C21Mike's Real Estate Blog (San Francisco Bay Area)

So...where is the 2007 real estate market headed? I get this question asked of me all the time lately. I don't know about the rest of the country, but I do know about the local SF Bay Area market. Well, we've been averaging about a 25% year over year appreciation rate during the past 3-4 years (with the exception of the past 9 months). That being said, I don't believe we'll see that type of growth for awhile. However, even with all the doom and gloom prophecies being forcast on the nighly news (sub-prime fiasco, foreclosures, etc), we're not going to see a market crash either.

Currently, we're experiencing a flattening and correction of home prices, and believe you me, we need it! Over the past 3-4 years, the market bolstered sellers, making them quite obnoxious and onerous. Buyers have been throwing their arms in the air, exasperated at the fact that they need to offer $50,000 more than the 30 other offers received on that piece of junk home nobody would've touched just a few years earlier.

However, NOW is definitely a great time for buyers. Buyer's actually have a voice and a choice! Use it. Exercise it. Take advantage of it...while it lasts.

Here's the warning. People may be saying 'hold off on that purchase...wait for the market to bottom-out'. Here's the fallacy of that reasoning: No one really knows when the market bottoms out or when it peaks. If the price is reasonable enough for you, just buy it. Second-guessing will just cause you lost time, heartache and a lost home. Buy the home then get a good night's rest.

The converse is true. Thinking of selling? Want to wait until the market peaks before selling? Bang, bang, your dead. When the market peaks, then you'll find it nearly impossible to sell at the best price.

Ok. That's my market minute. Would you care to comment on this?

I have recently started posting REO listings on my website. An REO listing is basically this: A home owner defaults on their loan and the bank takes ownership of the home (this is the simple explanation...believe me). The bank then needs to sell the home, usually at or below current market value, to recoup their losses.

Since we are dealing directly with the bank, you may be able to score a good deal on these specific listings (I've posted these same properties on the local MLS). Interested? Just let me know, and I'll help you get as good a deal as possible on these homes.

Google is diving further into real estate, as Century 21 has announced that Google and real-estate search engine Trulia will host all of Century 21's Listings.

Current and future listings will also appear on both Google and Trulia (which is one of the best-designed real estate search engines I have ever used)

"Our brand Web sites are some of the most highly trafficked and comprehensive sites in real estate today," said Richard A. Smith, vice chairman and president of Realogy Corporation (parent company of Century 21). "Our announced distributed listing strategy follows an intense study of the advantages of the broad distribution of our listing inventory.  This serves as a milestone in our strategy to maximize the advantages of the Web for the benefit of our franchisees, our operating company and our customers."

Those shopping for a new home or condo can attest that looking for a home online can be a frustrating experience, due in part to the fact that listings are not concentrated in a single place. According to comScore, Google handled 58 percent of all real estate searches conducted online as of November 2006. Given its position as the undisputed king of the search hill, making sure your listings are available on Google makes good business sense.

On Google, Century 21's real estate listings will be accessible via Google Base. Launched in October 2005 and still in beta, Google Base is a searchable database populated by users. When it launched, we speculated that Google was targeting the likes of eBay and Craigslist by allowing users to upload items for sale; today's announcement marks another step in that direction. Google Base will now be populated with real estate listings from three of the largest realtor brands, making Google more of a go-to site for real estate searches. Realogy's move may force its competitors to also embrace Google. Otherwise, they run the risk of having their listings go unsearched as users find plenty of interesting homes without having to leave Google.

How cool is this! As a Century 21 Agent...I'm stoked :)