have yet to miss a payment — but are likely to do so because of a pending rate reset — is something new.

TO READ FURTHER COPY AND PASTE LINK:

http://www.smartmoney.com/consumer/index.cfm?story=20071024

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

September Sales for Berkeley (single fam homes)

DOM (days on market)/ Address /List Price/Sold Price / Sq.Ft./ Bed / Bath

34 / 1530 BONITA AVE BERKELEY / $450,000 / $487,500 / 902 / 2 / 1
4 / 1726 DWIGHT WAY BERKELEY / $479,000 / $512,000 / 1190 / 3 / 1
29 / 2804 DOHR ST BERKELEY / $499,000 / $516,000 / 1164 / 2 / 1
24 / 1201 CURTIS ST BERKELEY / $499,000 / $525,000 / 1177 / 3 / 1
10 / 2616 MATHEWS ST / BERKELEY / $529,000 / $542,000 / 1013 2 1
8 / 1510 Stannage Ave BERKELEY / $549,900 / $550,000 / 1671 / 2 / 2
12 / 1130 BLAKE STREET BERKELEY / $550,000 / $603,000 / 1062 / 2 / 1
67 / 1175 CAMELIA ST BERKELEY / $559,000 / $520,000 / 967 / 2 / 1
19 / 1921 Oregon Street BERKELEY / $567,000 / $575,000 / 989 / 2 / 1
4 / 1230 TALBOT AVE BERKELEY / $575,000 / $605,000 / 0 / 3 / 1
12 / 2080 EMERSON ST BERKELEY / $630,000 / $630,000 / 1268 / 4 / 2
18 / 1648 CEDAR STREET BERKELEY / $680,000 / $637,300 / 1178 / 3 / 1
7 / 1064 Monterey Avenue BERKELEY / $699,000 / $780,000 / 1311 / 3 / 1
44 / 1635 SAN LORENZO BERKELEY / $699,000 / $690,000 / 1000 / 2 / 1
9 / 1421 Lincoln Street BERKELEY / $725,000 / $760,000 / 1436 / 2 / 1
9 / 1218 CARLOTTA AVE BERKELEY / $785,000 / $956,000 / 1435 / 3 / 2
15 / 1611 ROSE ST BERKELEY / $795,000 / $900,000 / 1563 / 2 / 2
66 / 1905 VIRGINIA ST BERKELEY / $799,000 / $795,000 / 0 / 3 / 2
16 / 964 OVERLOOK RD BERKELEY / $845,000 / $879,000 / 1858 / 4 / 2
30 / 923 CRESTON RD BERKELEY / $849,000 / $847,500 / 1330 / 3 / 1
46 / 2830 BUENA VISTA BERKELEY / $850,000 / $916,000 / 1595 / 3 / 2
15 / 2605 ASHBY AVE BERKELEY / $850,000 / $905,000 / 2460 / 4 / 2
34 / 1536 BONITA AVE BERKELEY / $900,000 / $975,000 / 650 / 2 / 1
5 / 1933 YOSEMITE RD BERKELEY / $995,000 / $1,175,000 / 2008 / 3 / 2
13 / 2577 BUENA VISTA BERKELEY / $1,025,000 / $955,000 / 2013 / 3 / 1
17 / 1110 MILVIA ST BERKELEY /$1,050,000 / $1,110,000 / 1502 / 3 / 2
42 / 40 SAN MATEO RD BERKELEY / $1,195,000 / $1,070,000 / 2055 / 3 / 1
14/1854 THOUSAND OAKS BERKELEY /$1,495,000/$1,750,000/2800/ 4 /3
7 / 210 STONEWALL RD BERKELEY / $2,800,000 / $3,000,000 / 4667 /5/4

California Fast Facts

Calif. median home price - September 07: $530,830(Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. highest median home price by C.A.R. region September 07: Santa Barbara So. Coast $1,667,500(Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. lowest median home price by C.A.R. region September 07: High Desert $271,940(Source: C.A.R.)

Calif. First-time Buyer Affordability Index - Second Quarter 07: 24 percent (Source: C.A.R.)

Mortgage rates - week ending 10/18: 30-yr. fixed: 6.40%; Fees/points: 0.5% 15-yr.

fixed: 6.08%; Fees/points: 0.6% 1-yr. adjustable: 5.76%; Fees/points: 0.6% (Source: Freddie Mac)

Sunday, October 14, 2007

New Plans to Revamp Jack London Square

Jack London Square has definitely taken a hit with the current change in market! However, if you are planning on staying for at least 4-5 years it is a good area to invest in!

