Looking for some 4th of July fun with your furry family members? Make plans for July 4, 2011 @ 12:00 on Main Street in HMB!

All dog owners are invited to come celebrate the 4th of July with our Coastside Communities by walking their four-legged friends in Half Moon Bay’s Ol’ 4th of July Parade.

View the Slideshow of the fanciful pooches in our 2010 parade.

Join us July 4 to be a part of the pageantry. Registration check-in begins at 10:45am and the parade starts at noon.

There are fun events surrounding the parade, like our Yappy Hour (6/25) and our Bark BQ (immediately following the parade) that we’re certain you won’t want to miss.

Don’t have a dog? No worries…John and Marcia, event organizers, bring their imaginary dogs, Cuff and Link. A stuffed animal also works just fine for parade purposes. And if these options don’t appeal to you, we are working to create a social network for those who are dogless and are interested in helping walk those who have more than two dogs.

Did we mention that all these events are free? You must register to walk your dog, and if you don’t take advantage of all the opportunities to pre-register, there will be a $10 registration fee for registering the day of the event (July 4).

Article from Pooches On Parade

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“Sometimes things could be right under your nose, the only problem is your eyes are above it”
-Unknown

We often feel like we need to travel a long way to see something really amazing. But sometimes when you look up and really look around your own home in San Mateo County, you will see that amazing things, amazing surroundings, and amazing people are usually just under our noses.

For example, have you made a trip yet to Pacifica Performances yet? The Pacifica California organization has been staging concerts all over the community for years. It began in 1976 as the Pacifica Arts and Heritage Council, assisting art shows, sponsoring art, dance, and poetry, and providing a meeting place for artists within Pacifica.

Today, Pacifica Performances is housed in the Mildred Owen Concert Hall, a former school building transformed into a beautiful 175-seat concert hall. With a focus on live performances, the roster that they have today boasts a variety of acts – from Latin rhythms to stand up comedy. Below are a few upcoming events. As you read them, and possibly explore further into these musicians, you may find something truly amazing right outside your Pacifica home.

Los Boleros
When: Saturday, January 15th @7:30 pm
Dance moves, spins, passion! Los Boleros brings you back to the golden era of traditional Cuban son, cumber, merengue, danzon, and, of course, bolero! The lead singers combine a Havana-born son of a famous vocalist, the amazingly clear voice of an experienced performer, and  the addition of Flutes, Sultry Saxophone, dreamy violin and smoking Tres Cubano.

Richard Smith
When: Saturday, January 22 @7:30 pm
What do you get when you combine Scott Joplin Rags, Sousa marches, Mozart, fiddle tunes, Chet Atkins, Django gypsy jazz, Bach, and the Beatles? Answer: Richard Smith’s Virtuoso Guitar Series. This British-born musician showed incredible talent as a toddler. He can quickly master whatever guitar style that piques his interest, often taking only a single hearing to get it down. He really is a musical prodigy and definitely worth seeing at least once.

Bobbe Norris, Kenny Washington with Larry Dunlap Trio
When: Saturday, January 29@7:30 pm
If you’ve ever missed the voices of Nat ‘King’ Cole and Ella Fitzgerald, here is a wonderful reminder. Bobbe and Kenny come from soulful New Orleans roots, inspired by the greats. This is your chance to see the two of them together on stage.

Will Durst
When: Saturday, February 5
5 Time Emmy Nominee. 7 Time American Comedy Awards Stand Up of the Year Nominee. First comic invited to perform at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. This man has done it all and has got the resume to prove it. This political comic is a C-SPAN darling, and now he is coming to Pacifica.

Click Here for more information about Pacifica Performances and Ticket Prices.

What did we tell you about looking right under your nose? We would say that these acts are pretty impressive and they are just the tip of the iceberg. Pacifica, California is a place full of art, culture and performance. There is so much to love about this neighborhood, but it’s best explained by showing. When you are ready to come take a look at what Pacifica Real Estate has to offer, please give us a call.

Kathy & Michael Rain
Your San Mateo Coastal Real Estate Experts

San Mateo Coastal Real Estate
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As I mentioned in an interview with the San Jose Mercury yesterday, after the financial market meltdown a year ago, high-end home sales dried up during the first half of 2009. Compared to those days, homes sales in higher price ranges are much more active now, pushing up median prices around the Bay. And with relatively few homes on the market in Silicon Valley and on the Peninsula, prices have stabilized and buyers are now competing for good listings.

