San Francisco’s Role in the California Housing Sector
San Francisco’s Role in the California Housing Sector
With the costs of houses in San Francisco being very high during the period when the housing sector was at its peak, now, despite the record number of San Francisco foreclosure homes for sale and the resulting drop of prices, prices continue to remain unaffordable. This is according to a recently released report by the California Building Industry Association.
The CBIA says that although many of the markets in California have seen an increase in affordability in 2008’s second quarter, it does remain to be a long term concern.
The periodical National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) showed that the San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties are in the forefront when it comes to metro areas that are least affordable in California.
During 2008’s second quarter, six out of the ten metro areas in the country that were least affordable belonged to California.
CBIA’s CEO and president, Robert Rivinius, said that prospective buyers scouting to buy a home would see the affordability rates increasing as good news.
Home sales in the San Francisco Bay Area have already seen a rise according to an independently released report. A 2.2% rise in home sales has been seen in July this year when compared with July 2007. This is a first from January, 2005.
There were 7,586 sales of condos and re-sale homes in the San Francisco bay area that comprises of nine counties in July 2008, as compared with 7,423 sales in July 2007.
According to the report, re-sales of foreclosures played in big part with the sales figures. Of all the homes which were sold during July, 33% of all re-sales were houses which were foreclosed in the previous 12 months. This figure in June 2008 stood at 29.9% and in July 2007, it was 4.2%; going to show a steep incline over last year.
The region reached its lowest point in relation to homes median prices since March, 2005.
Also, monthly mortgage payments have, on an average, gone down too; from $3,222 in July, 2007 to $2,218 in July, 2008.