The Latest Design Trends

According to CNNMoney.com, here the latest design trends. Unfortunately, for those who still have green shag carpeting, velvet wallpaper, and harvest green appliances, the design trends have not quite come full circle.

Eight Hot Trends in Home Design

Construction to Start for Adobe Park

Looks like the long battle over the proposed Adobe Park is over. Despite a $500,000 shortfall in funding, the City of Pleasanton is going ahead with the 7 acre park.

Jorgensen said the Adobe and its surrounding seven-acre site have been identified by the California Office of Historic Preservation, the council and the Parks and Recreation Commission as having great potential for historic interpretation of Pleasanton's past. He told Pombo that plans call for using the site, once developed, for interpretive opportunities to take school children through the property to see first-hand the different stages of development on the site, "from rich Native American history to Spanish influence to early California when it was used by the Meadowlark Dairy."

I do find it somewhat ironic for the City of Pleasanton. The planning department has incredibly onerous restrictions on building of any homes along Foothill Road, to the point of restricting color and building materials, ostensibly to make the homes blend into the ridge and to avoid having homes stand out. Can't they come up with a color other than white to paint the barn? Just curious....

Link to original article.

Bernal Property Proposal

Looks like we have a draft proposal for the long-debated Bernal property. Here are the highlights

This plan, prepared by land use architect M. D. Fotheringham and longtime planner Wayne Rasmussen, represents the vision hundreds of Pleasanton residents ask for on planning this last major piece of open space in the heart of the city. In many ways, it reflects those visions, and includes elements of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Lithia Park I Ashland, Ore., and Central Park in New York City. Like those, the Bernal planning document includes a multitude of land use options and flexibilities, but insists that Bernal stay a park, never a place for needed housing or commercial use. Adding to its park-like features, Fotheringham has planned for winding pedestrian pathways, water elements, meadows of indigenous plants and trees, picnic areas and resting places. Other than a long-planned and already approved 50 acre site for sports, including lighted fields for baseball, soccer and other team sports, a cultural arts center and teen center at the eastern edge of the site and a possible day care center near the new fire station at Bernal's northern edge near Valley, the final draft plan will keep most of Bernal open with unobstructed views of the Ridgeland, just as it is today,

I'm a big fan of unobstucted views of the Ridge...

Pleasanton Poised for Future Job Growth

This courtesy of the Pleasanton Weekly...

The BAE report shows that Pleasanton's demographic trends indicate a stable, affluent residential community characterized by high household incomes, low unemployment, strong educational attainment and a concentration in middle age ranges, although with a large population of Baby Boomers, who will start turning 60 this year.


The report also finds that Pleasanton is a "job rich" community, with more than 1.6 jobs for every working resident. While about one-third of the city's working residents stay in Pleasanton to work, including a number of home-based businesses, the more than 56,000 jobs in Pleasanton are also filled by numerous commuters coming here from other cities.

Remember all of the doom and gloom surrounding Oracle's takeover of PeopleSoft? Many predicted disaster for the local housing market. Instead, Pleasanton stands to gain 1000 net jobs.

At the same time, Pleasanton has seen considerable business growth despite a rocky start to 2005. That's when Oracle Corporation finalized its $10.3-billion hostile takeover bid for PeopleSoft, then the city's largest employer with 3,500 workers. Oracle officials said the quick work of Mayor Jennifer Hosterman, City Manager Nelson Fialho and Ott to arrange meetings with them and to talk about the advantages of doing business in Pleasanton helped to persuade them to keep many of the former PeopleSoft operations that they would use in Pleasanton


Fears of massive layoffs dissipated as Oracle chose to keep all but a few hundred at its Pleasanton operation, where it has since established a visible foothold in the community that includes contributions to schools, placement of a large monument sign for Oracle along I-580 for all commuters to see and active participation in the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce. Because of a rebounding office market, Oracle was able to rapidly sell three former PeopleSoft buildings that it no longer needed: one on Stoneridge Drive to Thoratec, which wanted to expand, and the other two to Kaiser Permanente, which will move its Information Technology operations here from Oakland. That will bring to Pleasanton more than 1,000 jobs, at least twice the number lost in the Oracle takeover of PeopleSoft.

Certainly good news. Read the whole article here.

Leaving California

The Bay Area Council's recent survey for Bay Area residents found that 40% if the respondents have considered moving out of California, with the high cost of housing being the primary factor. But, as always, there are compensating factors.

Peggy and Ted Crane moved from San Carlos to Barrington, R.I., last year after nearly a decade in the Bay Area. Although their No. 1 goal was to move to an area with strong schools, they also stepped up to a bigger home.