Half of the sales reported by our Los Altos office drew multiple offers, for example.  One Sunnyvale home listed at $950,000 drew 12 offers and sold for more than $1 million. In Palo Alto, we’re seeing eight to 10 multiple offers for properties that are well-priced.  The San Francisco Van Ness office says some well-priced high-end listings are selling in 10-15 days. The same story is being told in Menlo Park, Southern Marin, Orinda – in fact, most of the Bay Area’s higher-end markets.

We just released our Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Luxury Report this week, and it shows million-dollar home sales in Marin nearly tripled last month from a year ago, while the median sale price jumped 25 percent.  The same was true in Silicon Valley, where luxury sales nearly doubled as the median price edge higher.

Now don’t get me wrong. While we’re seeing a promising recovery in many of our markets, we’re still fighting our way back to normalcy. The nation’s economy recovery is still very fragile. And the housing market’s gradual improvement must be sustained over time in the face of a challenged job market.  But the signs are encouraging that all sectors of our local housing market are slowly coming to life again.

Here’s a market-by-market report from our local offices:

San Francisco— The San Francisco market has the buyers – it just needs more sellers! The Van Ness office says that sales activity is very strong in $800k to $1.5M range – frequent multiple offers and selling after just 10 to 15 days for listings priced right. They’ve seen a few very high-end Previews property sales in the past two weeks, plus a fair amount in the $2M to $4M range.  Some older listings still sitting while newer to market are going pending –price and condition is critical. Buyers are definitely out there looking at open houses, the Noriega office reports.  One open house in the Outer Sunset, price in the mid $600,000 drew over 200 people during a three-hour Sunday open house.  They expect to have over 10 offers.  Value properties are definitely flying off the shelf. The Lombard and the Market Street offices say that business has definitely picked up, the majority of offers in some neighborhoods now multiple.  But as with elsewhere in the City by the Bay, agents are frustrated by the lack of inventory.

SF Peninsula— Sales are better than last year and the spring market looks promising in Burlingame, although buyers are taking their time to make a decision or the right inventory is not available now.  The entry-level price for Hillsborough is now very competitive with Burlingame and higher end San Mateo.  There are some excellent buys right now. Menlo Park offices report steady or increasing activity. One property listed for $1,749,000 had six offers and went substantially over the list price.   Well-priced properties are getting a lot of buyer attention with open houses very busy in all price ranges. In Palo Alto, Inventory is low compared to years past.  If well priced, we see eight to 10 multiple offers above list price.  It appears that buyers in Redwood City and San Carlos are thinking we are beginning to see a turn around and now is the time to buy. Properties that show well and are priced right are starting to sell quickly. Things are also heating up in San Mateo, where six out of 10 listings are attracting multiple offers.

Silicon Valley– Both sales and inventory are picking up steam in Los Altos, as half the sales are multiple offers. One new listing in Mountain View priced at $799K had over 165 groups through the first open houses last weekend.  Los Gatos also reports a “dramatic” increase in activity. In San Jose’s Almaden area, entry-level to moderately priced homes are in high demand with nearly all selling with multiple offers.  Prices are rebounding in Blossom Valley. The San Jose Willow Glen office is seeing more listings and buyers. Meanwhile, the San Jose Main office says activity over the past two weeks seems to have slowed a bit, but open houses remain active. Saratoga is still reporting very low inventory, down 28% from last year.

North Bay— There is a renewed sense of optimism among agents, reports the Greenbrae office – more properties are coming on the market, more multiple offers and more buyers stepping up to the table.  Buyers now know a good deal when they see one and realize the time to strike is now. Activity is also increasing in Northern Marin, with the majority of the new inventory not distressed.  Properties are still seeing multiple offers when priced well.  Buyers are pouring into open houses in large numbers.  One listing held open last weekend in Novato had over 70 people. It’s still a buyers market in Southern Marin as high end listings have been increasing rapidly (97 listings over $2 million). Santa Rosa reports inventory is still tight with multiple offers the norm in the lower price points – home above $500k are finally starting to be shown and sales are trickling in. Petaluma also is seeing a pickup in activity above $500k.  Most sales remain multiple offers in Sebastopol, with cash and large down payments continuing to beat FHA offers.

