Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Half of All Houses Selling in Marin Showing "Price Reduced"

Well, it's official. Today's the day. Today marks the first time that the percentage of SFRs* sporting "price reduced" according to ZipRealty reached the 50% mark. Go Marin!

*(The sample includes all SFRs listed on ZipRealty.com with asking prices between $100K and $10 million.)

14 comments:

Marinite said...

Yes, they are small reductions for the most part.

I think in 2007 we will find out who really needs to sell. They will be the ones who make the meaningful concessions.

marine_explorer said...

"...the reductions are tiny"

Right, for the most part they're under 10%. But I've seen some dramatic exceptions.

Anonymous said...

This house in Mill Valley was just reduced $100k yesterday! (But they still won't get what they are asking!)

http://www.ziprealty.com/buy_a_home/logged_in/search/home_detail.jsp?listing_num=20632151&property_type=SFR&mls=mls_ca_ba&cKey=dxlb69g5&source=CABAREIS&cKey=6w3f3

sf jack said...

Anybody else notice this today?

LOL!

The Nobel prize winner in economics has been a renter in Manhattan for 32 years.

Do parts of NY still have rent control? I thought it was ended a number of years ago.

********

"'We never had enough money to buy an apartment as large and as comfortable as the one we live in,' she said, 'and the rent for this one is relatively low.'"

New York Times - October 10, 2006

American Wins Nobel in Economics

By LOUIS UCHITELLE

Edmund S. Phelps, a Columbia University professor, was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science yesterday for his contribution to a sophisticated explanation of how wages, unemployment and inflation interact with one another.

The explanation holds, in essence, that wages and inflation tend to rise in tandem, one pushing up the other, until the unemployment rate reaches an “equilibrium” or “natural” level at which prices no longer rise.

These trade-offs are often considered by Federal Reserve policy makers in setting interest rates and are still a central element of mainstream economic thinking. But the relationships among these factors have eroded over time, many economists say, contributing to assertions from both the left and the right that the Fed has sometimes gone too far in squeezing economic growth in pursuit of a theory that no longer fits the real world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/
10/10/business/10nobel.html

Anonymous said...

Marinite, you'll appreciate this one. You know that yellow POS on Shoreline in Mill Valley, right across from the 7-11 (MLS 20632593)? It's just been reduced today from 675K to 638,995. Not huge and certainly not near enough, but... bah, hah, hah...

Marinite said...

you'll appreciate this one. You know that yellow POS on Shoreline in Mill Valley

I know it well. I am acquaintances with some of the neighbors and I knew a family that used to live there. They are still asking too much. Chasing the market down.

Marinite said...

Not huge and certainly not near enough

That's still only -14% off their original asking price of $745,000. They just refuse to take a loss is all.

For those who don't know what we are talking about:

http://tinyurl.com/opf8n

Anonymous said...

Mill Valley - Nicely styled, down to the Halloween Candy on the kitchen counter. Perhaps a marketing scheme toward lazy-ass junk food addicts might help.
Wish Zip Realty site would work for me, but it never does.

To SF Jack, a bit off-topic:

Yes, parts of NYC still have rent control. We have a friend who lives in Chelsea who pays $400 for a 1 bedroom but very nice flat with hardwood floors and lovely archetectural features that would be 3-4 times as much without RC. "Why would I ever move?" she says. Doesn't take an economist to figure out the math on that one.

sf jack said...

ms. hawkes -

Thanks for the info.

I think what this situation shows is that some people (here a world-class economist) doesn't think of housing as an investment.

In other words, he wasn't willing say 25 years ago to try and squeeze into some place he didn't like and live with it for awhile, in the belief it would give him a nice return someday that he could rollover into a nicer/bigger place.

Which, I have found, is the complete opposite of how everyone thinks in California.

Anonymous said...

True I agree about the silly bubble investment mentality of the single family home mania in Cali - but keep in mind people buy homes to live in them too as it fits their need. Some people choose not to do this and rent only because it lightens them and fits their lifestyle. In the "old'n days" pre bubble mania, this is considered a normal market.

In a NY rent controlled area, the idea sells itself for urbanites.

Hell, on the other side of the equation - here are some people that choose to only "rent" suites or rooms in Hotels. Sounds stupid, but works for them.

Anonymous said...

Any advice for a plan of action?

Is there anything a person can do to help this situation?

I'm already boycotting.

Marinite said...

Is there anything a person can do to help this situation?

We could go guerilla and print up bumper stickers and past them on all for sale signs we see, etc. If no one has already done it then such bumper stickers could be a profitable enterprise.

How about people suggest some good bumper sticker phrases.

Anonymous said...

Marinite, that is a great idea!

Those signs are like tiny billboards advertising the folly that is the current Marin RE market.

Where does the law come in on this issue?

Could I legally put up a similarly sized political sign on my property?

Or perhaps a biblical or satanic quote?

Does a "for sale" sign have higher legal status?

Is there a law regarding the altering of a "for sale" sign?

How about "For Huge Debt"
Or, "Wanna Get Reamed?"
Or, "Ben Dover Real Estate"

Marinite said...

The stickers should have an appropriate pic of "the housing bubble" so that people know what those cryptic messages mean.

I thought something along the lines of the "bucket of money, box of stupid" thing is too classic to pass up.

Check out one of the more recent posts at Exurban Nation as there are votes there for a similar idea involving t-shirts.

Re the law: I have no idea. I know a ton of lawyers read this blog so maybe they will chime in. I would imagine you are fully within your rights to put up any sort of sign you want on your property.

I'd also imagine that the for sale signs are private prop and so putting a sticker on them would be something akin to defacement.