Fremont Real Estate Blog

Thought prices have moved up from their bottom, they are still below the highs we reached in 2007 and rates are still extremely low, which is driving the demand to buy. We bid on a home on Ardenwood on Monday. It received 25 offers. All except one had at least 20% down. One of them will get the home, and 2 will keep looking.   From DS News   Case-Shiller: August Home Prices at 2-Year High U.S. home prices continued to increase in August as the Case Shiller 20-city Home Price Index increased 0.9 percent to its highest level since September 2010. The 20-city index is up 2.0 percent in the last year. The 10-city also rose 0.9 percent in August, increasing to 158.62, 1.3 percent ahead of August 2011 and the highest level since October 2010. The monthly gain in each index was slower than in July, when the 10-city index went up 1.5 percent and the 20-city index improved 1.6 percent. July also saw gains in all 20 index cities. » Read More

It’s taken them quite a long time to get around to this.   From DS News   Justice Department Sues BofA for Over $1B, Alleging Mortgage Fraud Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announced a lawsuit against the bank in a release Wednesday over "defective" loans that were sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The lawsuit stems from origination practices from Countrywide, which BofA acquired in 2008. According to the complaint, Countrywide implemented a loan process called the "Hustle," which pushed loans through the origination process by eliminating quality checkpoints. A spokesperson for Bank of America said the bank "has stepped up and acted responsibly to resolve legacy mortgage matters." » Read More     - sunil   SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE Helping Families Find Homes with Great Schools in Fremont, Newark and Union City. Love Us on Yelp!   Like Us on Facebook     Property Search | Featured Listing | Neighborhoods | Home Value | School Score | Property

The Fed is going to continue pushing money into economy by buying debt.   From DS News FOMC Maintains Policy Stance to Hold Down Rates Pointing to slow employment growth and an "elevated" unemployment rate, the Federal Open Market Committee said Wednesday the Federal Reserve "will continue purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month." At the same time, the FOMC said it would maintain the target federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and said the "exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate are likely to be warranted at least through mid-2015." » Read More     - sunil   SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE Helping Families Find Homes with Great Schools in Fremont, Newark and Union City. Love Us on Yelp!   Like Us on Facebook     Property Search | Featured Listing | Neighborhoods | Home Value | School Score | Property Tax    To access most updated listings on MLS from your phone, Download my FREE app from &quo

The market changed on Jan. 1, 2012 from a buyer's market to a seller's market. After the New Year's Eve celebration, we started getting 6-7 new clients each week, with most being buyers. The one thing we heard most was that folks felt this was the time to buy because rates were low and so were home prices. As we normally see with our new home buyers, many were about to be married, newlyweds, expecting or with kids see needing schools. Though we have seen many buyers enter the market, we haven’t seen the sellers come out yet. The result has been a rise in home prices. Also banks are taking fewer properties to foreclosure, with the only good news being that shorts sales are closing at a higher rate than last year. Net-net, my advice is that if you want to buy now, you will have to be aggressive, as you will be competing against others in your bidding. I do believe that pricing will continue to rise here in the Bay Area and especially in areas with good schools, because our ec

The housing inventory shortage hasn’t stopped. From DS News   Inventory Reduces Sales in September, but Helps Prices: RE/MAX The median sales price for homes sold in September continued to move higher yearly and monthly while sales were stalled from the previous month, according to a housing report from RE/MAX, which tracks MLS data in 52 metropolitan areas. The median sales price in September was $164,989, a slight 0.7 percent increase from August and a 7.8 percent improvement from September 2011. Home sales experienced a typical seasonal decline and dropped 17.5 percent from August. » Read More   - sunil   SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE Helping Families Find Homes with Great Schools in Fremont, Newark and Union City. Love Us on Yelp!   Like Us on Facebook     Property Search | Featured Listing | Neighborhoods | Home Value | School Score | Property Tax    To access most updated listings on MLS from your phone, Download my FREE app from "My Mobile App" .    

"E-NEWS" News From the New Haven Unified School District   Essay Challenge Local real estate agent Sunil Sethi and Steven Fong and their team of partners who delivered dictionaries and thesauruses to every New Haven third grader earlier this month are sponsoring an Essay Challenge. Third-graders are invited to write about healthy eating habits and on eating habits they'd like to improve.   Each student who submits an essay will get a commemorative prize. A compilation of the essays will be available online (last year's is at www.sunilsethi.com/Essay-Contest/2021-Essay-Contest-Book.pdf ). More information is available on Facebook ( www.facebook.com/essaycontest ).   Partners on the dictionary/thesaurus project and the essay contest are Risha Kilaru of Prospect Mortgage, insurance agent Kristie Turner and County Supervisor Richard Valle.   -- Rick La Plante Director, Parent & Community Relations New Haven Unified Schoo

This is a bit surprising,   From DS News Reports: Refi Numbers Low Despite Low Mortgage Rates It was no surprise when mortgage rates dropped in the weeks following the Fed's announcement that it would purchase $40 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) each month until the labor market shows substantial improvement. Even with the record-low mortgage rates seen today, refinancing numbers are still not as high as expected. CoreLogic and Capital Economics highlighted different factors for the lack of refinancings in separate reports. » Read More     - sunil   SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE Helping Families Find Homes with Great Schools in Fremont, Newark and Union City. Love Us on Yelp!   Like Us on Facebook     Property Search | Featured Listing | Neighborhoods | Home Value | School Score | Property Tax    To access most updated listings on MLS from your phone, Download my FREE app from "My Mobile App" .    

