How many homes are on the market in Pleasanton?

As of 10/31/08, there were 249 single family homes available for sale in Pleasanton.  The inventory levels have been increasing steadily through July of this year and appear to have leveled off since then as you can see from the table below.

How many homes have sold in Pleasanton in 2008?

Although the year started out slow with 105 sales in the 1^st quarter, the 2^nd quarter and 3^rd quarter saw significant improvement with 170 sales and 154 sales respectively.  September ended with 58 sales.  With the available inventory at the end of September equaling 252, we stood at 4.96 months of inventory, a very good number in this market environment.

How many homes have sold recently in Pleasanton?

October sales have dropped significantly.  As of this writing, there were 28 homes reported as “PENDING” in Pleasanton during the month of October.  That is greater than a 50% decrease from the monthly average of 54 sales over the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters of 2008.

Where is the Pleasanton real estate market headed right now?

It would appear that the slowdown in Pleasanton home sales activity is a direct result of the stock market correction that occurred at the beginning of the month. There were only slight decreases in sales activity during the month of October 2006 and October 2007. 

As I speak to fellow Realtors it seems as though fear of a pending recession has caused many prospective buyers to postpone their home purchase decisions.  There is a general sense that the buying activity will increase once the buyers’ confidence is restored.  Many buyers have recognized that this housing correction has created a buyers’ market of historic proportion.

First time buyers are back in the market with affordable homes back in reach. Investors are back in the market with demand for rentals at all time highs.  Move up buyers are back in the market recognizing that the loss of equity in their current homes will easily wash out with the purchase of a replacement property.

Have we hit bottom and when will prices go back up?

It’s a reasonable question that unfortunately no one can answer.  One indicator that is useful to measure the stability of our market is the percentage of homes for sale and homes sold that are short sale or REO properties.  Short sale properties involve sellers where their mortgages exceed the value of their home.  REO properties are homes that have been repossessed by the lender through the foreclosure process.

This table was prepared on 10/24/2008.  As you can see Pleasanton has the smallest percentage of distress properties on the market. At least for now this should help us keep our home prices relatively stable compared to some of our neighboring markets.

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Call us to see this property or for addidtional details.

This is an intersting article from the Assoicated Press. Although the article makes valid points about the money you might have invested in the stock market or your 401K, or potentially your biggest investment-your home-the dwindling numbers are still painful to see. Pleasanton homeowners have been more fortunate than many folks in surrounding communities. Home values here have dropped far less than some other nearby communities.

The median single family home price for Pleasanton in September 2008 was $789k. In September 2007, the median price was $802k. That is a drop of 1.6%.

By contrast, the median price for a single family home in Livermore in Septmeber 2008 was $480k, compared to $615K in September 2007. That’s a 22% decline.

Here’s the article:

AP-Trillions in stock market value - gone. Trillions in retirement savings - gone. A huge chunk of the money you paid for your house, the money you’re saving for college, the money your boss needs to make payroll - gone, gone, gone.

Whether you have a 401(k), a mutual fund or a college savings plan, tumbling stock markets and sagging home prices mean you’ve lost a whole lot of the money that was right there on your account statements just a few months ago.

But if you no longer have that money, who does? The fat cats on Wall Street? Some oil baron in Saudi Arabia? The government of China?

Or is it just - gone?

If you’re looking to track down your missing money - figure out who has it now, maybe ask to have it back - you might be disappointed to learn that is was never really money in the first place.

Robert Shiller, an economist at Yale, puts it bluntly: The notion that you lose a pile of money whenever the stock market tanks is a “fallacy.” He says the price of a stock has never been the same thing as money - it’s simply the “best guess” of what the stock is worth.

“It’s in people’s minds,” Shiller explains. “We’re just recording a measure of what people think the stock market is worth. What the people who are willing to trade today - who are very, very few people - are actually trading at. So we’re just extrapolating that and thinking, well, maybe that’s what everyone thinks it’s worth.”

Shiller uses the example of an appraiser who values a house at $350,000, a week after saying it was worth $400,000.

“In a sense, $50,000 just disappeared when he said that,” he said. “But it’s all in the mind.”

Though something, of course, is disappearing as markets and real estate values tumble. Even if a share of stock you own isn’t a wad of bills in your wallet, even if the value of your home isn’t something you can redeem at will, surely you can lose potential money - that is, the money that would be yours to spend if you sold your house or emptied out your mutual funds right now.

And if you’re a few months away from retirement, or hoping to sell your house and buy a smaller one to help pay for your kid’s college tuition, this “potential money” is something you’re counting on to get by. For people who need cash and need it now, this is as real as money gets, whether or not it meets the technical definition of the word.

Still, you run into trouble when you think of that potential money as being the same thing as the cash in your purse or your checking account.

“That’s a big mistake,” says Dale Jorgenson, an economics professor at Harvard.

There’s a key distinction here: While the money in your pocket is unlikely to just vanish into thin air, the money you could have had, if only you’d sold your house or drained your stock-heavy mutual funds a year ago, most certainly can.

“You can’t enjoy the benefits of your 401(k) if it’s disappeared,” Jorgenson explains. “If you had it all in financial stocks and they’ve all gone down by 80 percent - sorry! That is a permanent loss because those folks aren’t coming back. We’re gonna have a huge shrinkage in the financial sector.”

There was a time when nobody had to wonder what happened to the money they used to have. Until paper money was developed in China around the ninth century, money was something solid that had actual value - like a gold coin that was worth whatever that amount of gold was worth, according to Douglas Mudd, curator of the American Numismatic Association’s Money Museum in Denver.

Back then, if the money you once had was suddenly gone, there was a simple reason - you spent it, someone stole it, you dropped it in a field somewhere, or maybe a tornado or some other disaster struck wherever you last put it down.

