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This gorgeous Glorietta home is located in a beautiful private setting with expansive valley views. The vaulted living room opens to a sitting area and formal dining room. The home is 4382 square feet and offers an updated kitchen, sun room, family room, office and large laundry/craft room. The four bedrooms include a master with ensuite bath, two large bedrooms with lofts and a bedroom/bonus room with built-in cupboards and ensuite bath. A beautiful pool, hot tub, patios, sport court and level lawn surround this lovely home. Convenient to downtown, top rated schools and BART. A must see !

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Gorgeous ranch home located in the desirable Burton Valley neighborhood of Lafayette. Totally remodeled in 2004 with a great room, this home has hardwood floors, a beautiful granite and stainless kitchen, updated bathrooms, indoor laundry, skylights, dual pane windows and recessed lighting. Surrounded by lush level lawns and mature landscaping, the home offers expansive valley views and complete privacy. The property has a gated entrance and is completely fenced which is perfect to let children and animals play on the level lawns or roam around the property. The home has been exquisitely maintained and is in move-in condition. Close to top rated schools, the Bike Trail and the Lafayette Community Center. Don’t miss this property.

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Lovingly maintained two story home in a wooded setting. Many upgrades including dual pane windows , newer furnace and air conditioning, cobblestone driveway, designer garage doors and quartz kitchen counters. The home has soaring cathedral ceilings in the living room and master bedroom. A lovely dining room adjoins the living room while a totally separate family room provides a lot of space for entertainment. The study could be turned into a fourth bedroom. Wooded views abound from the decks and large windows. Convenient to town and BART. This home is a must see!

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The one you’ve been waiting for! This gorgeous home is located in a desirable court location convenient to downtown Walnut Creek. The private wooded setting with stunning views offers access to miles of trails. The living room with vaulted ceilings and beautiful hardwood floors opens to a formal dining room. The inviting kitchen has granite counters, pantry and kitchen office. The spacious family room with charming brick fireplace opens to a wonderful park-like yard. This home has five bedrooms, three and a half baths plus a large bonus room and a three car garage! The spacious master has a gorgeous bathroom with artisan stone tile and an oversized walk-in closet. Located in the top rated Acalanes and Walnut Creek School Districts. A must see!

Numbers of new Lafayette, CA listings and available inventory have been increasing for several months resulting in 4.8 months of supply. The best properties which check all the buyer’s boxes are still moving quickly but other properties are taking longer to sell.

Moraga home inventory has tightened up and months of inventory is down to 2.5 Sales have been brisk while sellers appear to be waiting for the market to improve before putting properties on the market. This is an opportunity for sellers to jump into the market. For more information call 925.212.8869.

It appears Orinda homeowners are continuing to hold their properties off the market while they wait for market improvements. We are seeing reduced numbers of new listings taken and reduced market inventory. However, sales are down as well leading to about a 4 month supply of inventory. Median pricing is closing in on median sold prices which indicates that sellers are getting more realistic when pricing homes. Price per square foot appears to have stabilized. For more information on the Orinda market please call us at 925.212.8869.

The inventory of unsold Orinda homes remained low in March 2011 but sales activity slowed with numbers of accepted offers falling from February’s figures. There has been robust activity at open houses with many new buyers out looking for homes but overall buyers appear to be taking their time to find the perfect home. The number of new listings taken fell this month which will reduce the numbers of new homes available for sale. This is an opportune time for sellers who have been waiting in the wings to get their home on the market.

The inventory of unsold homes in Contra Costa county continued its downward trend for the sixth consecutive month, dropping 5% from February’s figures. Market activity measured by accepted offers slipped this month reversing an increasing trend in January and February. Days on market for sold properties dipped slightly to 61 days; however, this may be the result of buyers offering on newer listings rather than an overall drop in days on market. The number of new listings taken fell in March which may reflect hesitancy of sellers to bring properties on the market. A common complaint heard from buyers at open houses is they don’t see as much “new” inventory as they would like. Open houses have been busy with many new buyers out looking but few seem to have a sense of urgency. I have attached graphs showing Market activity for the latest period and the past 12 months.

