Ms. San Francisco Real Estate (Janice Lee)

Here in the Bay Area we’ve seen a recovery in the housing market for some time now. Things began to turn around in earnest last year and really have gained traction in 2012. But now as spring is in full bloom, it seems that other parts of the state and nation are getting in on the act. “Green shoots” are evident in cities that previously were showing little signs of life, creating optimism among many industry observers. In a recent news report on NPR, reporter Yuki Noguchi said the mild spring has brought buyers out earlier than usual, and real estate agents are busy around the country. Noguchi interviewed one agent whose clients recently signed a deal on a $1.5 million house in Cape Cod that was notable for several reasons. First, it closed very quickly – “the buyers didn’t hem or haw about the decision,” the agent said. Also, it crossed the million-dollar price threshold, something he hasn’t seen since 2007. The agent says many of his high-end Wall Street clients...

La Jolla, CA.--March home sales in the Bay Area were at their highest level for that month in five years, the result of lower prices, low interest rates and an improving economy. Prices appeared to be leveling off across more of the region and may be poised to start inching back up in the stronger submarkets, a real estate information service reported. Last month 7,694 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area, up 34.9 percent from 5,702 in February, and up 9.1 percent from 7,051 in March 2011, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. The February to March sales jump is normal for the season. Last month’s sales count was the highest for the month of March since 8,317 homes were sold in 2007. Since 1988, March sales have ranged from 4,898 in 2008 to 12,645 in 2004. The average is 8,812. “This is the time of year when buying patterns usually start to normalize. And while the changes we’re seeing are incremental, they’re incremental in ...

The 30-year mortgage rate averaged 3.88% for the week ending April 12, 2012, down from 3.98% last week, and the 15-year rate averaged a new all-time record low of 3.11%, according to data from Freddie Mac released on Thursday. The drop, which was the third consecutive weekly decline, comes as long-term Treasury bond yields fell after a weaker than expected employment report for March, according to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist, Freddie Mac. The weekly data have become a checking in point for those looking to call a bottom in the great housing debate.  The Daily Ticker sums it up:   "Housing bulls point to a stabilization of prices in many metro areas, overall sales at a 5-year high, a decline in the inventory of homes for sale, fewer foreclosures and record levels of affordability ... Bears note that national home prices are still falling, albeit at a slower pace, while buying a home is unthinkable for millions of Americans suffering from bad credit, toug...