But these days, a lot of things that have monetary value can’t be held in your hand.

If you choose, you can pour most of your money into stocks and track their value in real time on a computer screen, confident that you’ll get good money for them when you decide to sell. And you won’t be alone - staring at millions of computer screens are other investors who share your confidence that the value of their portfolios will hold up.

But that collective confidence, Jorgenson says, is gone. And when confidence is drained out of a financial system, a lot of investors will decide to sell at any price, and a big chunk of that money you thought your investments were worth simply goes away.

If you once thought your investment portfolio was as good as a suitcase full of twenties, you might suddenly suspect that it’s not.

In the process, of course, you’re losing wealth. But does that mean someone else must be gaining it? Does the world have some fixed amount of wealth that shifts between people, nations and institutions with the ebb and flow of the economy?

Jorgenson says no - the amount of wealth in the world “simply decreases in a situation like this.” And he cautions against assuming that your investment losses mean a gain for someone else - like wealthy stock speculators who try to make money by betting that the market will drop.

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Fall is definitely in the air in Pleasanton. The leaves on the trees are beginning to change color, the pumpkins are out all over our neighborhoods, and the night air is cool and crisp.

Keep your home safe and warm this Fall and Winter with enery saving weatherization projects. You’ll not only feel warmer inside your home, but those lower utility bills will make you feel great all year long.

Check all insulation levels: Improving insulation levels can be a highly effective way of increasing your home’s comfort and energy efficiency, so make it a point this fall to check the amount and condition of all visible insulation. This includes the attic, underfloor, kneewalls, skylight shafts and ductwork. A call to your local utility company will tell you what levels are considered optimum for your area, and if repairs are needed and you don’t want to undertake them yourself, they can also recommend qualified insulation and weatherization contractors.

Check and seal heating ducts: Crawling around in the attic or crawlspace isn’t anyone’s idea of a fun afternoon, but it’s the only way to examine and repair your heating ducts. Check for gaps between ducts and fittings, and seal them with a quality metallic tape — not regular duct tape, which doesn’t last. Also, check to be sure that all of the ducts are up off the ground and adequately supported.

Check weatherstripping: Gaps around doors and windows — no matter how small or seemingly insignificant — allow cold outside air to enter your home. The result is uncomfortable drafts and wasted energy. Closely examine each exterior door and window to see that the weatherstripping is doing its job. There should be no visible gaps, the weatherstripping should be clean and undamaged, and windows and doors should operate smoothly and close completely. If any repairs are necessary, you can find everything you need at your local hardware store or home center, or contact a qualified weatherization contractor or handyman.

Seal exterior penetrations: Weatherstripping is not the only culprit when it comes to air leaks. Spend a day working your way around the outside of the house with a caulking gun and a couple of tubes of high-quality, flexible caulking, and seal any gaps around window and door trim, plumbing and electrical penetrations, flashings and other openings.

Add outlet gaskets: Shut the power, remove switch and outlet plates, and add precut foam outlet gaskets, which are available from home centers, hardware stores and other retailers. Do the interior walls as well as the exterior walls, and don’t forget exterior outlets as well. It’s a small thing, but small things definitely add up.

Change furnace filters: Fall is always the perfect time to put in new furnace filters. It’s another one of those simple and inexpensive tasks that can add to your home’s efficiency and your family’s comfort.

Upgrade your thermostat: An older thermostat that’s a couple of degrees off can result in a lot of wasted energy, and so can forgetting to set the thermostat down at night. You can take care of both of those problems with an upgrade to a programmable thermostat. Programmable thermostats are digital and typically very accurate, and they allow for easy, set-and-forget programming of temperatures for different times of the day, including energy-saving nighttime and workday setbacks.

Clean and service fireplaces and woodstoves: Make sure that your gas, wood, and pellet-burning fireplaces and stoves are clean and operating correctly. Check door gaskets, blower operation, flues and flue caps, thermostats and all other aspects of these important appliances. If you’re not sure what to look for or how to do any cleaning or repairs, check with a qualified, licensed fireplace shop or chimney sweep.

Install a carbon monoxide detector: If you have any gas appliances in your home, there is always the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning should any of them ever malfunction. This is a very real danger, especially as we close our homes up for the winter, so make it a point this fall to install a carbon monoxide detector. These lifesavers are inexpensive, easy to install, and available from most home centers and hardware stores.

Check smoke detectors: Same warning every fall — check to see that your smoke detectors are operating correctly, and install fresh batteries. If you have an older home with a limited number of detectors, install additional ones outside each bedroom, and make sure that you have at least one on each floor of the house. (Source: Inman News)

Federal housing officials have compiled a list of lenders participating in the HOPE for Homeowners program, which they say could help as many as 400,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure by refinancing problem loans into new 30-year fixed-rate mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

When released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development Thursday, the list of participating lenders totaled 67 businesses. But HUD said the list will be updated as new lenders enroll in the HOPE for Homeowners program, which kicked off Oct. 1.

Borrowers who hope to refinance into an FHA-guaranteed loan under the HOPE for Homeowners program need the cooperation of their existing lender or loan servicer, as the program will only provide loans equal to 90 percent of a home’s current appraised value.

The holder of the existing mortgage may choose to foreclose on a troubled borrower or offer them a workout or loan modification rather than accept the losses associated with declining property values, HUD acknowledges.

When contacting any of the HOPE for Homeowners lenders on the list, borrowers “are strongly encouraged to contact your servicing lender and any subordinate lien holders since their participation is vital for you to refinance into a HOPE for Homeowners mortgage,” HUD advised. (Source: Inman News)