McKae Properties Real Estate Market Commentary

 While it's a shift of only 1-2 degrees, but the red-hot housing market is finally starting to cool. Despite the median home price hitting yet another record high in May the year-to-year date statewide home sales dipped by 2.7% in May.  They had been rising steadily since February.  But, for the first time in 2021, the median number of days that a single-family home was on the market did not drip, but rather held steady at seven, the same number recorded in April. John Graff, a Los a Angeles based broker and chief executive of Ashby & Graff said, "Buyers are getting fed up at this point with submitting as many as 8-12 offers and getting rejected."  "They're throwing up their hands at this point", said John. The median price of a single family home in California hit $818,260 in May, an uptick of 1/2 % from the previous month.  It's an acceleration with a foot off the gas.  In April the median hit $814,000 up 7% crossing $800,000 for the first time in

The prices of everything, everywhere, are going up.  A house in Phoenix is going up, a Ford F-150, a plane ticket to New York City, they are going up for as much as everything all over the country.   Well, maybe not San Francisco.  There the prices of homes are all down from 10-12%.  The only part of the country and the State of California that is not going up?  Down from 10-12% where the rest our metro areas are up over 12%.  For pseudo-scientist, aka Economists, it is a dismal picture!  They, along with the people that brought you the last recession, aka Wall Street Banks, say it is only temporary.  "A transitory event that will disappear."  Mark Zandi, the chef Economist at Moody's...yes Moody's the people that gave AAA ratings to bonds supported by mortgages that went into default and put us on the verge of economic collapse WORLD-WIDE...... “Inflation is one of the mysteries of economic study and thought. A difficult thing to gauge and forecast and get right. Tha

More than 17% of the homes in the U.S. are selling above list price.  Would-be homeowners are furious as they lose bidding wars. Many are looking back in time and thinking "Bubble".  Of course it doesn't help for the "Media" to promote Bubbles! Prices rise and fall for all assets for a number of reasons.  So what makes something a "Bubble"?  The likely reason is so many people have put so much attention in the price of homes, and their home in particular, that it didn't take to much for prices to rise; especially, when there is a low inventory of homes for sale. A sharp rise in an asset's price is not necessarily a "Bubble".  The fear comes from the fact it is in our homes, which are usually the last thing we think of.  The last thing, at least, until the newspapers need something to publish.  Millennials represent 37% of the buyer's today.  They are the driving force of our buying marketplace.  They passed the "Baby Boom&quo

GENERAL COMMENTARY If there's been one consistent theme during the recovery it has been analysts, strategists, economists, and forecasters of all stripes have been incorrect  in judging the resilience of the U.S. economy. The May Luxury Real Estate Report has almost all Luxury Market in Real Estate in the U.S. in a "Seller's Market". (see link at end of report).  The days on the market are short and the buyers outnumber the sellers. There are many reasons for these circumstances of events.  The Pandemic has allowed many to work from home, thus saving time and money.   The IPO market has been HOT!   New money creates pent up demand to overflow into buyer demand.  Supply in homes for sale is limited for a number of reasons:  a.Sellers do not want to venture out for fear they and their home will become infected.  b. Higher future property taxes. c. Capital gains taxes.  d. Questions of where to move.  e. Establishing new relationships with professionals. The California D

 It has been a month of watching real estate prices move up in dramatic fashion and forecasters commenting on the top and or commenting it will continue to rise and go higher.  Interest rates are slowly rising and the cost of gas increasing at every fill.  My wife is constantly complaining after her Friday shopping at the cost of bread and milk.  Real Estate does not have the full attention either!  Stock keep on hitting new highs with the same diverse commentary as real estate prices.  Berkshire Hathaway common stock has hit a price that the quotation service cannot record it any longer; unless the stock is split.  Warren says "no"! The new administration's spending habit has gotten to a point that what has been spent has to be funded.  What has been heralded as  "Tax the Rich" has turned out to be a double edged sword for real estate, home owners and everyday real estate investors, called "Mom and Pop" enterprises.  The "American Families Plan&q

 This week has started with 5 transactions falling through, 4 listings back on the market, and 11 price cuts, 73 new listings, 9 contingent and 58 pending, with 57 sold. "Going Back Home" is the swan call of the renters moving.  "Working from home and having every room rented to cover costs is not why we came to the Bay Area."   Within the next several months we will witness the results of unpaid rent and unpaid mortgages.  I do not have much faith in a solution. The subsidy programs are already finding it difficult to pay landlords.  Landlords who have been unable to finance the deficits will need to consider their losses, eat them or sell! eXp Realty is training agents for the possible oncoming foreclosure action and bank sale of REO, (real estate owned).  Becoming "certified" is a return to 2007-2011 when we had the last foreclosure boom.  Short sales and foreclosure sales were once the main source of buying properties from speculators to cost conscious

There seems to be an over abundance of real estate news from hot markets to cold markets to falling rents and pre-foreclosure risks.  Rather than using the Media reports. I have decided to go to the source.  The Multiple Listing Service has reports for every week and month going back in time.  The MLS has reports that give a view of the markets by price range and an analysis of what buyers and sellers are most interested in.  So let's go forward The "Five Counties New vs Sold" is the first stop on our travel through the real estate marketplace. From March 2020 to March 2021 there were 26,974 "new listing" and 21,891 "sales".  On average it took 22 days to sell.  The average price was $1,022,661.  The total sales for the "Five County Area" was $22,375,718,789.  That was up from $16,239,021,898. In San Mateo County the Days on the Market (DOM) for March were 18  The price to list was 107%. The average sales price for San Mateo County was $2,311