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Well, as anyone who occasionally checks the news knows, no question mark is necessary above. Rates are going up. The only questions are how high, how soon and why? Read on for some helpful information on the answers to those questions. Today’s national employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics offers continued support for strong economic growth, with an increase of 201,000 jobs in August. Over the last 12 months, the U.S. economy has added 2.33 million jobs. After downward revisions of June and July data, job gains have averaged 185,000 per month over the last three months. The current economic cycle is the longest continuous expansion on record, with 95 straight months of...

Well, as costs continue to rise, they affect the sales volume in the Bay Area.  Marin was one of the only two areas in the Bay Area not negatively affected, as the following will show.   August home sales activity in the Bay Area posted another notable decline from a year ago, with sales down by 11 percent and across most counties. With the substantial August decline, year-to-date sales are now 2 percent below last year. Marin and Napa were the only two counties that saw sales increase from last year, which is a positive improvement from declines recorded in previous months. Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco counties, which were faring relatively better this year, also posted...

Well, I know we've been here before, but, once again, home values in the Bay Area have shown double digit increases over a year ago.  While Marin this time wasn't leading the pack, the overall effect on values Bay Area-wide is still positive.  Want the details?  Then read on! The nine-county Bay Area ended July with the median sales price at $980,000, an annual increase of more than 10 percent. Diminishing affordability in job centers helped drive double-digit percent year-over-year increases in sales activity in Contra Costa, Alameda, and Napa counties.   The nine-county Bay Area continued to record substantial year-over-year price gains in July, further shutting out more buyers and...

We've covered this in previous posts, but felt it worthwhile to repeat it now as employment figures are again going up.  Improving employment always bodes well for the housing market because if more people are working, then there are more buyers out there looking for housing. Read on for more. • Despite concerns over slowing employment growth, California added 46,700 jobs in July and revised June numbers to 21,500 new positions from an initially reported 800, according to the latest numbers from the state Employment Development Department. • With the summer’s pickup in job additions, California’s 2.0 percent employment growth is again trending above the national rate of 1.6 percent. • With...

Well, sooner or later, as home prices keep climbing, and mortgage interest rates along with them, the number of folks who can afford to buy a home drops.  As the following bit of info indicates, affordability has gone down in recent months, and may continue to do so in the immediate future. Twenty-six percent of California households could afford to purchase the median-priced single-family home in the second quarter, down on both a quarterly and yearly basis. Thirty-seven of 45 tracked California counties were less affordable than they were in the second quarter of 2017. In the Bay Area, affordability declined year over year in five counties, improved slightly in two, and was unchanged in...

For quite a few years now, buyers from outside the United States have played a major role in the local housing market.  Name a foreign country and the chances are that money originating there has found its way into Bay Area real estate.  Much of that has been residential property. Although America’s housing inventory shortage caused foreign buyer activity to drop substantially last year, the share of overseas buyers who invested in California moved in the other direction. The National Association of Realtors’ latest Profile of International Transactions in U.S. Residential Real Estate says that foreign citizens were responsible for $121 billion worth of residential transactions for the...

Often, when calculating the cost of home ownership, the figure most often used is the monthly mortgage payment.  Sometimes, folks will do some basic math and add on the monthly cost of real estate taxes and, in some cases, insurance.  But the overall cost goes far beyond these basic levels.  Curious?  Take a look at the following. Almost all new homeowners have calculated their monthly mortgage payments, but fewer have likely factored in the cost of routine maintenance tasks. An analysis by home-remodeling portal Porch breaks down home-maintenance costs by states and ZIP codes, as well as individual jobs. Though it’s commonly accepted wisdom that owners should expect to spend 1 percent of...

Regular readers of this blog know that I've periodically stated that the housing market is often affected by the employment picture.  The reason is simple.  If you have a job, you're more likely to be able to buy a house.  Well, the latest employment statistics likely will have an effect on this. The latest info available indicates that the state is losing lower paying jobs at an increasing pace.  This, as is probably obvious, is having a negative impact on the state's employment picture.  We have yet to see if there is any correlative result on the housing market.  Curious?  Read on.   • The Golden State created 800 jobs (seasonally adjusted) in June, which is the lowest number since...

Just a bit of news for all of my fellow MV residents about why this is such a great place to live.  A website that rates towns across the country as best of various categories lists the best beach towns in the US.  The site, WalletHub, has its latest list of best beach towns in the US and guess who's on the list--at Number 4, no less (first in California):  Mill Valley!  Now, we do have a Bay shoreline, at Richardson Bay, but, when you think of sandy beaches and folks running around in swimsuits, Mill Valley rarely is the first place that pops into your mind.  But here we are!  For more details, read on. Wait a minute, we hear you protest. Mill Valley a beach town? Stinson Beach, sure, and...