Vaunted San Francisco Now Illiquid

[DemonD]

One of the aspects of a housing downturn that is particularly nefarious is that real estate can be very illiquid in a down market.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl.../MN8RV2K0E.DTL

A total of 2,312 resale homes sold in the nine-county Bay Area in January, down 43.7 percent from a year ago and 24.2 percent from December, according to DataQuick Information Systems. It's the lowest regional sales total in the two decades the La Jolla research firm has tracked the area and the 38th straight month of declines.

2,312 homes sold. Wow. There are many significant numbers bandied about in this article, but this is 2312 for the entire Bay Area. According to wiki "As of the 2006 census, there were 6,927,555 people residing in the Bay Area."

2312 in one month. Yikes. Something tells me February numbers are going to be even worse. Looks like there are tons of bagholders and few knifecatchers there nowadays.

Off-topic: I've noticed Sean O'Toole being quoted in some MSM articles. Good for him! Good to see a voice of reason being reported to the masses.

[VancouverGoinUp]

Re: Vaunted San Francisco Now Illiquid

Another reason why Americans should be buying Vancouver

San Francisco has the scenery and vibe but not the money

Consider the following in Vancouver

1. No Credit Crisis
2. Dollar Going Up
3. Buyers do not need mortgages
4. It's goin up period
5. Rumour is Shiller buying in Vancouver
6. Asians and Europeans pouring into the Country
7. Save haven for your hard earned money

[santafe2]

Re: Vaunted San Francisco Now Illiquid

A total of 2,312 resale homes sold in the nine-county Bay Area in January...the 38th straight month of declines.

Do we know the peak resale number? Was it 38 months ago or earlier than that. Maybe 2002-2003 before prices really started moving up? It would be interesting to see a chart of open market home re-sales and median housing prices during the same period. I'm sure DataQuick has all this data, but I don't have access.

Although, if San Francisco is anything like Santa Fe, the high end is holding up much better than the mid range so median prices without taking out the top and bottom 5-10% might not reveal a clear picture of movement in the majority of the market.

Interesting stuff, thanks for posting.