Archive for December, 2009
The recall attempt: epic fail
I would be entirely remiss if I didn’t address the issue of the failed recall attempt on the part of S.E.R.V.E. Alameda to get the three members of the School Board bounced.
Now, Michele Ellson and Susan Davis have been nice enough to phrase it in the terms that the S.E.R.V.E. folks would prefer us all [...]
Happy New Year!
We’re getting started on our celebration a little early, but what the heck, we’ve got a lot to celebrate. Thanks for a fantastic year, have a wonderful New Year’s Eve, and we’ll be back with you on Monday with more news.
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!
Roger Rates Recent Interwebcasts
Roger’s ratings of meetings initially interwebcast in the past 28 days, with the most recent shown in green:
Corica Have Mercy:
Regular Meeting of the Alameda City Council December 15, 2009
Editor’s Comments:
By even agreeing to consider Item 6-B at this meeting, the City Council crossed the line. All Right-Thinking Alamedans know that parking in front of one’s own house is one of the unalienable human rights spelled out in Thomas Jefferson’s eloquent preamble to the Declaration of Independence, the document that established Alameda as a sovereign state independent from her former colonial overlords across the Estuary. If the Alameda Daily Noose and I want to park an abandoned or unattended vehicle, a beat-up R.V., a leaky old boat, or a few heavy commercial vehicles in front of our own house, that is our God-given right, and none of those Tyrants on the City Council can say otherwise. If Chuck Corica were alive today, he would be spinning in his grave!
This Is an Outrage:
Regular Transportation Commission December 23, 2009
Editor’s Comments:
As outraged as the Alameda Daily Noose and I were about the nautical propaganda being promulgated by Alameda’s Traffic Board, we were pleased to discover that we have not exhausted the font of outrage just yet. This month’s five-hour broadcast leads off with a propaganda puff piece touting the hideous parking garage attached to Super-Mega-Monster-Plex That Everyone Hates, but that was just the beginning. It is followed by a horrifying depiction of a giant tree, glowing with some kind of unearthly energy; after that come scenes of hideous mutant Tree People cavorting on the streets, followed by a stage performance of some bizarre tree ritual, all undoubtedly bankrolled with taxpayer dollars. Somebody needs to rein in this Transit Committee before they and their Big Arborist friends try to shove any more of this pine-scented propaganda down our throats.
So Many Things to Get Annoyed About:
Run-of-the-Mill Shenanigans:
Regular Meeting of the Planning Board December 14, 2009
Nothing Worth Complaining About:
One Alamedan’s New Year’s Resolutions
Alright, alright. I know some people hate the idea of New Year’s Resolutions ( “who me? improve?” ) but I’m a total sucker for that kind of introspection, honest reckoning, and commitment to self-improvement stuff, so I love this time of year. The holiday rush is over, the New Year is about to…
Get Inventive: Enter Local Recipe Contest
Got leftovers? Then it’s time to put a few extra items hanging around your kitchen, or liquor cabinet, to good use and enter a special recipe contest … You could win $10,000.
East Bay resident and food afficionado Lisa Schiffman, who runs a food-focused website, and Scharffen Berger Chocolate of San Francisco are hosting their annual recipe contest, which [...]
Foreclosures on the Rise
More on the Case-Schiller report
Race to the top
I received a rather cryptic email yesterday from Jeff Mitchell, former editor of the Alameda Journal, late of freelancing for the Sacramento Bee, and now…campaign manager?
The email was a notification that:
Alameda Mayor Beverly Johnson, state Assemblyman Sandre Swanson (D-Alameda) and Alameda Councilman Frank Matarrese for an important local political announcement…
And is signed by “StratagemPolitics: A Bay [...]
Body found at Alameda Point identified
For thirty-nine long months, John Paul Garcia’s file sat in a pile on Detective Rod Rummel’s desk. During those months, Rummel, an 18-year veteran of the Alameda Police Department, saw dozens of other missing persons cases come and go. But the case of Garcia, a 26-year-old Applebee’s employee and Alameda resident who went missing after [...]
Former Alameda Ennui Boardmember Walter Drib Has a New Web Site
Rog,
Just thought I’d pass a link to you about my blog-like web-site about my life and times on Alameda’s Ennui Board, “Eight Years that Shook Alameda.” Consider this a work in progress.
Walter Drib
P.S., I have a sneaky suspicion I’m going to write a lot about Squirrels, too (at least during gigantic acorn season).
