This week's activity in the local San Francisco real estate market continued to show strong trends. However, the % of properties that received multiple offers was down slightly.
Right now, our real estate market remains strong but spotty. Sellers appear to have a realistic sense of their home's value and are looking at the long-term gains.
In San Francisco, we are pretty lucky! Appreciation here is often higher (and sometimes staggering higher) than national averages. So, even if you decide to sell when it's slower like now, you will still do just fine! That is, if you have owned your home for at least 3 years. Hey, in some locales, you need to stay in your home for about 10 years to see a net gain upon sale!
Buyers, on the other hand, seem to fall into 3 camps right now.
1. Motivated, ready to go, and financially capable.
2. Motivated, ready to go but no longer able to get financing.
3. Financially capable but not motivated. I call these folks the "Chicken Littles." Trying to beat or time the market has been proven to be a fools game by experts much brighter than me.
In real estate, the key is to buy what you can afford, when you can afford it, and enjoy your home. After a while, your home will go up in value and you will be able to sell it for a profit and move into a bigger or better home for you. Plus, the whole time, you are not paying rent and you are using the immense power of leverage to grow your assets while enjoying serious tax benefits.
Alas, I go on. Please, try not to trip over the soapbox on your way out! 🙂 The sub-prime debacle is not affecting San Francisco too terribly but it is taking a toll. The impact is felt mostly in the banks' qualifying ratios and criteria. If your credit score is under 700, it is becoming increasingly tough to qualify for financing. Of course, other factors do compute and there are many great mortgage consultants who can find the right fit but overall, it's harder out there for borrowers. Okay, okay, here are the statistics!