New plans have been approved by the city to add a marketplace of fresh food, restaurants, a cooking school and even a chef's hall of fame. This project would nearly triple the size of the food hall in San Francisco's newly refurbished Ferry building.

The 185,000 square foot California Harvest Hall -rivaling the size of the Seattle's famed Pike Place market- is the centerpiece of a proposed $300 million expansion of Jack London Square that also includes a 250-room four star hotel; a seven-theater movie house; office space and an additional 1500 parking spaces.

Don't give just yet on Jack London! Let's just hope it doesn't fall through!

Monday, October 08, 2007

Sales in Rockridge/Piedmont for September

Sales in Rockridge/Piedmont for the month of Septmeber:

Piedmont:

Blair Avenue, 4 bed/3 bath, 2972 sq.ft., LP: $2,395,000 SP: $2,528,000
Muir Avenue, 4 bed/2 bath, 3103 sq.ft., LP: $2,395,000 SP: $2,168,000


Rockridge:

Caldecott Lane, 1/1, 773 sq.ft., LP: $349,000 SP: $365,000
Colby St, 3/1, 1680 sq.ft., LP: $799,000 SP: $1,000,000
Claremont Ave, 4/2, 2682 sq.ft., LP: $1,200,000 SP: $1,200,000
Locksley Ave, 4 units, LP: $995,000 SP: $995,000
Masonic Ave, 3/3, 3879 sq.ft., LP: $1,650,000 SP: $1,825,000
Caldecott Lanre, 2/2, 1095 sq.ft., LP: $495,000 SP: $480,000
63rd St, 3/1, 1400 sq.ft., LP: $449,000 SP: $855,000
Templar Place, 3/2, 2438 sq.ft., LP: $1,195,000 SP: $1,280,000
Florio St, 5 units, LP: $1,995,000 SP: $2,500,000
Caldecott Lane, 1/1, 773 sq.ft., LP: $385,000 SP: $405,000

*all information taken from the MLS.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

I hope you will find the following snapshot of local Real Estate inventory interesting. The table represents aggregated values based on MLS data for the specified date.


Housing Inventory Snapshot September 30, 07
Average List Price Median List Price Average Days On Market

Santa Clara County, CA
Single Family under $1M - $687,065 $669,000 67
Single Family over $1M - $2,016,007 $1,495,000 70
Condo/Townhome under $600K - $435,352 $428,000 67
Condo/Townhome over $600K - $739,136 $695,880 54

San Mateo County, CA
Single Family under $1M - $728,557, $719,988 62
Single Family over $1M - $2,418,165, $1,599,999 65
Condo/Townhome under $600K - $457,509, 469,888 67
Condo/Townhome over $600K - $944,482, $775,000 88

Santa Cruz County, CA
Single Family under $1M - $661,469, $649,900 88
Single Family over $1M - $1,907,303, $1,495,000 93
Condo/Townhome under $600K - $454,850, $474,999 88
Condo/Townhome over $600K - $890,470 $750,000, 93

Monterey County, CA
Single Family under $1M - $575,060, $549,000 103
Single Family over $1M - $2,436,917, $1,695,000 126
Condo/Townhome under $600K - $390,812, $365,000 118
Condo/Townhome over $600K - $1,031,055, $809,000 119

San Benito County, CA
Single Family under $1M - $573,548, $549,900 89
Single Family over $1M - $1,498,519, $1,275,000 134
Condo/Townhome under $300K - N/A N/A N/A
Condo/Townhome over $300K - $418,787 $409,999 128

Alameda County, CA
Single Family under $1M - $576,129, $555,000 63
Single Family over $1M - $1,648,913, $1,389,000 68
Condo/Townhome under $600K - $414,846, $405,000 66
Condo/Townhome over $600K - $719,317, $679,800 56

Contra Costa County, CA
Single Family under $1M - $521,681, $489,000 76
Single Family over $1M - $1,712,851, $1,399,000 79
Condo/Townhome under $600K- $359,500, $348,828 79
Condo/Townhome over $600K - $707,716, $680,600 70


MORTGAGE. National Averages (September 30, 07)*
30-year fixed Rate - 6.06% APR - 6.23%
15-year fixed Rate - 5.69% APR - 5.96%
5/1 ARM Rate - 5.85% APR - 6.78%


* Mortgage rates were collected from publicly available sources (yahoo.com) on the date stated. The accuracy of the information and the availability of these rates are not guaranteed by the publisher. Rates are provided for informational purposes only and are subject to change without notice. Actual market interest rates may vary.