Ms. San Francisco Real Estate (Janice Lee)

Now that the housing market is picking up once again, a growing number of first-time homebuyers are jumping in, attracted by relatively low home prices in some areas and historically low mortgage interest rates. In fact, many first time homebuyers have discovered that for the first time in years it’s actually cheaper to own a home than it is to rent one. The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard recently reported that the median priced home in the U.S. (when calculated in today’s dollars) is roughly half as much as it was in 1990! And as rents have steadily risen in recent years, the Harvard study found that mortgage payments on the median U.S. home is now 23 percent less than rent payments for the same home. So as new buyers look to take advantage of this great opportunity, what are they looking for in their first home – and what do they need to know about buying real estate for the first time? We thought it would be interesting to take a look at the wants an

  There was some welcome news for the housing market this week, both here in the Bay Area and nationally. The biggest headlines came on Thursday when the Federal Reserve, as expected, announced plans for further stimulus for the sluggish economy. And here at home, the local housing market continued to gain strength with luxury home sales improving once again last month (more on that later). The Fed surprised no one when it said it plans more economic stimulus. But what did take some by surprise was the approach Chairman Ben Bernanke and fellow governors chose. With its new quantitative easing, or QE3 effort, the Fed said it plans to begin an open-ended program to purchase mortgage-backed securities – a move aimed at bolstering the housing recovery and the overall economy as well. The Fed will buy $40 billion of mortgage debt each month until job growth picks up, a move that was greeted with enthusiasm by the financial markets Thursday with the Dow rallying 206

The Bay Area posted its strongest home sales for the month of August in six years, the result of low mortgage interest rates, an improving economy and increasing demand in mid- to move-up market segments. The median price paid for a home eased back a notch from June and July, but was well ahead of last year for the fifth consecutive month, a real estate information service reported.

The last phase of the home buying process is crucial. You have already taken care of the inspection and the like, but now you have to wrap it all up. Then, your entire home shopping process will finally pay off on closing day. As they say, “It’s time to bring it on home!” Hopefully, your settlement or escrow process has moved forward without hitting any major snags. But at this point you need to review these ten last-minute tips for a smooth closing to make sure that you have covered all the bases. Ten Last-Minute Tips for a Smooth Closing  You reviewed your estimated closing twice already and are about to review the document a third and final time right before closing. Don’t wait until the last few days or hours. Check with the closing company to make sure the seller has stayed on schedule. If you have negotiated for repairs to be made by the seller, chances are he will wait until the last minute to do them. He will want to make sure all of your contingencies have

Home sales in the Bay Area rose on a year-over-year basis for the 13th month in a row in July, the result of increased mid- and up-market buying activity. The median price paid for a home was the highest since August 2008, a real estate information service reported. A total of 8,461 new and resale homes were sold in the nine-county Bay Area last month. That was down 1.4 percent from 8,577 the month before, and up 22.9 percent from 6,887 for July 2011. The decline from June is normal for the Bay Area summer season. July sales have varied from 6,666 in 1995 to 14,258 in 2004, while the average for all Julys since 1988, when DataQuick’s statistics start, is 9,371. “The market has really been lopsided the past couple of years, tilted toward low-end bargain chasing. Now it’s re-balancing, slowly, with increased activity in mid and move-up markets. But mortgage availability remains one of the big challenges in the Bay Area,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president. The median