patrick.net

Btw, here's a story that came to me about the flooding and Marin home sales:

"I heard from a friend in San Anselmo who is just about to close escrow on her house that a lot of houses in San Anselmo (and I would also guess Fairfax) have fallen out of contract. Buyers just said no way after the flood damage. Can't be good, when volume is clearly down to begin with. I can't imagine Spring will be an easy time to sell around here. "

Good advice SF Renter. That is exactly how I think of it.

Here is an interesting article about how housing has gotten cheaper in most of the nation:

http://tinyurl.com/9pav8

NYT, subscription required.

There is a fascinating herd mentality surrounding the housing market. Does anyone know of any recent, good articles or books on it?

Irrational Exuberance, 2nd Ed. by Robert Shiller has a chapter on it, but most of the book deals with the Dot.com stock bubble. For zillions of links to good bubble articles, check out Patrick's links: http://patrick.net/housing/crash.html#links

You Seattle guys are legendary for talking about how bad Seattle is to Californians.

It rains 400 days out of 365, I have heard it before.

Looks like Seattle home prices about half of what Bay Area prices are:

http://www.dqnews.com/ZIPWA.shtm

The toniest neighborhood is $436/sq ft, less than half Telegraph Hill and the average appears to be about $300, about half of SF prices.

Linda, it would be helpful if you post this in the latest thread. Most people here do not check older threads.

I cannot give financial advice. However, let's look at some numbers:

You owe 300K with a 5.25% mortgage, your monthly interest is only around $1300. You have also locked-in a low property tax rate, thanks to Prop 13. Can you rent a comparable home that costs less than your current total housing expenses?

I would seriously try to look past the equity gain and stay in the house. However, it is a good idea to consult a financial professional before any decision.

Also, do not forget that commission alone is 6% of 700K, which is 42K.

It also really depends on what you are going to do with the 350K - 400K proceeds.

San Francisco’s Housing Market Is Cooling Faster Than Rest of the Region
Written by Kevin Truong
Published Oct. 13, 2022

As home prices across the Bay Area continue to fall from the peaks seen a few months ago, San Francisco’s real estate market has been hit harder than most.

Although median home prices in the Bay Area writ large ticked down in the third quarter, San Francisco saw the single steepest decline of any county at 9%, according to a report from real estate agency Compass. That compared with a 1-2% decline over the same period for the entire region, according to Patrick Carlisle, the Bay Area chief market analyst for Compass.