From the shores of Santa Barbara, we will gather in unity and positivity in light of a horrific event that continues to unfold. nWe will gather at 1pm and begin with a blessing and introduction by members of our local Native American community. We will hear from various speakers (more info to come) to inspire and educate.
At 3PM, we will gather on the shores locked arm in arm in order to form a ‘HUMAN BOOM.’ You heard it right! Yellow shirts will be provided (wear yellow if you can!) in order to symbolically form a boom to stem the rise of the black tide.
We expect local and national media coverage. Local non-profit orgs will be on hand to provide information about their efforts to curb the use of fossil fuels and provide clean alternatives.This is an opportunity for us to show the nation and the world that, from the birthplace of the modern day environmental movement, people can be called together for the greater good.
Please "Like" the official Stand in the Sand Facebook page and stay tuned for the latest news: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stand-in-the-Sand/133997346612506
I submitted this photo to CU Boulder to illustrate our recent 10 year college reunion. Here we are at the finish line of the Bolder Boulder...we nicknamed our team, "Hot Mamma, Vigorous Fuchsia"...don't ask just don't ask...
Elizabeth Waldrop Wagner (Hist,Ital’01) of Santa Barbara, Calif., hosted a reunion in Boulder for some 15 alums and spouses over Memorial Day weekend. They shared laugh and memories, toured campus with Jake the great one armed guide (bike accident) and participated in the Bolder Boulder. From left in Folsom Field are Elizabeth with a future Buff in her belly, due in September; anesthesiologist Brenna Davis Hise (EPOBio’99)of Boise, Id.; and Nicole Winsauer (Comm’00) of Denver.
We'll be there -- will you?
If you love Santa Barbara this is a meeting you shouldn't miss
After years of development, environmental analysis and public review, the Santa Barbara General Plan Update will be discussed in joint Planning Commission/City Council hearings next Tuesday June 22, 6pm, and Wednesday June 23, 1pm - 5pm in the David Gebhard Public Meeting Room at 630 Garden Street.
The General Plan is important because it sets out guiding principles for growth and development for the next 30 years. It's been 20 years since the last General Plan update; next week we help determine how Santa Barbara will look in the future.
Join us in standing before the policy makers of Santa Barbara and tell them:
* I want a city designed for people, not cars
* I want to live near where I work, shop and play
* I want more efficient buildings and lower energy bills
* I want increased density downtown and around transit corridors
* I want transportation options that allow me to get out of my car
* I know we can make a more sustainable Santa Barbara
Let your voice be heard. We can make a difference.
www.cecsb.org
26 W. Anapamu, secod floor, Santa Barbara, CA, 93103 | cecadmin@cecmail.org | 805.963.0583 | UNSUBSCRIBE
Each month a very generous and talented colleague, Gary Woods compiles all the Santa Barbara Multiple Listing and Cort sales data and provides many of us in the real estate industry with a synopsis of the current market. Thank you Gary, as always your expertise and data is very appreciated!
For May of 2010 for Santa Barbara, Montecito, Hope Ranch, Carpinteria/Summerland and Goleta the Home Estate/PUD there were 83 sales dropping from 89 in April. The April sales surge looked like it was going to keep going into May because of the substantial number of escrows that opened during April but sales fell back somewhat.
With the declining numbers of sales, the median sales price rose however from $865,000 in April to about $905,000 in May. This rise in the median sales prices was caused by sales below $1 million falling from about 50 in April to right around 45 in May. Accompanying that drop in sales below $1 million was a drop in the over $2 million sales falling from 18 in April to 10 in May. But, sales in the $1 to $2 million range rose from 19 to 28 for the month bringing up the overall median sales price.
There were about 85 Homes that went into escrow for May which dropped from approximately 120 opened escrows in April. But, the median list price on those escrows remained steady at around $880,000. The inventory grew about 10% for the month up to around 615 but the median list price on those properties for sale remained stable at about $1.7 million. The median list price on the more than 160 new listings that appeared during May did drop however down to roughly $1.1 million.
Looking at the Districts, starting out in Carpinteria/Summerland for Home Estate/PUDs, sales are up from 18 in ’09 to 29 in ’10 and the median sales price has gone up from $632,000 last year to about $850,000 this year. But, when you look at the pending listings they have dropped from 26 in ’09 to 24 in ’10 with the median list price for those escrows coming in this year at $679,000 compared to about $700,000 last year.
