Alameda Home Inventory Grows 7-Percent

In just seven days, Alameda Home Inventory grew 7-percent and is closing in on 200 units for the first time since I started tracking the data in 2008. The total number of units is just 13 new properties for sale, but the trend is showing that sales on the Island are not matching the rate of sale.

The more concerning number is the growth of foreclosures. Alameda saw four more foreclosed homes come to the market: 73 Sand Harbor, 1005 Verdemar Dr, 1139 Pacific Ave and 2133 Clinton Ave. There was a net gain of three foreclosed units week-over-week.

The foreclosure pipeline looks to be very full and the trend appears to be rising. According to RealtyTrac, Alameda has 282 homes in the foreclosure process;  215 in the 94501 and 67 in the 94502. Of those the bulk, 144 units, are still in the pre-foreclosure process, 99 are at the auction stage and 39 are banked owned.

If the RealtyTrac numbers are accurate, then the banks are still sitting on inventory. If you add in the additional distressed properties then the Alameda Inventory is roughly 316 units, nearly 10-percent of all the Alameda's housing stock.

The positive is Alameda is in better shape than most of the country. The Island had just one in every 423 housing units received a foreclosure filing in July 2010. That is on the low end of the spectrum. Some parts of the country and the Bay Area are seeing nearly, twice as many filings, 1-244 is the higher ends. The Nation's number one foreclosure market Las Vegas, NV had one filing for every 71 households and the state of Nevada one filing for every 82 households.

The housing market looks like it is going to be very bumpy over the next several months and the distressed properties is good indicator to monitor as we head towards 2011.

Inventory

Date: September 13, 2010	9/13/10	9/6/10	Weekly Change
Total Inventory	198	185	13
94501	148	140	8
94502	50	45	5
Single Family	109	99	10
Condos	60	55	5
Multi-Family	27	29	(2)
Foreclosure	20	17	3
Short Sale	21	22	(1)
Price Reduced	79	72	7
% of Price Reduced	39.90%	38.92%	0.98%
High List	$1,835,000	$1,835,000
Low List	$149,888	$149,888

Check out the new Bulletin Board feature: If you have a local Alameda announcement or something to sell in Alameda. Posting is at the sole discretion of the editor of 94501 Real Estate. Posting will be done nightly, so it may take up to 24 hours to appear on the bulletin board. Please include links if you have a page to direct people to. Email announcements and ads to 94501RealEstate@Gmail.com.

New Open House Section on 94501 Real Estate

Now that Blogger allows you to create multiple pages, 94501 Real Estate has launched an Open Home section. Realtors to have an Open Home posted: Just email your posting to 94501RealEstate@gmail.com before 5 PM on Thursday.

Please include the date(s) and time of the open house along with the list price, address, beds, baths and square footage.If you have a link to the property please include the URL.

The only rules I have is that it must be an Alameda listing.

An additional feature: Bulletin Board

Bulletin Board

If you have a local Alameda announcement or something to sell in Alameda. Posting is at the sole discretion of the editor of 94501 Real Estate. Posting will be done nightly, so it may take up to 24 hours to appear on the bulletin board. Please include links if you have a page to direct people to. Email announcements and ads to 94501RealEstate@Gmail.com.

Alameda Real Estate: Odds, Ends and Inventory

Just a quick post today. The Alameda home inventory is down from the prior two weeks, and if you look at the chart below you can see the steep decline since July. If this was a ski slope it would be a lots of fun, but this line just makes the market sluggish.



The market add three new foreclosures this past week and you can see that distressed properties make up almost 30 percent of the Island's inventory. Distressed properties have made up 25 percent of the market since November. I think that this trend is going to continue most of this year.




The inventory for week shows that single family residence are still below 60 units. Of the 56 units for sale 16 of those properties are either a short sale or foreclosure; this is 29 percent of the inventory. If you are looking on Bay Farm the inventory 25 units, so buyers do not have much selection.

I would expect a bit of a sales run as the Federal Tax Credit comes to a close in April (buyers need to be in contract by April 30, 2010) on lower end properties that would fit the income limits for buyers. Until the market gains new inventory prices will be low and sales will be slow.

