Bay Area Real Estate Trends

Wall St Journal, by way of Calculated Risk had some housing comments recently along the lines of markets “improving from the bottom up“. They referenced some data suggesting a surge in buying activity within lower price sectors of real estate in New York and New Jersey. They continued with analyst commentary suggesting that it was [...]

A lot of people are asking what I think will happen in the housing market in 2012. But rather than just give a laundry-list of predictions, I’d like to share my thoughts within the context of steps that different type of readers and clients may be considering. First, a general note on the housing market… [...]

Selling foreclosures in bulk to institutions is an example of crony capitalism at it’s worst. Keep in mind that our problem isn’t that selling homes locally and individually doesn’t work, it’s that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the FHA, and TBTF banks simply haven’t been doing it. Diana Olick reports: The Obama administration, in conjunction with federal [...]

The cost of raising a family in the Bay Area has shot up in the last three years, all while more people are getting laid-off or being forced to work for less. The twenty-somethings who we need to buy homes over the next decade are getting squeezed from all sides. Earlier, I wrote about how [...]

The cost of a college education has increased exponentially over the last 30 years thanks to easy college loans, increased grants, and the housing bubble.

This article originally appeared on the Irvine Housing Blog. A recent study has concluded there are not enough first-time homebuyers to absorb shadow inventory. I have waited a lifetime Spent my time so foolishly t feels like the first time Feels like the very first time It feels like the first time It feels like [...]