Where their 1,700-square-foot San Carlos home sat on a 6,500-square-foot lot and was located on a street with some crime problems, their home in Barrington is 3,300 square feet on a three-quarters-of-an-acre lot and is one block from the Atlantic Ocean. The price tag: $650,000 compared with a nearly $1.1 million sale price for their San Carlos home.

"Everyone we run into is moving from California, the Bay Area," said Peggy Crane, 35. "I thought we'd be exotic."

Still, the Cranes say other costs -- such as property taxes and food -- are much more expensive than in the Bay Area. Ultimately, the couple hopes to move back to San Francisco after their two children, now ages 2 and 4, go to college.

"Everyone is working so hard here to pay the heating bill and the taxes," Crane said. "In the Bay Area, people work hard, but they also play hard. We miss that."

Read the whole article here. Grass... green... fence?

The Bay Area Housing Market - The Jury is Out

Clearly, the recent sluggishness in the market is real. Sales are down, and inventory is up from the same time last year (although it is important to note that the inventory last year was rediculously low). Is it the time of year? Is it something more? Clearly there is a seasonal component. It is not unheard of to have weak activity in the cold dark winter months of November, December, January & February. But there also appears to be a structural component... a shift in buyer attitudes and expectations that has changed the dynamics of the market. When it comes to wild bidding and inflated asking prices, it appears buyers have simply decided to pass. Buyers seem to be much more prudent, much more patient, and much more descriminating about what they are willing to pay in the current climate. There is an old saying about markets... If you are looking for the top, you won't know you've reached it until you've passed it.

From The SF Chronicle, an excellent article about the various factors that contribute to a downturn in housing. The good news is that the outlook for jobs is strong, especially in the East Bay. Job growth/decline is an important factor in the volatility of a market...

The 1990s downturn was accompanied by the crash of the aerospace industry and the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs statewide.

In Los Angeles, the then-epicenter of the defense industry, employers jettisoned nearly three-quarters of a million jobs within just a few years, sparking a rash of foreclosures and a nearly 30 percent plunge in home prices.

Yet Bay Area real estate weathered the dot-com meltdown -- this region's version of the aerospace industry bust -- remarkably well, considering the area lost about 450,000 jobs in three years.

According to research by the federal government, price appreciation for most of the region dropped from above 20 percent in 2000 to between 5 and 10 percent in 2002 and 2003. The only metropolitan area to dip into negative territory was Santa Clara County, where prices fell by several percentage points in 2001 and 2002.

Though job levels have not returned to their lofty Nasdaq-era heights, the region is expected to add 40,000 new jobs this year and 55,000 in 2007, suggesting that the economy, though not raging, appears to be on solid footing.

"Nothing leads to big declines in house prices except job destruction," said John Krainer, economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Read the whole article here. Of course, the job picture is not quite so rosy in the Real Estate sector. Expect to see a lot of realtors getting out of the business this year, which is a good thing because many of these realtors should not have been in it in the first place

New Home Deposits at Risk

Buying a new home in California has generally been a no-lose proposition, especially when the home will not be completed in several months. When the market is appreciating, locking in a home price months before completion means a immediate profit at close of escrow, as the builder usually increses prices with every new release. And better yet, if for some reason the buyer decides not to close, most builders are very forgiving towards the deposit, knowing that they can turn around and sell the home for more to another buyer. Even though all builder contracts contain specific language that entitles the builder to part or all of the buyer's deposit in the event of default or non-performance, in this environment the buyer's deposit becomes a refundable option of sorts, where the buyer can tie up a propety for several months and decide not to proceed with little or no penalty. This is especially true when the home is under construction, as the home is not really costing the builder any additional money in carrying costs because it is not complete.

However, when the market softens and home prices remain flat or decline, builders become more reluctant to release deposit funds. Cancellations have increased significantly in the last several months, and the word from a couple of major builders is that they are going to be a lot tougher on buyer's deposit funds as a result. Builders can no longer count on turning around and selling the home to another buyer for more money. And if the home is complete, the carrying cost (the interest cost on the loan, or the opportunity cost for tying up their money) become a larger factor. In some cases, the builder may have to offer incentives to the next buyer to get the home sold. Because of this, look for builders to keep more deposit money from buyers who cancel after their contingencies period passes. And it's not only the earnest money deposit that is at risk. Builders typically require a deposit on all upgrades ordered through the builder, usually 50% of the cost of the upgrade. If the buyer cancels, they are usually entitled by the contract to retain those funds as well.

So be sure to read the contract you are signing when you purchase a new home. And make sure you understand exactly what funds you have at risk should you not go through with the transaction. And if the Builder's salesperson tells you not to worry about the deposit, remember this.... in Real Estate, it's what you sign that matters, not what someone tells you. It's better not to find this out the hard way.