Alameda Inventory: February 12, 2010

. . 2/15/2010 . Total 109 . 94501 84 . 94502 25 . SFR 56 . Condo 32 . Multi-Family 19 . Short Sale 18 . Foreclosure 14 . Price Reductions 32 . High List $1,999,000 . Low List $199,900 .

Increase in Single Family Homes For Sale

This week the Alameda Real Estate Inventory showed a niced increase with an additional nine units for sale. The increase in Single Family Residences was the most positive part of the increase in inventory.

The SFR market was below 60 units for the past seven weeks, so any bump even a small one is encouraging. Since most of the Island's housing stock is SFRs then an increase in this category is good for the current market, which has been suffering from a lack of inventory. There are 11 news single family listing since last Monday.

New Listings

. List Date List Price Adress Beds Baths Sq Feet Type . 2/5/2010 $648,000 336 LINA AVENUE 4 3.5 3150 SFR . 2/5/2010 $549,000 2015 BUENA VISTA AVENUE 2 1 1318 SFR . 2/5/2010 $619,900 404 KITTY HAWK RD 3 2 1438 SFR . 2/5/2010 $430,000 3116 LA CRESTA 3 2.5 1628 TNHS . 2/4/2010 $450,000 2017 LINCOLN AVENUE 3 2.5 1443 SFR . 2/4/2010 $639,000 404 CAMDEN RD 3 2 1503 SFR . 2/4/2010 $698,000 227 INVERNESS CT 3 2.5 1891 SFR . 2/3/2010 $565,000 7 KINGSBURY COURT 2 3.5 1503 CONDO . 2/3/2010 $470,000 3037 LINDA VI 3 2.5 1628 TNHS . 2/2/2010 $354,900 1819 UNION ST 2 1 997 SFR . 2/1/2010 $250,000 1825 SHORELINE DR #112 1 1 621 CONDO . 2/1/2010 $517,000 1618 6TH ST 2 2 1422 SFR . 2/1/2010 $310,000 447 LINCOLN AVE 2 1 722 SFR . 2/1/2010 $1,300,000 2809 SEA VIEW PKWY 5 3 2744 SFR . 2/1/2010 $779,000 105 SHEFFIELD RD 4 2 1954 SFR

Overall, Inventory still remains low, but relative to the the current sales levels it may be an appropriate level of housing stock until more buyers come to the market. This is the proverbial chicken and egg; in this case buyer and seller. More people will sell when they have people to buy and buyers will buy when there is something that fits their needs to buy.

A shift needs to happen to shake the market loose, but until then I will just continue to monitor the numbers.

Alameda Inventory February 8, 2010

. . 2/8/2010 . Total 113 . 94501 89 . 94502 24 . SFR 61 . Condo 31 . Multi-Family 19 . Short Sale 18 . Foreclosure 11 . Price Reductions 29 . High List $1,999,000 . Low List $188,000 .

December Existing-Home Sales Down but Prices Rise; 2009 Sales Up

Some very sobering news from the National Association of Realtors® today, after a rising surge in sales due to the November deadline for the tax credit in September through November, existing-home sales fell as expected in December. First-time buyers rushed to take advantage of the tax credit and created a nice surge in sales in the prior three months.

In Alameda, we saw real estate sales follow the same pattern as the National trend. The Island’s sales peaked in October with 75 sales. September through November accounted for 168 of Alameda’s 491 sales for last year; 34 percent.

NAR reports prices rose from December 2008 and annual sales improved in 2009. This was also true for Alameda. Alameda reported an 85 percent increase in year-over-year sales for the month and a $4,000 increase in the median home price. Alameda’s median home price for December was $569,000.

Nationally, NAR report existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – fell 16.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 5.45 million units in December from 6.54 million in November, but remain 15.0 percent above the 4.74 million-unit level in December 2008. That is a big number a 16.7 percent drop. As reported in other news organizations economists expected an 11.6% decrease in sales during December, which was a big shock to the markets.

For all of 2009 there were 5,156,000 existing-home sales, which was 4.9 percent higher than the 4,913,000 transactions recorded in 2008; it was the first annual sales gain since 2005. Alameda saw an increase in sales with an 11 percent increase.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $178,300 in December, which is 1.5 percent higher than December 2008. Alameda’s median was a marginal increase, but is still significantly higher the national median.

