Northern California Real Estate Trends in the Suburbs

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I remember the home price increases in the late 80s, the horrible recession of the early 90s, the home price rebound in the late 90s, the skyrocketing prices in the mid-2000s, then the steep price drop again in the mid to late 2000s.</p>

<p>I was asked advice regarding a relative’s rental owned in the suburbs, knowing the prices for the history on this house, it sold for $200k+ in the early 90s and homes in that neighborhood sold for $500k+ in the boom.</p>

<p>Now the tenants want to buy it and in looking at closed homes on Realtor.com, I see homes in that small community selling for under $200k. On the one hand it would be nice for them to be done with the rental, on the other hand there is no loan so the rents cover the taxes, insurance and association dues with a bit leftover plus the depreciation allowances.</p>

<p>The cash cannot make much money in other investments and I would hate to advise it’s sale now at an historically low price only to see a recovery boom things again. The area is affected by people moving from the Bay Area.</p>

<p>Any thoughts from people experienced in the Bay area and surrounding (this is about 3 hours away so gets the people who move out of the Bay area)</p>

2

<p>In the bay area, I think residential real estate prices have bottomed. 3 hours away from the bay area is pretty far out though.</p>

<p>I was talking to somebody about this yesterday. Low priced homes that were 100,000 at the bottom of the market are selling for 150,000. </p>

<p>The savings of real estate commissions is a positive when selling to a tenant.</p>

3

<p>Good thought, dstark.</p>

4

<p>What a difference it makes to be three hours away from the Bay Area…I cannot imagine being able to buy a home for 200K! The housing market is still incredibly strong in the heart of Silicon Valley. Our realtor said that, for some cities in our area, inventory is at historic lows.</p>

5

<p>ditto what silicon said, here in the North Bay…</p>

6

<p>Yes, this is a small town in the foothills for Bay area escapees and I was blown away to see houses selling for less now than the early 90s recession!</p>

7

<p>I think it completely depends on the town.</p>

<p>My father recently passed away and we’re looking into options of what to do with his home in Alameda. Across the past 10 years, the high estimate on zillow was $990K (July 2005), the low was $670K (Sept 2011). It’s currently at $760. According to our local realtor, it is common right now in Alameda to have multiple offers above the asking price.</p>

8

<p>Three hours away…like east of Sacramento? Stockton? That area is pretty much ground zero for the subprime mortgage implosion. There was a huge rush to build, people commuted crazy hours in to the city, all because real estate was booming and of course the prices would just keep going up. Then when the crash came those communities were very hard hit with people simply walking away from their houses, lots of vandalism, and a huge percentage of houses being foreclosed. Until the foreclosures clear, I don’t know that these areas have hit bottom yet. Can you find out the status of houses in the neighborhood of the one you want to sell? What the shadow inventory is of houses in foreclosure but not on the MLS?</p>

<p>The hot areas of the Bay Area, on the other hand, are suffering from a shortage of inventory and anything on the market is being snapped up by cash buyers within hours of hitting the MLS for well over asking price.</p>

9

<p>where else but california?</p>

<p>is squatting a serious problem over there?</p>

10

<p>Where is this place. Maybe I should buy property there.</p>

<p>Is it a place that would be attractive to Bay Area retirees? </p>

<p>Alameda is a very nice community. Zillow is probably undervaluing the property. They tend to lag behind when the market is hot, IMO.</p>