In Montecito sales are up from 44 in ’09 to 51 in ’10 with the median sales price rising slightly from $2.35 million to about $2.45 million this year. But, the escrows are way up this year from 45 in ’09 with a median list price of about $2.6 million to 58 in ’10 with a median list price of $2.5 million.
On the East Side of Santa Barbara sales are up from 70 last year to 98 this year with the median sales price going up from $910,000 last year to $951,000 this year. The pended listings are also up from 74 to 99 with a similar rise in the median list price for those opened escrows. For the West Side sales are also up from 58 to 70 with the median sales price rising from $775,000 last year to $810,000 this year.
In Hope Ranch sales are up from 5 in ’09 to 10 in ’10 with the median sales price going up from $2.55 million last year to $3.23 million this year. The average sales price is also up from $2.55 million last year to $3.83 million this year soaring by almost $1 million.
In Goleta South sales are basically where they were last year going from 33 in ’09 and 37 in ’10 but the median sales price has declined from $690,000 last year to $630,000 this year. In Goleta North, sales are up from 51 last year to 68 this year with the median sales price coming up only slightly from $715,000 in ’09 to $722,500 in ’10.
With the first time buyer credit coming to an end in April the sales below $1 million took a hit but sales above $2 million also fell off. With the rise in the numbers of sales from $1 to $2 million the Price Range Statistic ratios more closely resemble what we’ve been used to seeing in Santa Barbara. But, if we are to continue moving forward the sub $1 million sales will have to remain robust also. Of the almost 615 current Home listings only about 250 of those are below $1 million so that segment of the inventory needs to grow in order for the market to continue expanding.
For condos in Santa Barbara for the month of May ’10 sales went up to 35 from 32 in April and 27 in March and the median sales price rose to $495,000 for the month up from $456,000 in April and $415,000 in March. But, what didn’t go up was the numbers of escrows which rose from 35 in March to 40 in April and rose to 42 in May. The median list price on those escrows remained stable however at around $475,000 for May but up from March when that number was about $440,000.
The inventory also did not go up however remaining at around 150 condos for sale from Carpinteria to Goleta with the median list price on those properties continuing to hover around $625,000. There were only 34 new listings that came on the market during May to replace the 35 sold listings but they came on the market at a good number with a $499,000 median list price.
Of the 35 properties that sold, 15 of them were at $500,000 and over with 3 over $1 million and 2 of those over $2 million, while 1 condo sold just below $1 million. This surge in the over $500,000 market is a return to the sales of more expensive condos which had declined substantially in the previous months.
Looking at the Districts, starting in Carpinteria/Summerland sales are double from where they were last year rising from 14 to 28 and the median sales price has come up a little going from $395,000 in ’09 to $401,000 in ’10. The pending numbers are also up going from 19 last year to 26 this year so the surge should continue in the area.
In Montecito sales are up from 1 last year to 8 this year with the median sales price at about $1.1 million and the average sales price close to $1.3 million up from $679,000 for the only sale last year. The trend should continue in Montecito with 11 opened escrows this year at a $1,050,000 median list price up from 1 escrow last year with a list price of $729,000
On the East Side of Santa Barbara sales are up from 19 in ’09 to 29 in ’10 but the median sales price has declined from $528,000 last year to about $460,000 this year. The pending numbers are a lot closer together with 29 opened escrows in ’09 compared to 33 in ’10 and the median list prices are also close together going from $525,000 in ’09 to $519,500 in ’10.
For the West Side of town there are 33 sales this year compared to 19 last year but the median sales price has dropped from $520,000 last year to about $465,000 this year. The escrows are also way ahead of where they were last year with 40 opened this year compared to 25 last year and the median list price on those escrows is very close falling from $525,000 in ’09 to $515,000 in ’10.
In Goleta South there were 21 sales in both years but the median sales price has dipped from $410,000 last year to $355,000 this year. The escrows are way behind however with 35 last year compared to 25 this year and the median list price on those escrows has dipped from $419,000 last year to $339,900 this year.
For Goleta North there have been 16 sales this year compared to 14 last year with the median sales price rising from $360,050 in ’09 to $405,000 in ’10. The escrows show a slight bulge this year with 25 compared to 21 last year and the median list price on those escrows has risen from $365,000 last year to $419,000 this year.
Condo prices are starting to rise and as long as fewer properties come on the market than sell, the inventory will continue to decline which should push prices up further. So the questions are: with the first time buyer credit coming to an end in April will the surge in condo sales continue, and second if prices do continue to go up will that spur the sellers to bring their properties onto the market?