The below links will take you to PDFs for the latest Alameda and Contra Costa County Schools API scores.

2011 Alameda School Scores

2011 Contra Costa School Scores

2010 Contra Costa School Scores

2010 Alameda School Scores

Recently released figures show the median price of Contra Costa single family homes fell from $550,000 in May, 2010 to under $400,000 in January, 2011.   Indications are that median prices are beginning to rise and Realtors report increasing open house traffic. This is an excellent time for value shoppers to take advantage of deeply discounted prices.

We have the last Alameda County Academic Performance Index school scores for Alameda County including: Oakland, Berkeley and Hayward. Click below to download a PDF:

2010 Alameda School Scores

We have the latest Contra Costa County Academic Peformance Index report for schools in Contra Costa County including: Orinda, Moraga, Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Concord, Martinez, Alamo, Danville and San Ramon. Click below for a PDF download:

2010 Contra Costa School Scores

The number of newly listed single family homes for sale in Walnut Creek remained at low year-end levels. It appears that home sellers are taking a cautious approach to selling in the new year. They may be wise to reconsider, however. The inventory of single family home for sale has been declining since it hit a high in May, 2010 but sales have not declined to the same degree. It appears an opportune time to jump into the market. Price per square foot which has trended down for much of 2010 moved up this month giving seller’s reason for optimism.

The Lafayette California median selling price for single family homes jumped to its highest level in more than a year. This rise came in an environment of declining sales and an ample although slightly smaller inventory than usual for this time of year. Home sellers appear cautious as the number of new home listings is less than half the number last year at this time. Price per square foot of sold homes is also weak at less than $400/sf and near the bottom for the year.

The number of single family homes for sale in Moraga dropped to the lowest number in more than a year. Local Realtor Rick Booth said: “If you are thinking about selling call me right now so we can get you on the market quickly to take advantage of the reduced competition.” Median sold prices rose slightly as buyers bought more expensive homes and the cost per square foot also rose slighitly for the same reason.

Orinda’s median sold home price jumped to $1.4 million, an 87% increase over December’s figure of $750,000. It appears deeper pocket buyers are deciding it is time to jump in and take advantage of the discounted property prices. Overall sales and inventory remained flat.The median price of listed properties rose slightly as usually occurs in the new year when homeowners list or re-list higher-end properties. Price per square foot on sold properties rose slightly due to the fact higher-end properties sold. The number of new listings declined slightly but it is in line with the prior year.

Anyone driving through Orinda on a regular basis knows about the abundance of deer and turkeys. Orinda gardeners are well aware of the plethora of gophers and moles. A number of years ago we were serenaded by a family of angry bobcats. Today we got another reminder of Orinda’s natural beauty when a neighbor reported seeing a full grown coyote trotting through the Glorietta neighborhood last night. Apparently the coyote has been seen by others in recent days so it must be making a home in the area. No one has yet reported seeing the road runner beep beeping in the area.

The US government has zero down loans targeted at rural areas and the good news is that parts of Walnut Creek and Concord qualify for the loans. The USDA loans are aimed at low to moderate income households who can demonstrate they meet a housing debt to income ratio of 29% and a 41% overall debt to gross income ratio. Investors are excluded from the program.

The Wall Street Journal’s columnist Carl Bialik did a real service when he published his January 8, 2011 article “Housing Statistics Hit Rough Waters“. Mr Bialik did an exceptional job of dissecting the estimates of underwater homeowners (those who owe more on their mortgage than their house is worth) provided by companies like Zillow and CoreLogic and demonstrating: (1) Why the numbers of underwater homeowners are likely over estimated, and; (2) why it is likely that a large percentage of those homeowners are only slightly underwater and therefore unlikely to default on their mortgages.

It has been too easy for the media to jump on the bandwagon and trumpet claims of a continuous housing market decline just as it was easy for the media to herald the increase in home values that led to the bubble.

It is very much appreciated when a reporter is willing to delve in to the details to challenge the commonly held beliefs.

