Some San Francisco real estate agents can literally feel the market changing these days. The “tour sheet,” the weekly MLS list of new properties available for agents to preview, has jumped from an average of 20-25 to almost 50 pages—and some agents are beginning to feel the weight. “For reasonably priced properties, the market is still strong- right now,” notes Michael LaPeter, a San Francisco Realtor® who currently has listings in both South Beach and the Inner Mission District. “On the buyer side, I’ve got clients who are still competing on single family homes against multiple offers.” As the inventory increases, however, it remains to be seen how many buyers will be left. “In the beginning of October, there were 31 active listings in South Beach. Less than three weeks later, there were 46,” notes Michael. “Inventory is increasing across the board, along with time on market, and I believe it’s more than just seasonal.” Click here to read more.
Last year, half a million Americans left California for other parts of the United States, while fewer than 400,000 moved there. The net outflow has risen fivefold, to more than 100,000, since 2001, an analysis by the research company Economy.com shows, although immigration from other countries has kept the state's population growing. But the change appears to be most pronounced in California, which has long been a beacon that draws people from all over the world, with its sun-drenched coasts and dynamic economy. The past few years appear to be one of the few times on record that California has lost domestic population when its job market was as healthy as the rest of the country's, economists and demographers said. Click here to read more.
People desperate enough to own a home in this hyperactive real estate market have long resorted to a risky exercise in group dynamics: Sharing a multimillion-dollar mortgage on a small apartment building with a bunch of friends or even strangers. The advantages of the increasingly popular route to homeownership known as “tenancies-in-common” are obvious in a city where three-bedroom homes average about $800,000. The hazards are also well-known and include deadbeat partners and the difficulty of extracting equity. That’s why a bank’s offer of individual mortgages to TIC buyers sent shivers of excitement and fear through the city this summer. By making TICs less codependent and more like individually owned condominiums, the Bank of Marin’s fractionalized mortgages were designed to make the option attractive to even more first-time buyers. Click here to read more.
If an overhaul of the U.S. tax code fails, the alternative minimum tax, or AMT, may live to bedevil taxpayers for yet another year. The AMT, adopted in 1969, was designed to ensure that millionaires don't escape taxation. Due to inflation and congressional cowardice, it's a levy that increasingly punishes middle-class families who lose deductions for personal exemptions, mortgage interest, miscellaneous expenses and state and local property taxes. Unless it's eliminated or adjusted for inflation, the AMT by 2010 probably will ensnare almost 30 million U.S. taxpayers, a quarter of the total. While a report last week from the president's panel on tax reform called for AMT elimination, political pressures may bury the panel's proposals and the tax may survive. Click here to read more.
~Tina Jan~
Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters
1655 E. Sixth St.
Beaumont, CA 92223
Work: 951-845-5520 Ext. 105
Fax: 951-845-4916
Cell: 909-446-2666
Toll-Free: 1-877-TINAJAN
tina.jan@coldwellbanker.com
www.tinajan.com
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