Archive for October, 2009

An International Evening in San Francisco

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

[wpvideo ti1ivlb9]I recently attended an international evening at the Fairmont. It was a joint event which included the Swiss Chamber of Commerce along with those chambers representing Australia, New Zealand and Sweden. The event brought together professionals from all disciplines interested in San Francisco as an international destination for business. I was told they host joint events occasionally to increase awareness of efforts from different countries focusing on San Francisco.

Wow. It’s an ever-expanding conciousness on my part  in terms of all the global networking …physically and over the net that is constantly going on. I was pleasantly surprised to find these groups in existence here and it underscored for me the importance of San Francisco as an international business center especially when I met a young woman from the Bavarian Trade Office located here . Who knew. I can’t wait to see what other international endeavors there are for me to uncover in my own backyard.

In the end, all roads lead to Rome as the saying goes. Or, to San Francisco in this case. Our real estate, homes and investments, will benefit from all this global attention. In fact, I was told a couple of years ago that the wealthy families of San Francisco buy choice homes in Pacific Heights and just hold them for their children because in their view real estate is cheap here when compared to other international cities. If this is still their strategy then their buys are better today than they were two years ago.

San Francisco's FIABCI Council Votes for its President

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

The San Francisco Local Council for FIABCI (www.FIABCI.com ) held its monthly meeting in Cow Hollow where members from San Francisco, the East Bay, and Sonoma attended to hear from those who attended the Denver Business Conference as well as hear what current trends exist in the separate markets; local and international influences in each marketplace and look at current needs of members in each marketplace. While everyone was enjoying the back-and-forth on issues and influences of the markets, the group did nominate and unanimously elect me, Lance  Fulford, as their president for 2010.

I am excited about the international market and what it means for the economic health of the Bay Area real estate market and want to thank all the members for placing their trust in me.

Additionally, I did hear some good news from a reliable source who wants to remain annonymous. My source tells me that the big banks are beefing up their international divisions in Houston and San Francisco because they’re forecasting growth in energy and high-tech. This was a welcome piece of news and has great implications.

‘Til Next Time…All the Best, Lance

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San Francisco Luxury Property Trends

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

<a href=”http://”>Looking back over the last 24 months gives surprising insight into the emerging trends for luxury properties in San Francisco. After the economic presentation mentioned in the previous posting, I wanted to do my own homework on the street “so to speak” to check it out. I came up with an emerging trend that seems to foretell exactly what Ms. Appleton-Young was referring to. The $1million+ inventory has already started its upward trend and price/square foot numbers are proving sticky yet trending down.

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This seems to be a trend that has already hit other U.S. cities that aren’t as well poised economically as San Francisco. One city I just visited where the luxury market seems to have taken a big hit all year long is New Orleans. Eleanor Farnsworth of Prudential Gardner Properties in New Orleans is interviewed on the luxury home market there.

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San Francisco Real Estate Market Conditions Create Opportunities for International Buyers of Luxury Property

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Cheif Economist for the California Association of Realtors, Leslie Appleton-Young, presented up-to-date San Francisco, Bay Area and California real estate market data yesterday at a meeting in Marin which I attended. Her data was intriguing to me because of my earlier column in The Castro Courier (see earlier posting).  Ms. Appleton-Young went into great detail on the segmented market. She referred to the huge hit the lower end of the market has taken and so far the luxury market (defined as approximately $1million or more) has stayed flat. The forecast according to Ms. Appleton-Young for the luxury end of the market is that it is just now starting a correction which will take up to 1.5 – 2 years before reaching its trough (see my earlier remarks). And, this correction is anticipated to be in the range of 15% – 20%.

