Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (69324)	12/21/2004 11:32:22 PM
From: fresc	Respond to of 89467

I hope you wear a helmet when you venture outdoors.

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (69324)	12/22/2004 1:39:21 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 89467

This is only 2 hours south. I'm getting rich :-) Saw a listing for 2 acres in town, right across from the new high school and next to the auto wreckers...195K. Looks like even large hill parcels are starting to go for 5-8K/ acre. Housing prices hit record $525,000 Cost of Sonoma County homes on track to rise 20% for the year Wednesday, December 22, 2004 By MICHAEL COIT THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Sonoma County's real estate market in November ended a stretch of dipping sales and flat prices as the median cost of a house jumped to a record $525,000. What had been a slowdown in price increases helped draw more buyers into the market, experts said. And favorable interest rates continued to encourage sales. "With homes priced under $500,000, we're still selling with some multiple offers and they're still selling quickly," said Tom Torgerson, owner-broker for Prudential California Realty in Sonoma County. "If a home is priced right and clean and ready to go, then people are knocking the doors down." "Anybody who can afford it and make it work, they're going to try it now," he said. "Interest rates still have a lot to do with it." Home sales in November were down 4 percent compared with October in a pattern typical of winter but were up more than 15 percent compared with a year ago, according to the monthly Press Democrat report prepared by Coldwell Banker. With only December's sales left to report for 2004, home values are set to rise about 20 percent for the year, the biggest gain since prices soared 26 percent in 2000. November's brisk sales helped push the median sales price for a house up 2 percent from $515,000 in October and - at $525,000 - up 25 percent over November a year ago. The previous median record was $516,000 in September. Other experts said a few months of slowing price increases brought out buyers who wanted to strike quickly in case the market heated up again. "Maybe people realized that prices weren't going to skyrocket forever and reacted," said Rick Laws, Coldwell Banker manager in Santa Rosa. "So we're closing strong. It has indeed bumped prices a little bit again." Demand continues to be strongest for homes priced at $300,000 to $500,000 with less than a month's supply if sales continued at the same pace. There is a more than a five-month supply for homes priced at more than $750,000. Overall, there was just 1½ months' supply of houses for sale in the county compared to the three months that is considered a balanced market. Total inventory has remained well below levels for 2002 and 2003, the two best years on record for home sales. There were 323 sales of homes at $300,000 to $500,000 in November compared with 378 sales for those above $750,000. "I think it's just really telling that anything that's reasonably priced at the bottom half of the marketplace is selling very quickly," Laws said. "It's obvious that there's tremendous demand and a limiting factor is inventory. That's the name of this market if you had to give it one - inventory." The slowing price increases before November were the result of two forces: Price reductions at the market's upper end and heavy pressure on homes and condominiums under the half-million-dollar mark, Laws and Torgerson said. Condominium sales particularly have been strong this year in response to the run-up in house prices. The inventory of condos is down significantly as a result and sales were down more than 34 percent in November because there are far fewer condos on the market. The median price for a condo was $335,000 in November, up nearly 29 percent over a year ago. Real estate observers have said the county's housing market could be entering a more balanced period because of record price gains over the past two years. Low interest rates continue to help buyers afford more costly homes. The average interest rate for a 30-year, fixed interest loan is 5.68 percent, the lowest in more than a month and less than a half point above this year's historic low. Still, buyers can be pushed out of the market when even such favorable interest rates do not lower mortgage payments enough. To get into a home, more buyers are taking out loans with no down payment and 100 percent financing, counting on rising values to qualify for a cheaper loan later. Torgerson said "it's not uncommon" for most offers on a $500,000 home to come from buyers with 100 percent financing www1.pressdemocrat.com