I was at The Counter in Walnut Creek California last week and managed to catch Mr. Dankeschoen – Nate Ellis – on video.
As usual, Nate Ellis was surrounded by adoring women.
Cathy Lee, CLDesign Services
Lucy Martin, Brook Furniture Rental
Debra Powell, Brook Furniture Rental
Karen Pinkston, HomeGuard
Mary Bird Midanek, Brook Furniture Rental
The real estate market is up. The real estate market is down.It is both simultaneously. It’s a market that has never been seen before. It’s historic, it’s a hassle, it’s a conundrum, it’s a pain in the ass for many.
New home sales last week were down 68% from last year. Almost a dozen new home builders are banding together to auction off 150 homes in California projects.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the California Association of Realtors is reporting that existing home sales were up 97% in September, though prices were down 40%.
How’s the upper-end market in Danville, CA? Well, we can’t use this one example to build a trend, but one developer is auctioning off a 4000 square foot home that had been on the market for $2.4 million – it is now priced at $1.5 million.
Developers slashing prices and dumping homes is mixed news for existing home owners. Home prices are hammered down, but moving the inventory paves the way for the local market to settle and start coming back.
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Game 5 of the World Series goes Fishy, Fishy, FishyI was sitting outside at Whole Foods in Walnut Creek yesterday sharing a cup of tea with Holly Beck (The Balloonman) when this little bug pulled up in front of us with bright advertising placards all over it.
I am always fascinated by marketing, so I had to find out what was being advertised. I asked the attractive driver in pink with the huge friendly smile (Sandi Hunt) what she was promoting.
She and her partner Stephen Morgan are well-known musicians, songwriters and performers. They are popular in the Bay Area for their performances for children. You can learn all about them, insect and sealife songs, and a lot more on their website.
Sandi was aglow with the fact that their song Fishy, Fishy, Fishy had been broadcast on national TV during game five of the World Series in Philadelphia – I guess it was a statement about all of the rain.
A short while later another promotion caught my attention. As much as I love creative marketing, I would like to find out who is behind these pranks of plastering me all over the place.
A moment of silence please while we note the passing of Sue McAllister’s Square Feet blog.
It seems the San Jose Mercury News has decided to kill Square Feet and several other blogs. It’s a shame.
Up here in Danville, I rarely read the Mercury News, but I have followed Square Feet for a couple of years. In that time, Sue’s postings often took me into the Merc News’ online site. I doubt I will get there at all now without something to prompt me.
Square Feet has been a great source and inspiration. My reaction to the news – another group of ignoramuses that don’t get it. The whole scene with newspapers reminds me of a La Brea tar pit death struggle.
Square Feet – R.I.P
California’s Chief Real Estate Economist says California has a Bi-Polar MarketLeslie Appleton-Young, V.P. and Chief Economist for the California Association of Realtors, recently addressed a crowd of about 700 real estate professionals in the East Bay.
“California has a very distinct bipolar market,” said Appleton-Young. She is referring to the normal market versus the foreclosure market. Foreclosures are accounting for more than 50% of home sales in some California counties. The market dynamics and psychology for the two markets are very different.
According to Appleton-Young, California hit market bottom for real estate transactions in October of 2007. The number of transactions has been on the rise ever since, though median price is still settling.
Median home price erosion continues as a result continued foreclosures putting downward pressure on the mid to low end of the market and price decline on the high end due to financing difficulties associated with jumbo loans.
The Mortgage Bankers Association is reporting a decline in loan originations in September. This will show up in October and November sales results.
California has seen a 24% improvement for first time homebuyers as a result of price declines.