I recently had a short seller ask me how long before they could buy another home? This is what I found out:

Provided a short seller was never in default on their loan (i.e. made payments right up to the sale), the answer could be that no wait is required. FHA may loan immediately in that situation. If the loan went into default prior to the short sale, the FHA waiting period is three years.

The answer for Fannie Mae depends on the amount of down payment the borrower is making on the new home. If the borrower puts 20% or more down, there is a two year wait after the short sale. If the borrower puts 10 to 20% down, the waits is 4 years and if the down payment is less than 10% the wait is seven years.

For Freddie Mac the waiting period is 4 years.

FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will consider documented extenuating circumstances and this may reduce the applicable waiting period.

Walnut Creek 2010 single family detached home sales rose 15.4% over 2009 while the median price stayed almost level at $685,000 in 2009 versus $690,000 in 2010. Average days on market also improved with a reduction from 63 days in 2009 to 50 days in 2010. New listings rose 11.8% as sellers recognized the improvement and decided to put their homes on the market.

Lafayette California’s single family detached home market improved dramatically in 2010 versus a year earlier. Closed sales rose 25.0%, median price rose 4.4% to $940,000 while average days on market fell 14.2% to 62 days. Over the period new listings rose 23.8% as homeowners decided it was time to put their properties on the market.

Moraga 2010 single family detached home sales rose 37.8% over 2009 while median sales price declined slightly from $900,000 in 2009 to $880,000 in 2010. Average days on market declined 22.2% to 48 days while new listings rose 24.8% over the period.

Orinda detached home sales increased 9.8% in 2010 versus 2009 and the median sales price increased 5.8% to $962,500. At the same time, new listings increased 14.9% and average days on market increased 31.9% from 62 in 2009 to 82 in 2010.

Foreclosure radar published their 2010 year-end figures and they show Contra Costa’s foreclosure picture may be improving. On a year over year basis, the December 2010 Notice of Defaults (NODs) were down 13% and properties scheduled for Trustree’s Sale are down 11%. Foreclosure inventory for sale increased 19% on a year over year basis but has been trending down since October 2010.

06013 – Foreclosure Inventories

If the downward trend in NODs continues it could mean long term improvement in the overall Contra Costa housing market.

Rick Booth recently earned the Certified HAFA Specialist designation which acknowledges his expertise helping consumers navigate short sales conducted under the Federal government’s Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives initiative. HAFA provides for advance bank approval of a short sale along with a preapproved price at which the bank will accept an offer. This removes one of the biggest obstacles to getting a short sale sold in the current market. In addition, there is provision for the home owner to get a moving allowance at the conclusion of their short sale. Rick is available to help homeowners understand and conduct short sales pursuant to HAFA.

The CCTimes reports that the City of Walnut Creek is looking at a proposal to redevelop the old Longs HQ building. It is so sad to see last vestiges of Longs disappear. I was recently in Hawaii where the Longs Drugs signs are still on the stores. I was later disappointed to find that CVS just had not yet changed their signage.

The link to the CCTimes article is here.

The LA Times asked five real estate economists their predictions for the 2011 California market and the results were all over the board. One predicted home prices would be flat, another predicted prices would be up 2%, a third thought prices would fall 5%, a fourth said prices would “stabilize” and the fifth said prices would be flat. I would group stabilize in with the flats which means in shear numbers the flats win.

You can read the full article here.

Realty Times reports that NAR economist Lawrence Yun’s 2011 housing forecast looks to a market improvement in the 3rd quarter. The full article is available here.

The California Association of Realtors 2011 forecast housing prices to increase 2% and sales to increase 2% in the year ahead. They say the impact of REOs moving forward will be to increase unsold inventory from 6.5 months to 8 months which they say is “well below peak levels that would trigger a significant decline in prices”. Th full text of the article can be seen here.

In a December 8, 2010 article on Forbes.com, Forbes named Lafayette, CA as one the top 20 most stable housing markets in the country. Their critera focused on communities where home values had appreciated for at least 3 straight quarters, the rate of home sales was healthy and foreclosure rates were lower than the metro area.