• The BEST house was 110 Somerset in Piedmont.  Priced at $2.195M it is a 5 bedroom/4 bath house with great indoor/outdoor flow a great view and level yard…what more do you want for that price!  Fabulous kitchen.  Master bathroom could use some work.
• The BEST VALUE is a house at 715 Cleveland priced at $575K.  Cute 3 bedroom 1 bath.  Close to Lake Merritt and a nice big yard.

Really that is it.  There were only 10 houses on tour where typically we see at least 15-20 and near 30 in the peak time.  It is a great time to sell…lots of buyers out there.  If you know someone on the fence they should consider selling now while there is little or no competition in many prices and neighborhoods.

• The BEST house on tour was at 5351 Lawton in Rockridge.  It is a house that looks like a craftsman on the outside but is contemporary on the inside.  It was a small house that was taken down.  I heard that the city wanted the house to look like a craftsman to make sure it fit in the neighborhood hence the mix in styles.  It is 3 bedrooms/2 baths with 2605 square feet.  Great floor plan and good indoor/outdoor flow. 
• A couple pf GOOD DEALS-
  • 35 Windward Hill is a townhouse in Hiller Highlands.  3 bedrooms/2 baths.  2079 square feet including a cool view loft.  Needs a bit of updating but a great price for a unit that would have sold near a million in the height of the market.
  • In another price range 6050 Contra Costa Road is very well priced.  It is 4 bedrooms/3baths/1 half bath.  3633 square feet.  Great views.  No yard but a nice deck off of the remodeled kitchen.  The last couple of homes on Contra Costa sold over $1.5M making this a good deal.
• The COOLEST GROOVIEST houses were 165 Avenida (3 bedroms/1bath/1 half bath 1690 sq feet $859K) and 1309 Campus Drive (3 bedrooms/2 baths 1575 sq feet $759K).  Both really cool mid century’s in the Berkeley Hills.

Those be the highlights!  Have a great week-end….

• The MOST INTERESTING house on tour was 271 Crocker in Piedmont.  A large house on the corner of Ashmount and Crocker.  Part of the lot is in Oakland and part in Piedmont.5 bedrooms/5 baths/1 half bath with 5887 square feet.  It has plenty of color and decorator fabrics.  The best part of the house is the master suite.  His and her bathrooms and the most amazing closet I have ever seen in person (the most amazing I have not seen in person being the one that Big built for Carrie in Sex & The City, The Movie). Priced at $3.950M it is not for every pocketbook but as always if you know someone with that pocket book (and enough shoes to fill the closet!) have them give me a call!
• The BEST house in a more typical price range was 22 Piedmont Court in Piedmont.  A wonderful home that has been beautifully updated.  Just down the block from the Piedmont Community Center. 3 bedrooms/2 baths/1 half bath priced at $1.450M.
• RUNNER UP is 12181 Blythen at $889K. Located off of Skyline Blvd in Hillcrest Highlands.  4 bedrooms/2baths/1 half bath.  Level in, views and great outlooks.  Easy to get to trails and parks!

One of my comments last Monday was…

• RUNNERS UP include two other Piedmont homes one at 121 Mackinnon priced at $1.550M…a great deal for 3600 square feet that includes 3 bedrooms/3 baths/1 half bath and a really fun backyard with a sport court.  Also in Piedmont but in my opinion priced a bit high (but who knows it may sell right away at full price???) is 25 Estrella priced at $1.695M.  Equally fun back yard but only 2635 square feet with 3 bedrooms/2 baths. 

This week?  Mckinnon sold with 4 offers in 5 days and Estrella is still active…maybe I’m not too bad at this!

• The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages climbed to 5.25 percent during the week ending May 29, up from 4.81 percent the week prior, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. It was the largest gain since October. That pushed down the Washington, D.C., trade group’s measure of mortgage loan application volume by 16.2 percent, on an adjusted basis that took into account the Memorial Day holiday. Refinance activity, which is particularly sensitive to rate increases, led the way, dropping 24.1 percent.
• The subsequent jump in mortgage rates “was a slap in the face to a lot of people sitting on the fence waiting for that proverbial government 4.5 percent,” said Guy Schwartz, a mortgage broker with CMG Mortgage Inc. in San Ramon, referring to wide reports late last year that the Treasury Department was devising a plan to push rates to that level.  ”Now those people have been totally blown out of the water,” he said. “Maybe if (rates) get back to 5 they’ll jump, but they could have had 47/8 if they hadn’t been greedy.”

Seriously…5.25% high???? Rates are still at historical lows and lower than last year at this time.  In my opinion anything under 6% is a great rate.  You should buy a house because you love the house not the rate.  You should of course be able to afford the rate.  Rates go up and down pretty consistently and you should plan on some swing.  Pick a rate you can live with and anything below it will be gravy.