Total housing inventory at the end of December fell 6.6 percent to 3.29 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 7.2-month supply4 at the current sales pace, up from a 6.5-month supply in November. Raw unsold inventory is 11.1 percent below a year ago, is at the lowest level since March 2006, and is 28.2 percent below the record of 4.58 million in July 2008. Alameda’s inventory continues to decline; a year-over-year comparison of December show at the end of 2009 there was a 35 percent decline in the number of homes for sale. Today Inventory, shown below, shows that the decline continues.

Inventory Data -- January 25, 2010

. . 1/25/2010 . Total 93 . 94501 77 . 94502 16 . SFR 51 . Condo 20 . Multi-Family 20 . Short Sale 15 . Foreclosure 9 . Price Reductions 29 . High List $1,999,000 . Low List $239,900 .

Alameda Inventory For January 18

Just a quick update on weekly inventory. As you can see after a slight uptick last week, inventory fell back to 95 units this week. The good news is all categories of inventory are shrinking, that includes distressed. If the market can get rid of the distressed properties this is good news for our local Alameda real estate market.

The tough part of the market is the single family residence. There are only 54 SFRs listed
for sale today. The Single family market is Alameda's biggest driver of home sales, so a lack of inventory makes the market a difficult one for those looking to buy, with limited choices.

Inventory is very volatile, but in my opinion it is the best way to get a quick pulse of the market. The pulse, right now, is telling me we have very little activity and sales continue to stagnate. The numbers are broken out below.



Alameda Inventory January 18, 2009

. . 1/18/2010 . Total 95 . 94501 79 . 94502 16 . SFR 54 . Condo 19 . Multi-Family 20 . Short Sale 14 . Foreclosure 10 . Price Reductions 30 . High List $1,999,000 . Low List $220,000 .

Alameda Snapshot - Early Morning Golfers

Since the Chuck Corica Golf Course has been a Hot Topic this week, I thought I would re-post this Flickr photo from Jassy-50.

Have a great weekend.

photo - Early Morning Golfers
Originally uploaded by Jassy-50

2009 Was The Year of Foreclosure in Alameda and Nation

RealtyTrac, released its Year-End 2009 Foreclosure Market Report™, which reported a record 2.8 million U.S properties with foreclosure filings in 2009. The report shows a total of 3,957,643 foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 2,824,674 U.S. properties in 2009, a 21 percent increase in total properties from 2008 and a 120 percent increase in total properties from 2007.

The report also shows that 2.21 percent of all U.S. housing units (one in 45) received at least one foreclosure filing during the year, up from 1.84 percent in 2008, 1.03 percent in 2007 and 0.58 percent in 2006.

Foreclosure filings were reported on 349,519 U.S. properties in December, a 14 percent jump from the previous month and a 15 percent increase from December 2008 — when a similar monthly jump in foreclosure activity occurred. Despite the increase in December, foreclosure activity in the fourth quarter decreased 7 percent from the third quarter, although it was still up 18 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008.

In Alameda, RealtyTrac currently reports 94 pre-foreclosures, 86 auction properties, and 82 banked owned properties. In 2009, Alameda had 74 foreclose sales and 36 short sales, these 110 sales accounted for 22 percent of the sales on the Island.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Nevada, Arizona, Florida post top state foreclosure rates in 2009 with more than 10 percent of Nevada housing units received at least one foreclosure filing in 2009, giving it the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate for the third consecutive year.

Nevada foreclosure activity in December increased 27 percent from the previous month but was still down 22 percent from December 2008. Fourth quarter foreclosure activity in Nevada was down 37 percent from the previous quarter thanks to substantial decreases in October and November.

Arizona registered the nation’s second highest state foreclosure rate in 2009, with more than 6 percent of its housing units receiving at least one foreclosure filing during the year, and Florida registered the nation’s third highest foreclosure rate, with 5.93 percent of its housing units receiving at least one foreclosure filing during the year.
Four states accounted for more than 50 percent of the nation’s 2009 total, with more than 1.4 million properties receiving a foreclosure filing in our own California, Florida, Arizona and Illinois combined.

