San Francisco

Rebounding technology stocks and limited housing supply are lifting San Francisco real estate as buyers compete for properties and drive up prices.

Sales of houses and condominiums in San Francisco jumped 50% in the first quarter from a year earlier and the median price rose 5.4%, according to a multiple listings analysis by
Terradatum Inc.

House values will gain 7% this year, the biggest annual increase since a 9% advance in 2005, Rosen Consulting Group forecast last month “San Francisco has conditions of very restricted supply and lots of things that can push demand: an attractive climate, innovative economy and high quality of life,” said Harvard University economist Edward Glaeser.

See full story here: Tech Lifts S.F. Prices as Ocean View Gets 26 Bids by Dan Levy, Bloomberg.

Boston

Boston-area real estate demand has seen a resurgence as buyers show increased confidence about
the economy and job security, real estate professionals and economists say. A first-time home
buyer’s tax credit injected life into the lower end of the market that brokers see as a potential setup
for strong sales during the summer, assuming that pent-up demand stretches higher up on the
housing “food chain.”

Many real estate professionals and economists say the end of the recession in late 2009, an uptick
in consumer confidence and a decline in the jobless rate add up to a brighter housing outlook.
“Absent any national situation that severely dampens consumer confidence, it looks like the greater
Boston market continues to be definitely on the upswing,” said analysts at HouseSaavy.com, an
online real estate research organization based in Norwell, Mass.

See full story here: Boston-area Housing Market Rises with Economic Tide by Ros Kransey, International Business Times.

Westchester County NY

Comparing this April with last, the New York State Association of Realtors reported a 60% jump in
the number of single-family home sales in Westchester County, N.Y., with 18% selling for
$1 million or more. Also in April, the median sales price of a single-family home in the county rose
to $590,000, according to the real estate group. That compares with $532,000 in the first quarter
of 2009. The increase in the median is a direct reflection of more sales at the high end, the
association said.

See full story here: (subscription required) In Westchester, the Sales Pace for High-End Houses Picks Up by Elsa Brenner, Wall Street Journal.

Northwest Multiple Listing Service members tallied more than 52,000 single family home and condominium sales in 2009, about 3.7% fewer than 2008, for a combined sales value of more than $17 billion. This report reflects activity of members in 19 counties encompassing nearly eighty percent of the state’s population.

Although the number of sales nearly matched 2008 levels, the dollar volume of the sales fell by 14.6%. Brokers attribute the drop to lower selling prices and higher volume of short sales and foreclosures.

Among the 19 counties included in this report, San Juan claimed the highest median sales price for single family homes at $443,500. King County followed at $380,000. System-wide the median price last year was $280,000.

For condos the median selling price was $235,000, down 7.3% from 2008. King County accounted for 6 out of every 10 condo sales, selling for a median price of $254,000.

Other highlights in the Annual MLS Summary:

• More than 8 out of 10 transactions was a “co-op” sale; listed by one office and sold by another.
• Single family homes accounted for 87% of total sales.
• 802 sales of single family homes fetched $1 million or more. The MLS map area for Bellevue/west of I-405 had the highest volume of million-dollar plus sales (120 closed sales). The highest priced home sale in the MLS system for 2009 was $15,560,000 for a home on Mercer Island.
• Reported 66 sales of condos sold for $1 million or more, 392 condos sold for $500,000 or more. Highest priced condo sold last year was in downtown Seattle for $9,750,000.

Reading or watching the news each day, we are often presented the darkest tales of tragedy and calamity in our community. How many times have we repeated the adages “No news is good news” and “Bad news sells newspapers” in our lives? (more…)