Bay Area still isn’t building enough houses
Bay Area cities and counties built 83 percent of the homes needed to meet population and job growth over the last seven years, exacerbating the region’s affordability crunch and lengthening many residents’ commute times, according to a study by a business-oriented think tank.

While cities from Hercules to San Jose approved more than their “fair share” of housing between 1999 and 2005, other municipalities such as Larkspur and Redwood City issued permits for only a fraction of the total condos and single-family homes prescribed by a regional group of governments, said authors of the Bay Area Housing Profile.

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In fact, researchers at the council expect that unless the pace of building in the Bay Area increases substantially, the housing crisis will deteriorate over the next quarter-century with the region expected to grow by 600,000 households and 1.6 million jobs.

Further proof that the Bay Area is special, and that they’re not making any more land. Just like I said – forget stock options, give me a house!

Re-Refinancing, and Putting Off Mortgage Pain – New York Times
With his new loan, his third adjustable-rate mortgage, Mr. Perry, a former technology project manager, cashed about $200,000 out of his home’s equity and is investing it into his four-year-old financial planning business. “I could have sold my house and made my family move,” said Mr. Perry, 42, who lives with his wife and a 3-year-old son in Danville, about 20 miles east of Oakland. “But I didn’t do that. I said, ‘Look, I want to start a new business,’ and this product allowed me to do that.”

He said he was taking on more risk than many of his clients would be willing to because he believes his business will continue to grow. After spending 15 years in the technology industry, which put him on the road constantly, Mr. Perry said that being self-employed allowed him to spend more time with his family, which he also expects to grow. As far as the house, he said: “I am not going to be here for 30 years. Why is it important to have a fixed mortgage?”

That sentiment resonates nationally, and especially in California.

So that’s the secret to California living – continual refinancing!

MercuryNews.com | 07/20/2006 | South Bay rents rising fast
Rents at San Jose-area apartment complexes rose more this spring than at any time since the peak of the tech boom.

Landlords no longer need to woo customers with a free month’s rent or a DVD player. Rent for apartments in large complexes rose 9 percent compared with a year before, the biggest jump in any of 29 cities in California and elsewhere studied by RealFacts, a Novato company that does research for the apartment industry.

The average monthly rent in the area was $1,414. Palo Alto was the most expensive city at an average $1,929, and Campbell the least at an average $1,231.

A revitalized local job market and rising home prices are two factors driving the rental market, said Caroline Latham, owner of RealFacts. With higher prices and mortgage rates making homes less affordable, there’s increasing demand for rental housing.

“This has been a very weak market until maybe about a year ago,” Latham said. “We’re finally catching up in San Jose” to the rental rate growth that Southern California, for example, has experienced for the past few years.

I guess there wasn’t a housing bubble after all! At this rate, in just a few years, those $500k condos won’t be so laughable! Heck, maybe the $829k condo that used to rent at $2550 might make sense!

Indeed it looks like we’re in a soft landing.

Home prices inch up; rents rise, sales ebb / High costs — and interest rates — cause more people to hit ‘the affordability wall’
From Sunnyvale to Walnut Creek, apartment shoppers are finding rental properties are harder to come by — and more expensive.

The average for a one-bedroom apartment in the Bay Area climbed nearly 7 percent, to $1,218, according to a quarterly report by RealFacts. In Silicon Valley, where the fallout from the dot-com blowout drove rents down by about 30 percent, the average rent ticked up 9 percent to $1,259 amid a strengthening economy and improving corporate profits.

The average mortgage payment Bay Area buyers committed to paying in June was $3,183, DataQuick said.

Will the rent/mortgage price ratio finally hit 1? Time will tell!

MLSlistings Property Detail for MLS number 640587
1584 TERILYN AV
San Jose, CA 95122

$560,000

This Single Family Residence has the following features:
MLS#: 640587 Approx Age: 47 Years Approx Sq Ft: 1040
Detached Single Family 1 Story 3 Bedrooms

Either this homeowner was in so much of a rush to sell that he couldn’t wait for the pickup truck to leave, or that the listing agent loves pickup trucks.

MLSlistings Property Detail for MLS number 630140
133 S 1ST ST
Campbell, CA 95008

$800,000

This Single Family Residence has the following features:
MLS#: 630140 Approx Age: 90 Years Approx Sq Ft: 756
Detached Single Family 1 Story Cottage/Bungalow

Alright… over $1000 a sqft for a 90 year old home – no big deal. Been there, done that.

Ok, so it’s in Campbell and not Cupertino or Palo Alto. That’s just a little strange.

But then comes the kicker:

Why in the world would you post this picture your in real estate ad? I mean… seriously! WTF?

WSJ.com – For-Sale Signs Multiply Across U.S.
Conditions can vary considerably within a metropolitan area and among different types of housing. Sherry Chris, chief operating officer of Prudential California Realty, says condo prices in downtown San Francisco are about level with a year ago because new buildings have helped supply catch up with demand. Overall, the number of homes on the market in the Bay Area has more than doubled from a year earlier.

But in the suburb of Palo Alto, where the median home price is nearly $1.4 million, the inventory of homes has declined 2% from a year ago. Ms. Chris says she believes that reflects lots of hiring by Google Inc. and other technology firms.

What would we do without Google!

Finally! A house that’s priced appropriately in San Jose:

MLSlistings Property Detail for MLS number 639572
16 ARLETA AV
San Jose, CA 95128

$55,900

This Single Family Residence has the following features:
MLS#: 639572 Approx Age: 67 Years Approx Sq Ft: 773

What? It’s a mistake? Oh come on – the  Ford pickup truck is larger than the friggin house!

MONEY Magazine: Best places to live 2006: Top 25 Pricey homes
Pricey homes / Home appreciation
Here are the cities with the highest median home price.
Rank City Median home
sale price 2005
1 Newport Beach, CA $1,362,500
2 Greenwich, CT $1,129,000
3 Santa Barbara, CA $979,500
4 Palo Alto, CA $929,000
5 Cupertino, CA $880,000
6 Goleta, CA $870,000
7 San Clemente, CA $848,500
8 Bethesda, MD $790,000
9 Pleasanton, CA $785,000
10 Santa Monica, CA $784,000
11 Redondo Beach, CA $777,500
12 Redwood City, CA $767,500
13 San Francisco, CA $755,000
14 Yorba Linda, CA $750,000
15 San Rafael, CA $745,000

Congrats to Palo Alto and Cupertino!

The Housing Bubble Blog » ‘The Unstoppable Ascent Has Stopped’ In San Diego
“San Diego had the wildest run-up among major California cities. The boom was stoked by cheap loans, changes in tax law, creative financing and a generalized mania that fed upon itself. The market also began to fade first in San Diego. Whatever happens here, optimists and pessimists agree, will happen later in the rest of the state.”

“At a sales office in the Ocean Beach neighborhood, broker David Davis said the market had already bottomed out. ‘Our No. 1 industry is now tourism,’ Davis said. ‘Unless they take away the sun, we’ll be fine.’”

“If Davis radiates cheer, the fliers taped to the window outside the office door tell a different story. ‘Huge Price Reduction,’ one says. Another says both ‘Reduced’ and ‘$15,000 Credit.’”

“In some cases, the prices are dropping faster than the fliers can be reprinted. A two-bedroom town home has its price of $324,900 crossed out with a marking pen, replaced by $309,900. Another house, a four-bedroom in suburban La Mesa, has a printed price of $575,000. Below that is handwritten $549,000. Scribbled below that is a new minimum: $499,000.”

This will never happen in the Bay Area. Two reasons:

1) The Bay Area is special.

2) They’re not making any more land.