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Labor Day weekend is traditionally the end of summer and that means the end of art festivals. There are several going on this weekend worth noting and taking some time to enjoy. The big ones in San Mateo County have been around for a long time and are well worth your time to go and enjoy.
Celebrating its 40th Anniversary is the Millbrae Art & Wine Festival and it’s gotten better every year, so it’s become a “do not miss event”. Art, crafts, and the usual fair items are for sale along with loads of food and fun. This is a wine tasting event, so there will be wines (and beers) to taste as you eat your way down Broadway. It’s an all day event form 10 AM until 5 PM and the weather is going to be picture perfect. So don’t miss it! It’s FREE for the looking if you are budget conscious.
 Head to Woodside and the 47th Annual Kings Mountain Art Fair for another FREE festival. This is considered one of the top five best art festivals in California. Kings Mountain is a 10 mile stretch along Skyline Blvd above Woodside. Parking is always a challenge and they offer shuttle service to the fair. This fair was started in 1963 as a way to support the Kings Mountain volunteer fire department and now not only supports that but also the school. It’s a juried show with first rate artists who have competed for the ability to show and sell. You can see the art under the redwoods, and wander around eating wonderful food and having a good time. Plan to come early because parking is a challenge. You can find this either from highways 84 (Woodside Rd) or 92 turning at Skyline and heading south.
The 40th Annual  Greek Festival is also taking place this weekend in Belmont. This is the annual event held at the Church of Holy Cross at Ralston and Alameda de las Pulgas. It has a $5 admission for adults, seniors and youth 13+ are $2.50 and is a major fundraiser for the church. You can eat, drink and dance Greek dances and have a great time. There are Arts and Crafts and events for children, too. This runs all weekend, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Click the coupon on the left for a larger one so you can get $1 off admission. This is a huge event and always attracts large crowds. Parking shuttles are run for free so look closely at the map for where to park.
One of the loan brokers we like to refer our clients to is Jed Thibodeau who is with Bankers Preferred in Burlingame. He often speaks at our weekly office meetings and told us about a major change coming to FHA loans beginning on October 4, 2010. This change will cost you money every month for the entire length of your FHA loan and it’s a huge change. If you think this change is short notice, it’s better than what we heard on Monday, with the original date in early September. Either way, don’t wait too long to make a purchase if you are planning on using FHA as your loan source. Take your time reading this because there is a lot of alphabet soup in it.
Please read below:
Avoid increasing costs of FHA financing. On Thursday, August 5, 2010 Assistant Secretary for Housing/Federal Housing Commissioner, David H. Stevens, issued a memo informing the housing industry of changes to Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance premiums. The changes are scheduled to take effect on October 4, 2010. These changes increase borrower costs for using FHA financing. To avoid this cost increase make sure to start your FHA loan prior to October 4. It is worth noting that these changes will not affect mortgage insurance premiums on existing FHA mortgages.
Before going further, it is important to know that FHA MIP factors vary, and will continue to vary, slightly with down payment amount, 30 year fixed and 15 year fixed loan programs. This article addresses the most common FHA financing scenario, a minimum down payment of 3.5% with a 30 year fixed loan program. You’re welcome to email me at jedt at bankerspref dot com to ask about the MIP factors associated with your particular financing scenario
To establish a frame of reference to help gage the impact of these changes, let’s first review FHA mortgage insurance premiums (MIP) in general, then review current FHA MIP factors and lastly, compare the current MIP factors with the MIP factors that become active October 4, 2010.
FHA has two types of mortgage insurance, an Up Front Mortgage Insurance Premium (UFMIP) and an annual mortgage insurance premium (MIP). The current UFMIP is typically added to the loan amount (loan amount = purchase price – down payment) in the amount of 2.25% of the loan amount. The annual MIP is calculated with a factor of 0.55% and is paid monthly with the mortgage payment. FHA uses the proceeds from these two mortgage insurance premiums to fund claims on FHA insured mortgages.
Home Purchase Amount of $430,000
On October 4, 2010 the UFMIP factor for the aforementioned scenario drops from 2.25% to 1.0% and the annual MIP increases from 0.55% to 0.90%. The following table provides perspective on the actual dollar amounts of these changes with a $430,000 home purchase.