A total of 632,573 California properties received a foreclosure filing in 2009, the nation’s largest state foreclosure activity total and an increase of nearly 21 percent from 2008. After four straight month-over-month declines, California foreclosure activity in December increased nearly 9 percent from the previous month, but the state’s fourth quarter foreclosure activity was still down 17 percent from the previous quarter.

Although Alameda has not had numbers close to the State averages, we have seen an increase in distressed activity. Given the RealtyTrac numbers for Alameda there appears to be even more distressed sales on the horizon.

A Peak Into 2010 Alameda Home Sale

Since I spent the last two days looking at Alameda Home sales for 2009, I thought it would be good to see how January is shaping up.

To date the Island has seven sales logged. Last year we had 21 total sales for the month of January, but the first was not record until the ninth day of the month. So Sales have started a little earlier this year, but the pace is behind last year.

The majority of the sales sold below asking price, a trend that is continuing from 2009. The range of ask price to sale price ranged from 92-104 percent. It appears that a few high end homes are still selling with 16 Callen Place receiving $1,795,000.

January is traditionally slow for home sales, but if we can get a strong start to the home selling season that usally jumps into high gear in the Spring, this could be a springboard for a more productive 2010.

. Sale Date Address Type Beds Baths Sq Feet List Price Sale Price % . 1/6/2010 1428 UNION ST SFR 3 2 2375 $825,000 $801,000 97% . 1/12/2010 1367 HANSEN AVE SFR 3 1 1620 $679,000 $679,000 100% . 1/8/2010 1547 B SANTA CLARA AVE SFR 2 2 1325 $575,000 $530,000 92% . 1/8/2010 2815 OTIS DR SFR 2 1 1152 $459,000 $426,000 93% . 1/5/2010 1041 CAMINO DEL VALLE TNHSE 3 2 1584 $365,000 $378,000 104% . 1/6/2010 1533 MOZART ST SFR 2 1 1095 $350,000 $335,000 96% . 1/8/2010 16 CALLAN PL SFR 4 4 4251 $1,850,000 $1,795,000 97%

Alameda Tranfer Tax Revenue Update – Final for 2009

With the end of the quarter and the end of the year, I want to give a final update to Alameda's Transfer Tax for 2009.

I wrote about the Transfer Tax back in March and in one of my first posts was about Measure P, so I just thought I should continue to update how much money the "Tax" is generating throughout the year. First the disclosure: all of the numbers reflect residential housing sales recorded on the MLS. Commercial building and private sales are not included so the numbers are higher than reported. The intent is to get a reflection of what is happening.

Sales were up this past year, but the total dollars spent on homes was down, (See yesterday’s post) and if the council had not changed the transfer tax they would have seen more than a $50,000 decline in the transfer tax.

From January 1 to December 31, 2009, there were 492 sales that represent over $278,995,615 million dollars in transactions. Under the newly enacted $12 per $1,000 the transfer tax generated $3,347,947 in revenue. If the Council had not made the change ($5.40 per $1,000) the revenue would have been $1,506,576; a difference of $1,841,371.



The final quarter of the year made a huge difference in the amount of money generated for the city coffers. Over a million dollars was generated by the tax in the final three months. October alone generated over $500,000.

Given all the factors putting pressure on the housing market foreclosure, a soft job market, tight lending and scared buyers/sellers the impact is has been harsh in the number of sales and the revenue generated.In the last blog post I said that in the short-term the tax may be one more factor for people not to buy, but given the stress on the City’s General Fund the tax may have been a necessary step. I think that this continues to be true.

I followed this topic for a year, instead of a quarterly update I will be changing to a semi-annual.

The Top Alameda Real Estate Stories of 2009

As the year 2009 comes to a close, this year will be remembered for the stamp the National Housing market placed on the economy. The year was dominated by crumbling credit system and foreclosures and home buyers and sellers caught guessing on what the market would do. Distressed properties were the driving force behind the roller coaster year for U.S. housing market. In Alameda, our local market was touched by banks controlling many home listings and fewer homes coming on the market, and of course government intervention. So here is my top Nine in ’09:

Nine in 2009
Number 9 – In January, SunCal releases Draft Redevelopment Master Plan with a plan to build 4,500 new housing units. This addition to the Alameda housing stock would create a 14% increase housing stock. The plan is to build housing in five phases and include high density blocks (non-Measure A compliant), medium density blocks (non-Measure A compliant), low density attached blocks and single family residents blocks. Over this year the plan has met resistance in the form of Measure B support.