My “on-the-street” experience bares out a correction on the luxury end of the market in San Francisco of around 10% – 15% already. Ms. Appleton-Young makes the point of saying that you cannot have two disjointed segments of the market where the lower end has taken a hit of around 50% statewide without there being some pain felt in the upper luxury end of the market, especially given all the other aspects of the current economy that she detailed quite well, i.e. unemployment, state budget issues, federal stimulus issues, you name it…

So as I had mentioned in my column, this downward pressure is creating a tremendous buying opportunity for those seeking luxury properties. The low end of the market (i.e. $500k and less) in most sub-markets around the Bay Area is sitting with around a 3 month supply of housing which is considered “below normal” due to the huge correction in pricing which has brought out investors and buyers alike. Watch out for something similar is coming for the luxury end of the San Francisco, Bay Area and statewide real estate market too because it is sitting with a 13 month inventory. Wow! That really puts it into perspective considering a normal market is thought to have about a 6 month supply of housing. As Ms. Appleton-Young stated, “prices are sticky on the way down, however, more luxury end homes will be sold because the owners will no longer be able to carry them.”

Internationally, this appears to be the same thing I witnessed while on the island of Bonaire, N. V. in the Caribbean. I spoke to Mark Van Hooten at REMax Paradise Homes (www.bonairehomes.com) in Kralendijk, Bonaire who was helpful with information on the local market. He comfirmed that the low end of the market is strong and while he didn’t admit the luxury real estate market is suffering internationally on Bonaire it appears from our driving tour of the island that the greatest number of listings are luxury homes. This small Caribbean real estate market is mirroring our San Francisco market. I’ll have more on San Francisco’s market and other national and international destinations in upcoming postings. Hope you enjoy the video.

All the Best,

Lance[wpvideo BsTPLaLE]

Touring a New Home in the Caribbean with a San Francisco Designer

Monday, October 12th, 2009

[wpvideo 2ZdDXJPp]While on the Caribbean Dutch island of Bonaire, I spent time researching the local real estate market and looking for its similarities and differences to our real estate market here in San Francisco. This was intriguing and fun. One of the best connections was to a couple who own a local restaurant, Wils, in Kralendijk. Their names are Sue and Wil Heemskerk. They were gracious, generous and fun to visit with in the restaurant and later at their new home which is in its final stages of completion. This was a fasinating comparison of the local and international similarities and differences in everything from land ownership to materials acquisition on an island.

On Bonaire, the government promotes home ownership by providing residents and Dutch citizens with cheap long term land leases with the stipulation that a home be built within 5 years. These deals are available on certain government owned land tracks. This has some similarity to the local San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and its work in the market place with government owned property. Outside these tracts of land are privately owned parcels that transfer to the new owner as we’re accustomed.

What seemed to be the biggest issues for constructing a new home were securing the materials. There is a large tax on anything coming onto the island…(think of door hardware, fixtures, etc.). And, finding skilled labor for quality construction and high-end finishes is spotty.

Watch the video as Wil and Sue walk through the house with San Francisco interior designer, Sanders Pitman of Sanders Pitman Designs (415-255-6452).

Local Market Outlook Published

Monday, October 12th, 2009

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One of San Francisco’s neighborhood newspapers requested I pen a real estate column. What better subject than an outlook for the local real estate market. It appears in the October issue so check it out at www.CastroCourier.com .

Out of the Gate

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

Jumping out of the gate and into the citizen journalist venue as my friend and mentor, Jim Walberg, likes to say ( www.caribbeanislandsrealty.com ).

I’m establishing this venue to discuss the local and international aspects of San Francisco real estate as well as other markets and interesting real estate issues that ultimately affect us here as the global village continues to shrink. So stay tuned and buckle your seat belts as we delve into the topics. I want to mention a little about what this venue “will not be”. It will not be like the other blogs on San Francisco real estate that I see that are overly focused on many different specific properties and primarily do nothing but issue forth criticism and negativity. If you want that then this is not for you. If, however, you’re interested in on-going dialogue on a wide range of issues here and abroad to create some back-and-forth investigation then please by all means come forth. So, let’s get started…..