This Week in Real Estate 4-3-2015 - Are we back?

Are we back?

I get the question all the time. Has the market recovered to the peak yet? Are we above the prices of 2006/2007? Well even with the amazing recovery we have experienced. NO.

The latest Case Shiller report for January 2015 released this week shows that we are still below the peak. One key thing to note is that of the 20 major metros measured for San Francisco Metro showed the largest month to month decline. But we are still trending high on the year to year increase. The monthly decline is NOT a signal of a trend of a declining market, more to the trend of a slowing of growth.

City	Monthly gain (%)	Yearly gain (%)
Atlanta	-0.2	4.9
Boston	0.4	4.7
Charlotte	0.7	4.3
Chicago	-0.2	2.5
Cleveland	-0.1	1.6
Dallas	0.4	8.1
Denver	0.2	8.4
Detroit	-0.3	2.9
Las Vegas	0.2	5.9
Los Angeles	-0.2	5.7
Miami	0.7	8.3
Minneapolis	-0.3	2.2
New York	0.2	2.1
Phoenix	0	2.6
Portland	0.1	7.2
San Diego	0.7	5.1
San Francisco	-0.9	7.9
Seattle	-0.5	6.8
Tampa	-0.3	5.7
Washington	-0.5	1.3

If we look at our trend from the Peak.

Home Tip of the Week.

Spring cleaning can include decluttering. Some great tips to get things decluttered are below, but the BIGGEST tip is to start SLOWLY and small. Not one room at a time but one Bin, Cabinet or Closet at a time. It is the old adage “how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time?”

Simply your rooms.

If your rooms are too cluttered, you’ll want to simplify them.  Start by clearing off anything that is on the floors.  Throw out or donate unused things.  After clearing the floor, move to flat surfaces such as countertops, shelves, tops of dressers, etc.  Clear them as much as possible, and then move onto furniture.  Consider if you need everything.  Sort things in piles – toss, donate, or keep. Organize everything that you’ve decided to keep into drawers, cabinets, and closets, keeping them out of sight, but still neatly organized and uncluttered. Do this one room at a time.

Tackle the closets. Closets are a great place to store things that you don’t want out in the open, and can easily become a place where you shove things just to keep them out of view.  Go through your closets – take everything out and clean it. Now toss or donate as much as you can.  Decided a specific place to store anything you decide to keep. A place for everything and everything in its place. Keep only the things that you love and use frequently.  As for your clothes, get rid of anything that you haven’t worn in six months.

Clean out your drawers. Drawers are prime place for things to get shoved into.  Empty out your drawers, and again sorting by whether you’re keeping, tossing, or donating the items.