All New Haven Unified 3 rd Graders are encouraged to participate. Deadline for submission is Nov. 9, 2012. Essays should be returned to your teachers.   The compilation of every essay will be available for download at www.sunilsethi.com For a copy of last’s essay compilation go to http://www.sunilsethi.com/Essay-Contest/2021-Essay-Contest-Book.pdf More information is available at www.facebook.com/essaycontest For more information please contact, Sunil Sethi at 510-388-2436.  

From DS News   Zillow: Inventory Shrinking, California Metros Depleting Fastest Sellers may begin to have the upper hand in the market as housing inventory shrinks, leaving first-time homebuyers left to compete with investors, a report from Zillow revealed. Inventory across all price levels fell 19.4 percent year-over-year as of September 30, according to Zillow analysis, which tracked the number of homes listed for sale on its site. Among the 30 largest metros, California cities saw the biggest annual reduction in inventory. » Read More     - sunil   SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE Helping Families Find Homes with Great Schools in Fremont, Newark and Union City. Love Us on Yelp!   Like Us on Facebook     Property Search | Featured Listing | Neighborhoods | Home Value | School Score | Property Tax    To access most updated listings on MLS from your phone, Download my FREE app from "My Mobile App" .    

The turnaround in the housing market is moving ahead swiftly. See the chart’s summarizing, foreclosures starts, sales and time to foreclosures ARIZONA'S FORECLOSURE MARKET View all Arizona statistics by county, city or ZIP » CALIFORNIA'S FORECLOSURE MARKET View all California statistics by county, city or ZIP » NEVADA'S FORECLOSURE MARKET View all Nevada statistics by county, city or ZIP » OREGON'S FORECLOSURE MARKET View all Oregon statistics by county, city or ZIP » WASHINGTON'S FORECLOSURE MARKET View all Washington statistics by county, city or ZIP »     - sunil   SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE Helping Families Find Homes with Great Schools in Fremont, Newark and Union City. Love Us on Yelp!   Like Us on Facebook     Property Search | Featured Listing | Neighborhoods | Home Value | School Score | Property Tax    To access most updated listings on MLS from your phone, Download my FREE app from "My Mobile App" .    

For those of you who have been shopping for a new home in the Fremont, Newark, Union city area, you already know what Trulia just announced.   From DS News Asking Prices Up, Rent Prices Rising Faster than Home Prices: Trulia If current trends persist, this year may be the first year since 2006 the housing market records an annual price increase, according to a report released Thursday by Trulia. At the current rate of change, the year could close with a 4 percent price increase. Overall, asking prices rose 2.5 percent year-over-year in September and were up 0.5 percent month-over-month. Meanwhile, rent prices not only continue to rise but also are rising faster than home prices. » Read More     - sunil   SUNIL SETHI REAL ESTATE Helping Families Find Homes with Great Schools in Fremont, Newark and Union City. Love Us on Yelp!   Like Us on Facebook     Property Search | Featured Listing | Neighborhoods | Home Value | School Score | Property Tax    To access most updated listings o

https://www.facebook.com/home/EssayContest#!/EssayContest REALTORS TO SUPPLY DICTIONARIES AGAIN   UNION CITY (Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012) – For the seventh successive year, local real estate agent Sunil Sethi is making certain that every third-grade student in the New Haven Unified School District has a dictionary.   Mr. Sethi and a small group of partners have purchased approximately 1,000 dictionaries that they will deliver Friday to students at each of the District's seven elementary schools.   For the second successive year, Mr. Sethi and a fellow agent, former New Haven teacher Steven Fong , also are inviting students to participate in an essay contest. All students who submit an essay will receive a recognition award, and the essays will be published in a compilation that will be available online and offered for display in each classroom.   Partnering with Mr. Sethi and Mr. Fong again this year are local insurance agent Kristie Turner of Kristie

https://www.facebook.com/home/EssayContest   REALTORS  TO SUPPLY DICTIONARIES AGAIN   UNION CITY (Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012) – For the seventh successive year, local real estate agent Sunil Sethi is making certain that every third-grade student in the New Haven Unified School District has a dictionary.   Mr. Sethi and a small group of partners have purchased approximately 1,000 dictionaries that they will deliver Friday to students at each of the District's seven elementary schools.   For the second successive year, Mr. Sethi and a fellow agent, former New Haven teacher Steven Fong, also are inviting students to participate in an essay contest. All students who submit an essay will receive a recognition award, and the essays will be published in a compilation that will be available online and offered for display in each classroom.   Partnering with Mr. Sethi and Mr. Fong again this year are local insurance agent Kristie Turner of Kristie Turner Insuran

I hope you will find the following snapshot of local Real Estate inventory interesting. The table represents aggregated values based on MLS data for the specified date. Housing Inventory Snapshot September 27, 2012   Average List Price Median List Price Average Days On Market Santa Clara County, CA Single Family under $1M $645,323 $647,000 51 Single Family over $1M $2,581,696 $1,799,900 75 Condo/Townhome under $600K $396,964 $399,888 41 Condo/Townhome over $600K $941,759 $829,000 37 San Mateo County, CA Single Family under $1M $663,224 $669,000 44 Single Family over $1M $3,639,483 $2,050,000 70 Condo/Townhome under $600K $429,338 $469,000 71 Condo/Townhome over $600K $790,756 $725,000 71 Santa Cruz County, CA Single Family under $1M $613,059 $624,950 76 Single Family over $1M $2,383,082 $1,699,000 123 Condo/Townhome under $600K $355,322 $337,899 139 Condo/Townhome over $600K $860,778 $750,000 131 Monterey County, CA Single Family under $1M $535,834 $519,700 82 Single Family over $1M $