Number 8 – Government Intervention happens to try and stimulate home buying. Congress enacted a first-time homebuyer tax credit which increased buyer activity in the entry-level housing market. According to the National Association of Realtors® November survey of members reported that the number of first-time home buyers climbed to 51 percent. This credit has very little impact for Alameda buyers because of income limits.

Number 7 – High End Freeze – Sales in the luxury home market almost disappear in Alameda. Homes priced over $1 million had a difficult time selling, the first recorded sale of a seven figure home for 2009 was February 26. Of the 480 sales recorded so far this year only 14 homes were a million dollars or more. Compare that to the 38 properties that sold for under $300,000. The highest home sale in Alameda was 1115 Bay Street, which sold October 9 for $1,987,000.

Number 6 -- Prices Flattening – Much of the turmoil in the housing market appeared to take a breath in the later part of 2009. Median home prices in California saw some of the largest increases in the Nation – ZipRealty tracks median home prices from MLS sales in 27 markets and from January to November, San Diego’s median rose 55 percent, San Francisco Bay Area rose 31 percent, Los Angeles rose 25 percent, and Orange County rose 19 percent. In January, the Alameda median home price was $457,000 by November the median increased to $520,000.

Number 5 -- Mobile Shopping – 2009 was the year of the app. Prospective homebuyers and sellers can now track real estate on the go. The iPhone and other smart phone have real estate companies developing apps for home buyers.

Number 4 – Top Alameda Brokerage – Of the 955 transactional sides, representing either the buyer or seller, sales agents at Harbor Bay Realty took top honors accounting for 251 sides. In the 101 homes sales, reported so far, where they represented the seller the group at Harbor Bay accounted for nearly $65 million in Sales. Gallagher & Lindsey was second with 123 sides.

Number 3 – Late Summer Rebound – Alameda experienced a late summer sales rebound with 171 sales in August to October. Sales for the first seven months of the year were 209, the late surge accounted for an 80 percent surge in sales. Without these sales Alameda was headed for a very poor sales year, as of December 29, 2009’s 480 sales exceeds 2008’s 444.

Number 2 – Bank Market – Many have described the 2009 housing market as the “year of the bank” with institutions needing to approve short sales and foreclosures on the homes they owned. In some markets this was a significant part of the available inventory. For example, foreclosures made up 87 percent of properties sold through the end of November 2009 in Las Vegas, NV and 60 percent in Sacramento, CA, according to MLS data. Los Angeles MLS data showed distressed property sales rise from 8 percent in 2008 to 35 percent in 2009. In Alameda, 107 of the sales were distressed compared to 2008 that had just 26. In 2009, foreclosed and short sales were 22 percent of the sales compared to 6 percent the prior year this was a very dramatic increase for the Island.

Number 1 – Declining Inventory –The number of homes for sale dropped 28 percent compared to 2008, according to a survey of MLS-listed homes in 27 markets. Major markets that saw the steepest declines include Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay area, all experiencing year-over-year declines of more than 50 percent. Alameda saw steep declines of inventory as well, starting the year with 149 units for sale peaking to 179 units in mid July and falling to 102 units this week. This is a 43 percent decline from the peak in July.

Happy New Year, Anxious to see what 2010 brings!

Inventory Fall To Near 100 Units

I hope that everyone had a nice Christmas Holiday, I took the time to relax and not think about Alameda Real Estate, but is now Monday and back to work and back to the blog.

Alameda inventory continues to fall and has come oh so close to falling below a 100 units. As of today, the inventory stands at 102 units. If you compare this to last year, December 29, the Island had 157 units for sale; a decline of 35 percent.

Because inventory continues to decline, the properties that remain, are those that are more difficult to sell. Thirty seven of the properties have been on the market more than 90 days and of the current listings 24 properties were listed in December. The number of distressed properties continues to dominate the inventory.

This week, 37 percent of the inventory was a distressed property. You can see in the chart, that as inventory declines the percent of distressed increased over the past four weeks.