• Open houses for new listings were really busy.  I was at a home on the Piedmont side of Montclair that was attended by about 65 groups of buyers.  Some of them were neighbors but there were a lot of buyers just getting into the market as well.  Offered at $699K.  New listings on average had anywhere from 35 to 75 groups of people through.  Listings that have been on for a while had anywhere from 6 to 20 groups through.
• Mortgage rates- Up and down and up and down….There was one day where Wells Fargo had 5 changes in 24 hours!  If you are buying make sure you keep in close contact with your mortgage broker or bank to make sure a rate change has not affected your buying strategy.  Also most lenders are taking at least 30 days to close and many deals are closing a bit late so when you lock your rate make sure it gets locked for at least 45 days.
• Offers…here, there and everywhere…We are seeing some crazy behavior returning to the market.  48% of Pacific Union’s pending sales for May were in multiple offers making buyers feel the need to be competitive by taking some risks that may not be the best idea.  I have heard of one deal where there were only two offers and yet one of the buyers went in completely non contingent…a bit of a gamble these days.  The house was over $1M so it was at least a $30K gamble!  We had another situation where two of the three buyers came in with sharp offers meaning they offered a certain amount over the next closest offer.  It’s something that buyers do to protect themselves by not paying too much over the next highest offer.  Risky for both buyer and seller!
• New listings include a house on Florence in Upper Rockridge priced at $895K.  I saw it today it is really nice.  Something coming up near Skyline High…price TBD.  Sounds nice with views and great location near the parks.  New Redwood Heights listing on Atlas in the high $600’s low $700’s.  Big house on Golden Gate priced over $1.5.

Have a great week!

•  The BEST house on tour was 246 Sea View in Piedmont.  A fabulous Julia Morgan built in 1913.  7 bedrooms/5 baths/2 half baths.  It is breathtaking and has amazing period details.  Great indoor/outdoor spaces.  As a bonus it has a great au pair suite as well as a really fun attic space in which the current owners have a home theater set up. It was a treat to see it. Priced at $4.350M it is not for every pocketbook but if you know someone with that pocket book have them give me a call!
• The BEST house in a more typical price range was 45 Melvin Ct in Upper Oakmore.  A wonderful mid-century feeling house that has been beautifully updated.  Great views!  4 bedrooms/2baths/1 half bath priced at $895K .
• RUNNERS UP include two other Piedmont homes one at 121 Mackinnon priced at $1.550M…a great deal for 3600 square feet that includes 3 bedrooms/3 baths/1 half bath and a really fun backyard with a sport court.  Also in Piedmont but in my opinion priced a bit high(but who knows it may sell right away at full price???) is 25 Estrella priced at $1.695M.  Equally fun back yard but only 2635 square feet with 3 bedrooms/2 baths.
• The MOST “INTERESTING” house was at 1650 Trestle Glen in Crocker Highlands.  Well priced at $859K featuring 2215 square feet with 4 bedrooms/3 baths.  Multi level floor plan…very confusing!  It also has a small grove of redwoods in front of the house!  It does have a lot of period details.

That’s it for Monday tour.  Have a great evening!

Topic- Today’s Rate- MARKET IMPROVED

 Unlike last weekend open houses were well attended.  We blamed lack of attendance last weekend on the blazing weather so this week we’ll say they were well attended due to the dreary weather.  All price ranges had good turnouts.  A house priced in the high nine hundred thousands in Upper Rockridge had 80 to 90 groups of people.  A house in Glenview in the high six hundred thousand range had 45 to 60 groups through.  It was the second open house and the seller ended up with 3 offers this week.  A house on Shasta in the Berkeley hills was visited by over 100 groups of people.  It is priced in the high eight hundred thousands.  Another Berkeley hills house listed around $1.5M had about 60 groups through.  Clearly there is a lot of pent up buyer demand in many locations and price ranges.

 Pacific Union has many new listings coming on to deal with that demand.  There is a new listing in Piedmont at 121 Mackinnon Place priced at $1.550K …a very popular price for Piedmont.  There is a new listing on 91 Selkirk in Redwood Heights priced at $769K.  Another fine listing at 6432 Pinehaven is priced at $839K.  There is a great house with a lot of space at 6262 Bullard at $699K.  All will be open this weekend and yours truly will be at Bullard.  Come by and say hi!

Tour days are as follows- Monday is Piedmont, Crocker Highlands, Redwood Heights, Glenview,Oakmore, The Laurel and Maxwell Park.    Thursday is all of Berkeley, El Cerrito, Albany, Rockridge, Upper Rockridge, and Montclair. Piedmont Avenue can be either Thursday or Monday but most people put it on Monday. Monday tour is from 10-1. Thursday is from 9:30 to 1:30 if you tour all of the areas. When there is a lot of inventory on we can see up to 30 houses on a single tour. Most Realtors will plan their tour based on their clients needs. It would be almost impossible to see EVERYTHING.

Thursday tour was non eventful due to pending holiday.  Many Realtors had “Monday” homes on Thursday since Monday was a holiday. The most notable house on tour was a house on York in Piedmont (wrong day but good house.) It is a great mid century feeling house with a pool and great indoor/outdoor flow. It is priced on the low end and likley will get multiple offers. I’ll keep you posted.

The weekly office meeting is where we hear from our fellow Realtors what is going on in the market. Every week I will give you a quick update of what I hear.  

Since open houses are one of our big weekly activities we talk a lot about that.   Last Sunday attendance at open houses was down from the previous weeks.  We suspect it had a lot to do with the blazing heat.  There was a new listing in Upper Rockridge that had about 35 groups of people through which may sound like a lot but normally it would have had at least 50 groups through. 

This week the president of the company Avram Goldman was in attendance. He gave us an update of how Pacific Union is doing in the local marketplace relative to year to date volume.  As of May 18th Pacific Union is number one in all of Oakland with 11.39% of the sales volume.  We are in a dead heat for first in Piedmont where we have 43.20% of the volume and Grubb Co has 43.72%…stay tuned!  If you combine Oakland/Piedmont/Kensington/Albany/Berkeley, Pacific Union is number one with 9% withthe next highest broker being Coldwell Banker with6.06% of the sales volume.  (Here comes the disclaimer…this information was gathered from third party sources.  The information is deemed reliable but not verified or guaranteed)

That’s it for now.  I’ll be back tomorrow or Friday with the Thursday tour update.