Comments on: $1 million house in Millbrae – free christmas lights!

By: madhaus

madhaus — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:13:36 +0000

WG, check if Countrywide is requiring 25% down payment now. As to agency conforming, isn’t that under $750K? What about over?

By: bob

bob — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:14:00 +0000

LOL! I saw that the other day and actually bookmarked it. People in the office were wondering why I was snickering.

By: Lionel

Lionel — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:47:24 +0000

“bob Says:
July 18th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Cardinal,
Easy explanation. Two bubbles back-to-back. The tech and then the immediate RE bubble afterwards.”

Onion News Network:

APRIL 9, 2008
WASHINGTON—A panel of top business leaders testified before Congress about the worsening recession Monday, demanding the government provide Americans with a new irresponsible and largely illusory economic bubble in which to invest.

“What America needs right now is not more talk and long-term strategy, but a concrete way to create more imaginary wealth in the very immediate future,” said Thomas Jenkins, CFO of the Boston-area Jenkins Financial Group, a bubble-based investment firm. “We are in a crisis, and that crisis demands an unviable short-term solution.”

A prominent finance expert asks Congress to help Americans rebuild their ficticious dreams.

The current economic woes, brought on by the collapse of the so-called “housing bubble,” are considered the worst to hit investors since the equally untenable dot-com bubble burst in 2001. According to investment experts, now that the option of making millions of dollars in a short time with imaginary profits from bad real-estate deals has disappeared, the need for another spontaneous make-believe source of wealth has never been more urgent.

By: bob

bob — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:26:25 +0000

Cardinal,
Easy explanation. Two bubbles back-to-back. The tech and then the immediate RE bubble afterwards. There was a nice little bout of price reduction in what you all claim as the RBA in the 90′s following the fall of the defense sector.
As it is now, there’s a sort of quiet secondary tech bubble bubbling away, hiding behind the tattered remnants of the housing bubble and news of it’s collapse. The prices in and around the immediate
“RBA” are by and large supported by this “quite” bubble. Whether it’ll hold is the single remaining pricing support. Even if it thrives, the severe downward pressure being placed in it from essentially everywhere else will likely impact it regardless if someone events Footbook or Pear computer corp.

By: WillowGlenner

WillowGlenner — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:51:44 +0000

madhaus, Jumbo mortgages (also called agency conforming) are about 6.375% right now. They were only astronomically high for about a month before the big lenders got on board. Now they are reasonable.

By: RealEstater

RealEstater — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:44:31 +0000

You can do better for $1M in Millbrae:

http://www.movoto.com/real-estate/homes-for-sale/CA/Millbrae/538-Capuchino-Dr-100_80820990.htm

By: madhaus

madhaus — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:07:33 +0000

nomadic, I’ve been posting the Dataquick numbers for a few months and just about every zip has been hammered in sales volume. Can’t speak to the loan distributions, but weren’t the new 700K jumbos so expensive (7.5%) that nobody wanted them? Anyway, your question is intriguing.

sonarrat, if they’re that close to Lawrence then they’re Hyde Middle, API 829 (the worst of the 5 by far) and Cupertino High, API 817 (4th lowest of 5). The CUSD map doesn’t show elementary school borders. Schools in the Hyde zone are:
– Eisenhower (Santa Clara), E of Lawrence, API 893
– de Vargas (SJ), E of Lawrence, API 839
– Sedgewick (R Rinconada), W of Lawrence, API 854

de Vargas & Sedgewick scores are down from 2006. This truly is the seedy side of Cupertino.

Note: the only other elementary school in CUSD with an API under 900 is Nimitz in Sunnyvale, with 824, worst in the district. Also down. The other 2 Sunnyvale/CUSD schools (like all the other CUSD) are over 900.

By: nomadic

nomadic — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:29:03 +0000

madhaus, maybe I’m splitting hairs or just looking for excuses, but wouldn’t the drop in the number of jumbo mortgages “over $417,000″ also be due to the new jumbo limit of $729,750?

By: sonarrat

sonarrat — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:21:21 +0000

steve, those houses are all in Rancho Rinconada, right? The worst part of Cupertino: 3/1 Eichlers on tiny (5000 sf) lots. Some parts of RR have “improved” as a majority of people tear down the cracker boxes and put up McMansions.

Indeed, they’re all within a few blocks of Lawrence & Bollinger.

By: madhaus

madhaus — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:59:53 +0000

I notice today's house doesn't have a lot size, but take a look at the aerial photo. The house takes up most of the lot. So I'd say that lot is about 3000 sf max. And I'd be wrong. 1149 Elmwood, down the street a short ways, is 200 sf smaller and sits on a 5700 sf lot. The aerial view shows similar lot sizes. 1149 is listed at $925K, reduced from $950K! I like how the garage door carries the Mondrian effect over from the living room windows. steve, those houses are all in Rancho Rinconada, right? The worst part of Cupertino: 3/1 Eichlers on tiny (5000 sf) lots. Some parts of RR have "improved" as a majority of people tear down the cracker boxes and put up McMansions. cardinal2007, excellent and concise definition. Here's the Dataquick story on Bay Area sales drop.

"Last month foreclosure resales made up 28.7 percent of all Bay Area resales, up from 27.6 percent in May and 3.5 percent a year ago. They ranged from as little as 3 percent of resales in San Francisco to as much as 57.7 percent in Solano County.

And a couple of you permabulls were laughing over my claim that rents are up because foreclosures are up.

Before the credit crunch hit last August, jumbo mortgages (over $417,000) made up nearly 65 percent of all Bay Area purchase loans. In June they accounted for 28.8 percent, up from 28.4 percent in May.

No crazy loans, no crazy prices. It's that simple.