For those searching for a single family residence the choices are becoming very slim with just 56 homes for sale. If you are looking in the 94502, Bay Farm has just 10 homes available for sale.

It appears that investors are trying to sell multi-family buildings with 24 units now available. Seven of those properties, 29 percent, are distressed properties.

So as we gear up for the New Year and New Decade, I expect that the inventory numbers will begin to climb. It will be important to see how single family residence enter the market and how they are valued by buyers. If the market is changing, then this is the segment that we best to gauge how strong the housing recovery is for Alameda.

Alameda Real Estate Inventory

. . 12/28/2009 . Total 102 . 94501 84 . 94502 18 . SFR 56 . Condo 20 . Multi-Family 24 . Short Sale 19 . Foreclosure 12 . Price Reductions 35 . High List $1,999,000 . Low List $129,000 .

Alameda Inventory Still in Decline

I think the chart says it all, the inventory for homes for sale in Alameda continues to fall. Part is due to the seasonality, part due to an unsure real estate market.

Single family residences fell to under 60 units for the first time this year. Bay Farm (94502) has just 19 units for sale. There are 31 distressed properties for sale making up 30 percent of the inventory.

Short week, short post.



Alameda Inventory Data

. . 12/21/2009 . Total 105 . 94501 86 . 94502 19 . SFR 59 . Condo 19 . Multi-Family 25 . Short Sale 18 . Foreclosure 13 . Price Reductions 37 . High List $1,899,000 . Low List $129,000 .

Mid-month Check In On Alameda Home Sales

Since we are midway through the month, just eight shopping days for you procrastinators, and I though a quick look to see how home sales in Alameda are shaping up.

The good news is the Island already has 17 recorded sales. At this pace we will surpass December 2008's 21 sales. Also in the good news column, is eight of the properties sold so far this month received the asking price or more.

The more concerning item in the data is that five properties we either a short sale or a foreclosure. This is about 30 percent of the properties sold this month fell in the distressed category. The interesting item is the short sales (highlighted in blue) sold below asking compared to foreclosure (highlighted in yellow) sold for above asking. All the distressed properties were below $500,000.

To this point in the month, the median home sale price is $569,000. The average sale price $656,706.

I think that the sales this month are the strongest indication that the Alameda market has stabilized. Homes are selling at a faster pace than the prior year, median home sale price has remained in the high $500,000 range and inventory is clearing out.

The key is to finish the month as strong as it has started.

. Sale Date Address Type Beds Baths Sq Ft List Price Sale Price % . 12/1/2009 1028 MARIANAS LN CONDO 4 2 1766 $499000 $420000 84% . 12/1/2009 2524 BUENA VISTA AVE SFR 4 3 1761 $415000 $400000 96% . 12/1/2009 1401 SANTA CLARA AVE SFR 2 1 1316 $567000 $530000 93% . 12/1/2009 1132 FOUNTAIN ST SFR 2 1 1195 $499000 $555000 111% . 12/2/2009 210 SHEFFIELD RD SFR 4 2 2256 $849000 $845000 100% . 12/2/2009 1304 MORTON ST SFR 3 2 2064 $949999 $938000 99% . 12/3/2009 3042 THOMPSON AVENUE SFR 3 2 1490 $699000 $650000 93% . 12/3/2009 1831 HARVARD DR SFR 4 2 1604 $725000 $699000 96% . 12/8/2009 1209 BAY ST SFR 4 2 3951 $1795000 $1551000 86% . 12/8/2009 3241 ENCINAL AVENUE SFR 3 1 1675 $698000 $698000 100% . 12/8/2009 1037 SAN ANTONIO AV SFR 3 2 1386 $599000 $601000 100% . 12/11/2009 2110 EAGLE AVE SFR 5 1 1880 $434900 $460000 106% . 12/11/2009 470 COLA BALLENA #B CONDO 2 2 1626 $599000 $569000 95% . 12/11/2009 1726 EAGLE AVE SFR 3 2 1491 $381200 $400000 105% . 12/14/2009 547 LINCOLN AVE SFR 5 2 2062 $425700 $430000 101% . 12/15/2009 726 HARBOR RD CONDO 2 2 1550 $479000 $479000 100% . 12/15/2009 268 BRYANT SFR 5 3 3731 $975000 $939000 96% .