East Bay – There are a sea of buyers in Berkeley, but only a trickle of listings for them to choose. Listings are slowly coming in, but most sellers are not listing unless they have compelling reason to do so. It’s a different story in Castro Valley, where they’ve gone from a listing famine to more than they can handle, in all price points. But well-priced homes are still flying off the shelves, many with multiple offers and all-cash.  Danville is seeing both inventory and sales activity gradually increasing over the past several weeks.  Open house attendance has been very good and some buyers seem more optimistic. Ditto for Oakland-Piedmont, as well as Orinda and Walnut Creek, where the best properties are still getting multiple offers and agents are reporting more mid-week property showings. As anticipated, Fremont reports a steady increase of listings as we approach the spring selling season.  Livermore reports a very healthy market in the Tri-Valley area with listings increasing 26% in Livermore, 35.5% in Pleasanton, and 32% in Dublin this year. Pending sales have also jumped 16-24% in local cities.

Santa Cruz – We’re seeing multiple offers on many properties, both lower and mid-range. Our local offices closed two sales over $2 million.  Beach properties well priced continue to draw buyers especially under $1 million.  Inventory levels remain very low and prices are slowly inching upward.  The median price inched up to $500K from $380K a year ago with unsold inventory dropping to 844 single-family homes vs. 1,049 a year ago.  But we’re not out of the woods. Distressed properties including short sales and bank owned units represent about 48% of new inventory, so we definitely are still experiencing a stressed market.

Monterey Peninsula — The beautiful early spring weather is bringing lots of visitors down to enjoy the climate and scenery on the weekends, so our many open houses have increasing activity, especially in Carmel.  Many more consumers telling us this is a good time to buy with prices and interest rates down and still good inventory, except in the REO properties.  Still, buyers are careful in their offers and negotiating, not willing to pay more than their perceived value of the property, so many offers going by the wayside.  We have lots of short sales, still taking many months to get approved and closed – too long for some, generally the first buyer, so the homes are mostly going to the second or third buyer.

South County– The Morgan Hill office has had an interesting first quarter.  January saw sales and listings at an all time low.  The office rebounded in February and March with a large number of sales.  First time homebuyers dominated the market as did cash investors.  Good new for some sellers is that there are very few listings and demand remains very strong.  The consensus among South County Realtors is that prices remain attractive, interest rates are favorable and that there are not many new homes being built in this area – hence demand remains high for re-sale houses.

Keep in mind that the Fed seems to have made it clear this week that they will end their purchase of Mortgage Backed Securities as scheduled. This will likely result in an interest rate increase as investors for these mortgages will need to be enticed.

That’s it for now. Have a great week!

Rick
Rick Turley
President, San Francisco Bay Area
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

“What’s happening? First-time buyers are rushing to take advantage of the federal tax credit before it expires this spring. Unfortunately, we aren’t seeing a commensurate number of sellers bringing homes to the market to capitalize on this. There are inventory shortages throughout the Bay Area. Open homes are attracting a flood of serious buyers. The result is that attractive, well-priced homes in good neighborhoods are getting lots of interest and, in some cases, multiple offers. 

Without as much competition for buyer’s attention, a well-maintained home could stand out like a redwood tree in a desert. This may not last for long as more homes come on the market in the weeks and months ahead (don’t forget the old adage that people start listing homes after the Super Bowl).

So by and large, it’s pretty much a conversation about inventory when you talk about our Bay Area real estate market.  Even the luxury market, while admittedly slower than lower price points, has inventories trending down.  Take San Francisco, for example, for homes over $2 million.  The luxury market finished out December 2009 with a 6 months supply of inventory – compared to 10 months supply for the same period in 2008.  You’ll find similar trends in the high end in many of our communities in Silicon Valley, Peninsula, Marin, and the East Bay.  Accuracy in pricing and attention to detail in showing condition remains critical in the luxury markets, but sales activity is picking up and inventories are going down.”  by Rick Turley, President, Coldwell Banker San Francisco Bay Area

 Current homeowners can now receive a $6,500 tax credit, while first-time buyers are still eligible to receive an $8,000 credit. 
But act soon, the opportunity of a lifetime ends April 30th, 2010.