This is a look at statistics provided through the Santa Barbara Multiple Listing Service over the past month. They include single family residences and condos, from Carpinteria to Goleta.
INDUSTRY NEWS:
Cost and Mortgage Tip
When you are looking through housing magazines or meandering through open houses, here is a quick multiple to have in mind. For every $100,000 increase in home price, estimate $650 in extra monthly payments (mortgage, insurance and taxes). An increase of $300,000 will increase your monthly obligations by $1950.
This from Jeff Bochsler of Bank of America.
Do It Their Way:What You Need To Know About Gen Y
The traits of Echo boomers likely are familiar. Also referred to as Gen Y and Millennials, the members of this group are technologically sophisticated, are concerned about the environment, value social connections, are independent minded, and loathe the hard sell.
• Of equal interest to the real estate industry is the group’s size and buying power. Depending on the organization crunching the numbers, statistics point to a generation that is about 70 to 80 million strong and born roughly between 1977 and 2002. • And despite the perception that they crave mobility and flexibility, its members do value homeownership. In fact, homeownership ranks among this generation’s top five priorities, according to a Pew Research Center report, Millennials, A Portrait of Generation Next.
Bridging the Gap:
The Joint Center for Housing Studies’ The State of the Nation’s Housing 2009 indicates that Echo boomers will help keep housing demand strong for the next decade and beyond. Thus, retooling your business to engage Gen Y may prove lucrative...Here are some ways to make sense of the Echo boomer research, along with some realworld scenarios that address this generation’s preferences. Urban Birds Gen Yers place a premium on urban environments. They like the bright lights and quick access to both work and fun, and 32 percent of the group have opted for city living, according to Pew. So if you’ve got such a setting, flaunt it. Video and photos emphasize the building’s artsy, creative environment and its amenity-packed surroundings, along with this captivating copy: “It’s a neighborhood where you can trade your car for a bike, walk for coffee, make some friends, and never see a yellow Hummer again. Pretty damn normal, yet really different for L.A.” The suburbs aren’t entirely left out of the equation. But the key to success is listening to prospects’ needs carefully and pointing them to areas of town featuring an urban vibe—mixed-use downtowns, multiple housing types, and walkability.
Green Expectations:
This generation grew up with a respect for the earth, and recycling is second nature. Be prepared to detail homes’ greenness, from recycled construction materials to efficient appliances. “Green is integrated into this generation’s lives,” comments Mark. Communal gathering spaces feed this generation’s desire to get together for everything from watching movies and sports to working out themselves and their pets.
Captivating Events:
To generate leads and sales, the Mark Company engages with Gen Y through social events, like wellness seminars, sake tastings, and movie screenings, at the buildings. Party-goers gain a sense of a building and salespeople are on hand to answer questions. But the strategy is subtle. Prospects don’t feel like they’re being held captive, nor are they subjected to a surprise dog-and-pony show.
Picture Me:
Is the target audience multicultural, athletic, outgoing, and vibrant? Be sure marketing materials reflect such faces.
Talk to Me:
Meeting this generation demands
proficiency in social networking—Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. After all, its members are the most wired of all generations, with 90 percent of Millennials in the Pew study reporting that they use the Internet and 75 percent saying that they’ve created a social networking profile. Moreover, they’re heavy users. More than half of social networking Millennials pay at least daily visits to such sites.
Speed Demons:
Yarrow says Gen Y craves speed, stimulation, and fresh information. It’s one reason Twitter is an ideal vehicle for frequently communicating bits of news, from open house announcements and interest rate changes to price reductions.
Servant Versus Expert:
Parents, teachers, and coaches have showered attention and praise on this generation. As a result, observes Yarrow, they want to feel cared for and heard. Moreover, their command of the Internet and access to information have made them resistant to blindly embracing experts. She says success requires taking an approach of “Tell me everything there is to know about what you’re looking for and let me see if I can be of service.
Elyse Umlauf-Garneau is a freelance real estate writer.