Here we see a reduction of the UFMIP by $5,187 and in increase in the monthly MIP by $121.03. More dramatic, is the total interest and MIP expense for the first 60 months of the loan. The MIP factors taking effect on October 4, 2010 will cost the homeowner an additional $5,891.
Home Purchase Amount of $750,000:
As the purchase price increases the dollar amounts increase. Let’s look at a $750,000 purchase.
Here we see a reduction of the UFMIP by $9,047 and in increase in the monthly MIP by $211.09 and an increase in total interest and MIP expense for the first 60 months of $10,275.
After October 4, 2010 FHA financing becomes much more expensive for the borrower. If you are planning to use an FHA loan program to purchase a home or refinance your home, it’s economically prudent to move quickly to avoid the increase MIP expense.
A copy of the memo can be found at the following link: http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/ver-1/HUD/federal_housing_administration/docs/August_Special_Edition_2_FromtheDeskOf.pdf.
If you have questions or if you would like to discuss your personal financing circumstances, you are welcome to email me at jedt at bankerspref dot com.
Here’s a snapshot of what’s going on in the Burlingame CA real estate market today. You can tell a lot by the number of houses on the market, or in real estate-speak, the Inventory, then the number of days a house sits on the market. Burlingame isn’t at a high for this year because it’s the middle of the summer but it’s really up there with 84 houses for sale.
Now let’s compare the Burlingame Inventory of houses for sale versus the Median Price. Remember, media price means the middle price, not the average price. It’s a great indicator of the real-time activity of a market. The Median Price is in orange the Inventory of houses is in black. We are definitely seeing prices receding from historic highs 3 years ago while inventory has climbed.
Now take a look at the Median Price for homes in Burlingame. Looking back one year we see the market bottomed in January 2010. This could have happened for any number of reasons, but probably because we see fewer homes on the market over the holidays and those that are for sale are there because they must be sold and prices reflect this. It’s also the best time to scoop up a bargain in real estate. This chart is showing both the 7 day Median Price, in black, and the 90 day Median Price in orange. First quarter 2010 was the time to find the great bargains out there. We’ve come up since then. One caution when looking at a chart like this is to be aware that a weekly statistic can be deceiving if there are only a few houses listed that week or sold that week. The 90 day picture is really a better snapshot of a market.
The Average Days on the market is another indicator of what’s going on. When we had a hot market in the mid- 2000’s, the average days on the market were short. Today it’s not, it’s around 75 days. Compared to the early part of 2010, it’s short, since we saw houses languish for several months before selling. We are really in a normal market for the number of days it’s taking to have a house sell. A normal market can take up to 90 days. This is the New Reality for Burlingame real estate.
The final chart for you is the Market Action Index, or MAI. This is data the Altos Research had developed to follow the quirks of the market between a Buyer’s Market and a Seller’s Market. They have set the divider of a Buyer’s Market and a Seller’s Market at 30. The closer the market gets to 30 the more balanced a market we have. Right now, Burlingame is at 17 and is still a strong Buyer’s Market. If you have the FICO score, money in the bank and have been pre-approved for a loan, you can find some great houses to choose from.
These charts are quick snapshots of the Burlingame market today. We have more in-depth information for our clients. If you want to see Burlingame homes, now’s a great time. Here are some of them below.
Showing properties
1 - 20 of 42.
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Burlingame low to high.
