Housing news

Homeowners are deliberately walking away from mortgages - LA Times
Looking for the Lenders’ Little Helpers - NY Times
Potential homebuyers still wary - Baltimore Sun
Housing market built on sand foundation - Herald News
Poll: Would-be homebuyers cautious as layoffs rise - AP
Mortgage Defaults: Many Are Intentional, Study Finds - Time
Almost a quarter of homeowners cannot get a mortgage - Times Online
Housing Market Built on Mud Takes Off, Then Goes Thud - The Wall Street Journal

Bay Area home price trends

In order to figure out what lies ahead for the home prices in Bay Area in 2009 lets take a look on the recent home price change in the several newest Cupertino communities.

Two years old two bedroom, two bathroom condo in Metropolitan Cupertino was sold in 2007 for $649,000, not the asking price for this beautiful unit at 19503 Stevens Creek Stevens Blvd 351, Cupertino, CA 95014 is $595,000.

The same listing price $595,000 is set for two bedroom, two bathroom condo in Villagio Cupertino condominium, but this new Cupertino home was sold in 2007 for $709,500. The property address is 20500 Town Center Line 279, Cupertino, CA 95014.

In the nearby Sunnyvale, the asking price for two bedroom one bathroom condo, in the famous Cupertino Villas condo conversion project, was around $319,000 in March, but still no buyers. This condo at 880 E Freemont Ave, 328, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 has been sold in 2006 for $475,000.

Looks like the new homes in the South Bay Area are now affordable, but as home prices fall, demand for housing will raise, and conditions will ultimately find a new balance.

Granada Park Mountain View

The current advertisement for Granada Park by Barry Swenson townhomes screams "Hurry In, Only 5 Homes Remaining". I wonder how long it would take to sale remaining five new Mountain View homes, if Barry Swenson started to sell 20 units of Granada Park in spring of 2007.

Also in Mountain View, "Granada Park Townhomes" built by Barry Swenson have 20 new units for sale. "It's coming along really well," Stacey Zembik, community sales manager, said. "It's a charming enclave of 20 attached townhomes," she said, adding, it's "really a plus for a townhome to have a generous-sized back yard."
"We have GE Profile stainless-steel appliances, (and) we have alder wood cabinets," she said. "It has Craftsman architectural detail."
The enclave features a preserved redwood tree in the middle. Each home comes with hardwood floors and granite-slab countertops in the kitchen.
The units range from three to four bedrooms. They come with two and a half baths and two-car garages. Prices range from $800,000 to the low $900,000s.
The company has 19 units available. Buyers can expect to move in by May or June of this year

from http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news_features/real_estate/spring2007/news.php

Gables End Mountain View for rent

I just noticed that someone it tried to rent town house in the new Mountain View Gables End community developed by Regis Homes. The asking rent price is $3,000 per month for two bedrooms and two and half bathrooms unit with two car tandem garage. The town house price has been initially $640,000, but recently the home was sold for $575,000. Looks like the monthly payment for this town house at Gables End Mountain View community could be around $3,300 - $2500 mortgage payment with 20 percent down payment, $600 property taxes and $200 homeowner association fee. Perhaps if some from Googleplex would rent this home, the owner would just lose $200 per month for the right to own house in Mountain View, but rent price it too high for this part of Mountain View.

More on Gables End

360 Residences San Jose

Hoping to salvage another high-profile project besieged by the dismal economy, San Jose redevelopment officials say they are prepared to forgo as much as $2 million still owed by the developer of the 360 Residences, a condominium tower in the South of First area.

Under terms of the deal, Mesa Development — faced with slow sales and plummeting home prices — could wind up paying the city just $8 million for the land its 213-condo tower occupies, instead of the $10 million it agreed to pay in 2005.

If approved by the City Council on June 9, the deal would mark the fourth time the city has agreed to amend its original agreement with Mesa. It also would mark another in a string of accommodations offered to prominent developers in recent months.

More http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12490983