Trees Increase Property Values:
Like electricity or water, trees are an important part of a community’s vital infrastructure. Trees can impact the purchase price of a home by as much as 20 percent, according to the U.S. Forest Service. When planted properly, they also can help homeowners reduce heating and cooling costs. A new, 6-minute video, “Community Trees: A Living Investment,” helps community advocates and residents to expand their depth of understanding about how trees impact property values, save energy, and make communities more livable. www.youtube.com/user/foreststewardship#p/u/1/KzEFl2wrVW8
COMMUNITY:
Green Apps:
Many people want to do a good turn for the environment but simply are overwhelmed by the flood of green data, products and services. Here are some picks to help you sniff out green businesses, cut the impact of commuting, and track home energy consumption: Household:
• iRecycle (http://earth911.com/iphone/) -- Search among 110,000 recycling centers to dispose of everything from oil and paper to electronics. CouponSherpahttp://www.couponsherpa.com/mobile-coupons/) and Youza (http://www.getyowza.com/) -- Delete the paper from coupon clipping by downloading coupons and present them digitally upon check out. Commuting:
• Bike Your Drivehttp://www.rei.com/bikeyourdrive) --Find an incentive beyond gas savings to swap four wheels for two. The app calculates routes and your average speed, along with the calories you're burning. You also can geotag photos you shoot en route to your destination.
• AccuFuelhttp://www.appigo.com/accufuel/) -- Monitor fuel efficiency and zero in on the driving habits that affect your fuel efficiency. GreenMeterhttp://hunter.pairsite.com/greenmeter/) evaluates driving habits, along with computing gas and power use and the effect of things like speed, acceleration, and aerodynamic drag on your efficiency.
• AroundMehttp://www.tweakersoft.com/mobile/aroundme.html) and Nearby (http://platial.com/iphone/nearby) -- Locate venues around you. For example, find a movie, a sushi joint, or an emergency room close to where you're standing, rather than driving around randomly. Home energy:
• Kill-O-Wattshttp://appadvice.com/app/330311949) -- Measure various appliances to see how much electricity they're consuming. Based on those figures, you can decide when and how much to use a given appliance.
• Green Charginghttp://appshopper.com/utilities/green-charging) -- Save power and energy by making sure you don't overcharge your mobile phone.
The Sustainability Project announces their new website and e-newsletter.
If you love Santa Barbara this is a meeting you shouldn't miss.
After years of development, environmental analysis and public review, the Santa Barbara General Plan Update will be discussed in joint Planning Commission/City Council hearings next Tuesday June 22, 6pm,WednesdayJune 23, 1pm - 5pm in the David Gebhard Public Meeting Room at 630 Garden Street.
The General Plan is important because it sets out guiding principles for growth and development for the next 30 years. It's been 20 years since the last General Plan update; next week we help determine how Santa Barbara will look in the future.
Join us in standing before the policy makers of Santa Barbara and tell them:
I want a city designed for people, not cars
I want to live near where I work, shop and play
I want more efficient buildings and lower energy bills
I want increased density downtown and around transit corridors
I want transportation options that allow me to get out of my car
I know we can make a more sustainable Santa Barbara.
Let you voice be heard. We can make a difference.
VOCABULARY LESSON:
"Gen Y" and "Millennials"
are the generation that is about 70 to 80 million strong and born roughly between 1977 and 2002.
Gen Y wants: Convenience, connectivity, healthy work-life balance Gen Y places premium on walkability and convenience.
One-third would pay more to be able to walk
to shops, work, and entertainment. Two-thirds say living in a walkable community is
important. More than one-half would trade lot size for proximity to shopping or to work.
We featured this website last month in our Community section and are highlighting it again because it's a super cool idea and the funding to make this idea a reality just passed! Last Friday the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved the 2010-2011 budget, thereby allocating the necessary $5M in funding to emPowerSBC! This accomplishment is very much due to the support you provided along the way, either at Board hearings, through letters to the Supervisors, or in personal meetings with County staff and decision makers. On behalf of the Community Environmental Council, where we believe emPowerSBC will help our County become Fossil Free by ’33, we’d like to THANK YOU for your dedication to this program. The program is now a reality and the County staff are busy finalizing details before they’re ready to accept applications.
A nicely upgraded single level duplex featuring three bedrooms and two bathrooms plus a fireplace on one side and two bedrooms and one bathroom on the other side.
Private patios and yards with fruit trees and raised beds, an over sized two car garage with extra storage and interior laundry hook-ups on both sides.
Central location to schools, shopping and in the Hope School District.
Listed for $949,000. Give me a call for showings or open house times.
The numbers through March 2010 are estimates, the rest are projections.
It’s a bit like guessing how many pennies are in a gallon jug at the state fair, but housing analysts keep trying to count how many foreclosed homes banks and mortgage investors own.
Why should we care? Unlike at the state fair, there is no prize for guessing right. Still, if we can track the number of these REO (“real estate owned”) homes, we can get some sense of how banks and others are doing in their efforts to dispose of the properties and how much longer they will be weighing on the housing market.