(all data current as of
9/2/2010)
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2 beds, 1 full bath
Size: 900 sq ft
Lot size: 3,924 sq ft
Year built: 1920
Parking spots: n/a
Walk Score™: 74
-
3 beds, 1 full bath
Size: 1,200 sq ft
Lot size: 4,280 sq ft
Year built: 1912
Parking spots: 1
Walk Score™: 80
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2 beds, 1 full bath
Size: 925 sq ft
Lot size: 5,000 sq ft
Year built: 1914
Parking spots: 1
Walk Score™: 74
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2 beds, 1 full bath
Size: 1,010 sq ft
Lot size: 5,250 sq ft
Year built: 1926
Parking spots: 2
Walk Score™: 85
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4 beds, 3 full baths
Size: n/a
Lot size: 4,000 sq ft
Year built: 1905
Parking spots: n/a
Walk Score™: 75
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3 beds, 2 full baths
Size: 1,380 sq ft
Lot size: 5,356 sq ft
Year built: 1939
Parking spots: 1
Walk Score™: 75
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2 beds, 1 full bath
Size: 1,030 sq ft
Lot size: 7,900 sq ft
Year built: 1908
Parking spots: 1
Walk Score™: 71
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4 beds, 3 full baths
Size: 2,500 sq ft
Lot size: 7,400 sq ft
Year built: 1918
Parking spots: 2
Walk Score™: 80
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 Last week Foster City had 43 condos and townhouses for sale with an average list price of $575,946. These listings, had a median size of 2 bedrooms and 3.5 baths according to Altos Research our research company. Frankly I find that interesting since almost all condos have 2 baths and townhouses have 2.5 baths. Right now, it’s taking about 2 months for a property to sell. Only about 1/3 of these listings are seeing price reductions so they are generally being priced to market and that’s good. These are generally great values and allow buyers to get into Foster City, one of the communities around here that has generally held value over the real estate roller coaster these past two years with great schools, loads of parks and outdoor activities around, plus an easy commute across the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge to the east bay or up or down 101 to San Francisco, South San Francisco, Palo Alto or San Jose. Foster City sits in the middle of San Mateo County making it an easy commute almost anywhere.
 Looking at the price trends for Foster City condos and townhouses above, the chart shows prices have held over the past 18 months so it’s a great time to consider buying here. The peak of the Condo/townhouse market in Foster city was in March/April of 2007. The bottom, which most everyone missed, was January through March of 2008. We’ve held steady every since.
Comparing Altos Research to Zillow’s home values estimates you can see some parallels.
Foster City Zillow Home Value Index
We live in, and know, Foster City’s market. If you’re interested in buying here give us a call or hit the contact button on the sidebar. Let us know what you’re interested in and we’ll help you find it. Take a look at what’s currently for sale in Foster City condos and townhouses today, below.
Showing properties
1 - 35 of 42.
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Foster City Condos.
(all data current as of
9/2/2010)
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2 beds, 2 full baths
Size: 1,286 sq ft
Lot size: n/a
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3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths
Size: 1,340 sq ft
Lot size: 1,690 sq ft
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2 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths
Size: 1,340 sq ft
Lot size: n/a
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2 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths
Size: 1,410 sq ft
Lot size: 946 sq ft
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2 beds, 2 full baths
Size: 1,350 sq ft
Lot size: n/a
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2 beds, 2 full baths
Size: 1,490 sq ft
Lot size: n/a
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2 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths
Size: 1,530 sq ft
Lot size: 920 sq ft
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2 beds, 2 full baths
Size: 1,490 sq ft
Lot size: n/a
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rli Yes, it’s been a while since I’ve updated what’s going on with Burlingame real estate. If you’ve been driving around town, you are definitely seeing a lot of for sale signs so there’s no shortage of houses to pick from if you’re interested in buying here. There are 86 homes on the market today. Prices are trending downward, as the average number of days they sit before going into contract is now 82, and half of all listings have seen price reductions. Burlingame is still a strong Buyer’s Market and there are lots of houses to pick from.
Prices range from a low of $499,998 (believe me you don’t want this one) to a high of $6,500,000. According to Altos Research, the median list price of all homes on the market last week was $1,237,500. Burlingame has fantastic public schools, a quaint downtown and charm galore. It’s a desirable town to live in and with interest rates at historic lows, a good time to consider if you can qualify for a loan. We would be happy to talk further with you about your real estate needs, just click to contact us button and we’ll respond.
Today I’m introducing Zillow’s take on Burlingame as additional data for you. I am always hearing clients talk about Zillow this and Zillow that. They are getting much better with their data but they are not 100% accurate and you should never use them as the gospel for home values. They are only as accurate as the last sale in the neighborhood you’re interested in, so if you’re looking for data, ask your Realtor. Alex and I are here for more in-depth information on the market and the house you’re considering. We know the markets, and the neighborhoods, and can provide the information you want and need to make an intelligent decision.
Here’s Zillow’s data.
Burlingame Zillow Home Value Index
Showing properties
1 - 25 of 45.
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Burlingame Homes Under $1.9 M.
(all data current as of
9/2/2010)
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5 beds, 4 full, 1 part baths
Size: 4,800 sq ft
Lot size: 8,695 sq ft
Year built: 2010
Parking spots: 2
Walk Score™: 32
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