New Homes Bring Diversity to Tri-Valley

Excellent article in the Valley Times about new communities in San Ramon and Dublin and how the Tri-Valley is experiencing an increase in diversity as a result.

Radical growth in eastern Dublin and the Dougherty Valley of San Ramon is bringing more than new homes.
Since 2001, school enrollment figures paint a picture that shows the once predominately white Tri-Valley population is becoming much more diverse.
School and city officials are not waiting for confirmation from the official 2010 census to embrace the change.
In the San Ramon Valley, students of Asian descent make up 17 percent of the district's 23,815 enrollment. But in the Dougherty Valley's new middle school and three new elementary schools, the Asian enrollment has shot up to 46 percent.
"This is certainly the most diverse experience I have been in, in the district," said Donna Yokomizo, Hidden Hills Elementary School principal and 30-year employee of the San Ramon Valley School District. Her Dougherty Valley school's enrollment is 51 percent Asian, 31 percent white, 11 percent Filipino, 4 percent Latino and 2 percent black.

With new home prices in San Ramon and Dublin in the $700,000 to over $1 million range, there is not likely to be a lot of economic diversity to go along with the cultural diversity. I hope they have the water to build the 20,000 plus homes they are planning on building over the next few years.

New Earthquake Maps Released

The US Geological survey released updated maps of earthquake hazards for the Bay Area. These maps include updated information on liquefaction hazards throughout the Bay Area. Liquefaction occurs during an earthquake when certain types of soil are wet or saturated. When these conditions exist, the soil can actually amplify the shaking of an earthquake and cause considerably more damage. Read more about it in the San Jose Mercury News.

Bay Area Businesses Are Upbeat About the Economy

A recent report published by the Bay Area Council showed that Bay Area businesses are optimistic about our economy. 55% of the senior level executives and CEO's surveyed expected the economy to improve in the next 6 months, with 9% expecting conditions to deteriorate. Perhaps more significantly, 42% of those surveyed expect to hire more workers, with 5% planning layoffs. Certainly good news for all of us in the East Bay. (courtesy of East Bay Business Times)

From Our "In Case You Missed It Dept"

The city of Pleasanton has approved a major expansion of Stoneridge Mall, including a new expanded 144,000 sq ft Nordstrom store, along with two new restaurants, P.F. Chang's and The Cheesecake Factory. A possible movie theatre is also being discussed. The construction should start this summer, with the first phase being completed in September of this year.

Great. Now after we gain 20 pounds from eating too much sweet & sour pork and cheesecake, we will be able to waddle over to a humungus new Nordstroms to buy clothes that actually fit.

Bubble? What Bubble?

It looks like the media has yet again over-hyped a story. The relentless headlines and seemingly unending stories about the "real estate bubble" have turned out to be, well, a lot of hot air. Yes it's true that the market is slower. But let's keep it in perspective. Last year at this time we saw listings get 5,10, even 20 or more offers. Now, there is usually only 1 offer (shocking, I know), and some of these buyers have the audacity to even offer below the asking price. This is what long time veterans in real estate refer to as a "normal" or "balanced" market. And yes, in some cases, prices have slid off their inflated highs, by as much as 5% depending on the price range or area. Again, it is time for some perspective. Prices have risen by an average of about 15% per year for the last 3 years. So the average homeowner is up 45%. Now prices may have eroded by 5%. I'm no financial analyst, but most prudent investors would agree that if an asset appreciates by 45%, then levels off and maybe decreases by 5%, you are still doing pretty well.

Here are some factors that will have an impact on the market this year:

- Office and industrial vacancy rates are declining in most of the bay area. This means businesses are expanding and demanding more space. This is a positive sign for future job growth and demand for housing.

- Many buyers who were discouraged after getting outbid on homes in the frenzy are starting to think that this is a good time to buy. It's refreshing to actually be in a position of being the only offer on a listing. You can even buy it for less than the asking price, without having to throw in 60 days free rent, a week in Maui, and your vintage album collection to get the seller to take your offer.

- Rates have risen, but they are still historically at very low levels, especially long term rates. 30 year fixed rates in the low 6% range are very favorable.

- The stock market is starting to move, which helps create capital for business to invest. And many companies, after downsizing and becoming more financially fit, are looking to hire this year, as well as invest in equipment and opportunities that they were reluctant to pursue the last 3 or 4 years.

The bottom line at this point is that, barring some catastrophic world event or economic meltdown, the East Bay housing market will remain strong, and the prospects for future appreciation here are excellent as we experience more job growth and continued migration from Fremont, the South Bay, and Peninsula.