The good news is that two of the leading contenders in this guesstimating game–Tom Lawler, an independent housing economist and gentleman farmer in Leesburg, Va., and Robert Tayon, an analyst at Barclays Capital in New York–have been comparing their methods recently and learning from each other. Both are in the same ballpark and both say the REO count is on the rise.
Mr. Lawler estimates there were 574,000 one- to four-family REO homes at the end of the first quarter, up from 518,000 at the end of 2009 but well below a peak of 668,000 in the third quarter of 2008. More modest (honest?) than most economists, Mr. Lawler describes his estimates as “crude” and “a work in progress.” He figures his tally is too low–he can’t find good data on all of the thousands of REO owners– but still “indicative” of the trend.
Mr. Tayon of Barclays estimates that REOs totaled 522,000 in March, up from 479,000 at the end of 2009 but below the peak of 688,000 in September 2008.
After soaring in 2008, the REO total shrank for most of 2009 as foreclosure-prevention efforts slowed the flow of defaulted loans toward resolution and investors rushed to buy what they saw as bargains in hard-hit areas such as Phoenix and Las Vegas. Now, as banks and other loan servicers work their way through the backlog of loan-modification applicants and reject many of them, the REO count is rising again. Mr. Tayon expects it to peak at 538,000 in August 2011 before starting to decline gradually.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two of the biggest holders of REO, both expect their REO inventories to increase in the next few quarters, Mr. Lawler says.
The expected rise in REO supply will “challenge” housing markets in areas with high concentrations of foreclosures, Mr. Lawler adds. But he doesn’t think the effect on prices will be as severe as it was in late 2008 and early 2009, when loan servicers dumped huge amounts of property on the market.
There are still plenty of struggling borrowers at risk of losing their homes. The Mortgage Bankers Association, a trade group, last week reported that 14% of mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit homes were 30 days or more delinquent or in the foreclosure process as of March 31. That represents about 7.3 million households. The rate was 12% a year earlier. At the same time, fewer people have fallen behind in recent months as the economy has improved.
Those who want to guess how many REOs will be in the jug two years from now will have to take a view on whether the economy is going to produce enough jobs to create demand for all those houses.
Please follow me for housing news on Twitter @jamesrhagerty
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Walking away from a mortgage you can still afford to pay has consequences; everyone knows that. Your credit score is shot and it can be impossible to get credit.
Some homeowners, no doubt, believe that the credit score hit is worth getting out from a deeply underwater mortgage. They may owe, say, $500,000 when their house value is only valued at $350,000. And, they figure, there's no way it will ever be worth what they owe so it's better to get out from underneath the burden.
After default, they reason, they can raise their FICO scores by paying all their bills on time and eventually finance another home purchase.
Don't count on it.
While homeowners who default due to economic hardship, such as a job loss or divorce, normally must wait two to five years before buying a home again, walkaways may face double that time.
"It could be well over seven or eight years before [walkaways] are able to obtain a mortgage to buy a home again," said Jay Brinkmann, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association.
"Credit scores are only one component of a complete credit decision," Brinkmann said. "[In these cases] credit scores are not a good indicator of their willingness to continue to pay their mortgage."
But future underwriters will scrutinize their records very closely, and if they find no precipitating factors leading to the defaults -- no job loss, no health issues --the repaired credit score won't overshadow the black mark of a walkaway.
"If you made a strategic decision to default on paying your mortgage, it will work against you," said Bill Merrell of the National Association of Review Appraisers and Mortgage Underwriters.
Merrell, who teaches underwriting, said banks are looking at several factors in determining whether to grant mortgages: the amount of money borrowers have in the bank; employment histories; payment history.
However, banks may be far more lenient if the default resulted from factors somewhat beyond the borrower's control, such as from local economic problems. "They'll give you more consideration if it's job related," he said. But, he added, banks look at strategic defaults "very negatively."
That said, it's not impossible to get a loan. Banks still want to make interest payments, so they might be willing to gamble with a walkaway.
"It might be a little more difficult for them to borrow, but [banks'] drive for market share -- to profit from making loans -- will trump that caution," said Keith Gumbinger, of the mortgage information publisher HSH Associates. "I don't think we'll see a full denial."
It's hard to foresee the state of mortgage lending six or seven months from now, let alone seven or eight years into the future. So lenders may look at applications from one-time strategic defaulters and say, "Yes, they walked away but it's a whole different market now," according to Gumbinger.
