California Real Estate Market News

January 28, 2008 

The California Real Estate Market News website was developed by Asante Real Estate Group in order to provide timely and pertinent real estate news as a service to home buyers and sellers.   

We are focused on developing news stories, but we also certainly intend to promote Asante Real Estate and the real estate industry's trend to Full-Service at a Fair-Price.  We also intend to

OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE COMMENTS TO THE JANUARY 21, 2008 ARTICLE - "The Trend to Full-Service at a Fair Price: Taking a Big Bite Out of Real Estate Agent Commissions" 

January 28, 2008 

It is probably safe to say that the January 21, 2008 article regarding The Trend Towards Full-Service with Fair Price Real Estate Commissions generated a great deal of interest.   

A quick reading of the comments

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

The Federal Reserve Board cut the federal funds ¾ point to 3.5% - this was the largest one-time reduction in almost two decades. This action by the Fed helped avert an immediate crisis in the U.S stock market, although this action has been expected (and reported on in this publication) for the past week in order to stimulate the housing market and overall economy.

In

The Trend to Full-Service at a Fair Price: Taking a Big Bite Out of Real Estate Agent Commissions

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

A powerful trend is sweeping California as consumers demand full real estate services at fair real estate commissions, and they refuse to pay the 6% commission traditionally charged by agents.

Numerous companies (like Redfin and Zip Realty) charge much

Friday, January 18, 2008

Although most relevant economic factors indicate that economic conditions are very sound in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area, real estate sales in Silicon Valley have declined to just 60% of recent historical transaction volume.

If that is the case, then why have we experienced such a slow housing market? The cause of the slow housing market is that

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

The tightening mortgage lending market has clearly contributed to the slow housing market in 2006 and especially in 2007. Mortgage credit was not as readily available in comparison to the 2005 market. Mortgage lending restrictions particularly impacted first-time buyers as well as high loan-to-value buyers, since lenders are concentrating on developing more secure

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Long-term mortgage interest rates were lower again Monday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dropped to 3.77 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate Conforming Loan average declined to 5.45 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate slipped to 4.98 percent.

The 1-year adjustable rate was down at 5.29 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield fell to 4.36 percent.

Friday, January 11, 2008

2007 was an incredibly mixed year for Santa Clara County Real Estate, and it was the most challenging year for home sellers and real estate agents in nearly two decades.

Prices for single-family homes and condominiums continued to rise in 2007 with the median price for single-family homes at $842,000 - a gain of 8% over 2006. The median price for condos and town

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

A short sale is one way for a homeowner to get out of house home that is worth less than he owes to the lender. If a seller owes $800,000 in debt and closing costs, but the best offer is for only $750,000, then he is ‘short” $50,000.

The first option is that the seller can pay this short amount himself in order to get out of the home. This is usually not feasible.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

There is no shortage of bad news to go around the real estate market.

Total sales volume fell in Silicon Valley for the third straight year. Santa Clara County experienced a 23% decline in closed sales from 2006 and a 46% drop in closed sales from 2004.

865 homeowners in the nine Bay Area counties lost their homes through foreclosure just through September 2007,