First time Home Buyer Credit has now changed 3 times.  The biggest change came in December 2009:
Extends the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit of up to $8000 to first-time home buyers until April 30, 2010 under the Binding Contract Rule-“as long as a written binding contract to purchase is in effect on April 30, 2010, the purchaser will have until June 30, 2010 to close.
Who Qualifies-First-time homebuyers and current home owners purchasing a home between November 7, 2009 and April 30, 2010, who have used the home being sold or vacated as a principal residence for five (5) consecutive years within the last eight years.
Increased Buyer Income-Under the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit-effective on November 7, 2009, single buyers with incomes up to $125,000 and married couples with incomes up to $225,000-may receive the maximum tax credit.
Price-Under the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit, credit may only be awarded on homes purchased for $800,000 or less.

HURRY IF YOU’RE THINKING OF PURCHASING OR YOU’LL LOOSE OUT ON FREE MONEY!

“The FHA announced changes to its guidelines yesterday. It will raise the minimum down payment required for borrowers with credit rating scores below 580 to 10%, while the down payment for higher-ranked borrowers would stay at 3.5%. The up-front MI premium is also going from 1.75% to 2.25%. HUD is seeking congressional approval to allow it to raise annual mortgage insurance premiums — which are paid out by the borrower over the life of the loan — above the 0.55 percent maximum. Lastly, the FHA also said it was cutting the amount of aid sellers could provide buyers to 3 percent of the purchase price from 6 percent; a move it said could help lessen incentives to inflate appraised home values.”

Open houses this week have finally slowed down.  Maybe it was the rain or just the time to get the Holiday shopping completed.  The market is still favoring Buyers. 

Pacifica had 8 new listings this week with 2 listed for over a Million dollars.  Brings the total of active listings to 47.  6 properties went sale pending this week.   All were listed at $698,000 or less.  There are 45 pendings.   6 new closings this week, all listed under $800,000,  brings the total closed homes YTD to 226.  Still a sellers market with low home inventory.

Next week will be our last week to report 2009 sales.    We don’t see any surprises before the end of the year.  The market has reacted to the Holiday Season.

Still a Buyers Market – HALF MOON BAY through MONTARA,CALIFORNIA with just under half of the listings listed at over 1 Million. The $900,000  plus price range is finally seeing activity with 25% of sales year to date.

Active Listings-106 Single Family Homes. 45  listed over $1,00,000, 18 listed under $600,000. 6 New Listings this week with 4 having been on the market and now relisted and  1 over $1Million.
Pending Sales-25 with 9 listed under $600,000 and 8 over $900,000.  4 pending sales this week with 1 over 1Million.
124 Homes Closed since January 1, 2009 with  32 that closed under $600,000 and 32 over $900,000.  3 closings this week with 1 listed over 2 Million.

PACIFICA, CALIFORNIA
With YTD sales of 224 and active listing at 49, Pacifica continues to be a Seller’s market.

Active Listings-49 Single Family Homes. 10 listed over $900,000, 21  listed under $600,000.  7 new listings with 4 under $600,000 and 1 over 1 Million.
Pending Sales-47 with 20 listed under $500,000. 3 new Pendings this week.
224 Homes Closed since January 1, 2009 with  83 that closed under $500,000 and 73 between $500,000- $600,000.  2 closings this week.

ABSORPTION RATE
Absorption Rate is the number of months it takes to sell the current inventory at the present rate of sales.
6 months supply is a balanced market.
Less than 6 months supply is a Sellers market.
More than 6 months supply is a Buyers market

Still a Buyers Market – HALF MOON BAY through MONTARA,CALIFORNIA with just under half of the listings listed at over 1 Million. The Million plus price range is finally seeing activity with 20% of sales in that price range.

Active Listings-108 Single Family Homes. 44  listed over $1,00,000, 18 listed under $600,000
Pending Sales-24 with 11 listed under $700,000 and 7 over $1 Million.  No new pending sales this week.
121 Homes Closed since January 1, 2009 with  31 that closed under $600,000 and 21 over 1 Million.

PACIFICA, CALIFORNIA
With YTD sales of 219 and active listing at 46, Pacifica continues to be a Seller’s market.

Active Listings-46 Single Family Homes. 9 listed over $900,000, 19  listed under $600,000
Pending Sales-47 with 20 listed under $500,000. 5 new Pendings this week all under $700,000.
219 Homes Closed since January 1, 2009 with  82 that closed under $500,000 and 72 between $500,000- $600,000.  One  closing this week

ABSORPTION RATE
Absorption Rate is the number of months it takes to sell the current inventory at the present rate of sales.
6 months supply is a balanced market.
Less than 6 months supply is a Sellers market.
More than 6 months supply is a Buyers market