Even so, lenders may require more from borrowers who walked away than those who didn't.
"To the extent they could get a mortgage," said Brinkmann, "they can count on needing a heavy down payment."
The lenders may ask for 30% down or more. That would provide enough collateral cushion that the bank could get all or most of its money back in a foreclosure.
Strategic defaulters might also be charged higher interest rates, even above the levels other borrowers with similar credit scores would receive.
For years, Jennifer Metz and her husband John yearned for a bigger home in San Francisco. Three months ago, the couple started looking, figuring that in this shaky economy, their $3 million budget should provide them a pick of attractive homes and accommodating sellers.
They were wrong. Hours after seeing a 5,000-square-foot fixer-upper in Presidio Heights with an asking price around $2.7 million, the Metzes put in a bid—and lost. Soon after, they made another offer on a four-bedroom in Russian Hill. Their bid was rejected. Last week, the Metzes rushed over to a large, dilapidated home in Pacific Heights that needed a lot of work but was asking the (relatively) low price of $2.25 million. The Metzes put in their over-ask bid the next day, but lost that one too: There were nine offers; the winning bid was $2.56 million. "It's frustrating," says Ms. Metz, a 44-year-old stay-at-home mom whose husband works in finance. "You think you put in a good offer but, no." After a near-disastrous 2009, the luxury market appears to be making a comeback, driven by growing buyer confidence, improved financing conditions and more-realistic seller pricing. Despite the housing downturn, attractively priced homes in some of the nation's most coveted neighborhoods are selling, sometimes fast and sometimes with multiple offers. Nationwide, sales of homes selling for $2 million to $5 million in the first quarter totaled 2,461, up 32% from a year before, says CoreLogic.
That sales are up from last year shouldn't come as a big surprise. The shock of the financial panic in the fall of 2008 left many potential buyers too nervous to bid, and those who were willing to wade in found it hard to get financing. But a study for The Wall Street Journal by MDA DataQuick, a real-estate data provider, found that in some areas of the country, sales of homes over $2 million in the first quarter were actually on par with the levels of 2005, the peak year for existing-home sales volume nationwide. In San Francisco, 49 homes sold for $2 million or more in this year's first quarter, according to the study, compared to 47 in 2005. In Manhattan, there were 402 sales of $2 million or more in the latest quarter, compared with 311 in the first quarter of 2005, according to the appraisal firm Miller Samuel Inc. Other areas with strong rebounds included New York's Hamptons, Menlo Park, Calif., and Beverly Hills. Even a couple of troubled housing markets experienced a strong uptick. In Las Vegas, there were 21 such sales in the first quarter, up from 15 in the first quarter of 2005, according to DataQuick. In Miami, 21 such sales of $2 million or more were recorded in the first quarter, up from 15 last year and close to the 23 that sold in that time five years earlier.
Of course, many markets including Greenwich, Conn. and parts of New Jersey are still ailing. Brokers say pricey homes in outlying suburbs are more likely to sit than sell. Miami-Dade County still has enough homes priced at $2 million or more to last 41 months at the current sales pace, though down from 116 months a year earlier, says Ron Shuffield, president of EWM Realtors, a large local brokerage.
Sothebys
The rear of the San Francisco home.
The recent stock market tumble could unravel the turnaround. Unlike the rest of the housing market, which is driven largely by employment trends, housing analysts say high-end buyers are much more sensitive to changes in the stock market, which for the first quarter was helping them feel even wealthier. "If the markets don't recover soon, it will scare people" and hurt demand for high-end homes, says Kenneth Rosen, chairman of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. In the meantime, some high-end renovators are making quick sales. Koby Kempel bought a colonial in Brookline, a posh suburb of Boston, last year for $1.45 million. He raised the ceilings, rebuilt the interior, expanded the home by about 50% and added a heated garage. The six-bedroom home was listed by Mona Wiener of Hammond Residential on a Friday in early May and was under contract the next day for the asking price of nearly $3.5 million.
Back in San Francisco's Pacific Heights neighborhood, a four-bedroom home on Broadway, with a spa and views of the Golden Gate Bridge, was renovated by Gregory Malin. It went on the market in late January and sold two weeks later for $13.5 million, compared with the $14 million asking price. The listing agent, Val Steele of Sotheby's International Realty, says the sale, at $2,146 per square foot, marked the first time a home in San Francisco topped $2,000 a square foot since early September 2008.
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Sothebys 