Archive for May, 2008

West Valley School Scores Support Strong Housing Market Demand

Posted in May 29th, 2008

Click >here for the latest school API scores now available from the State for Silicon Valley.
Saratoga elementary schools all ranked very high: Argonaut (969), Foothill (945) and Saratoga (952); Redwood middle school is also high (951).
Los Gatos elementary schools were not far behind with Blossom Hill (918), Daves (879), Louise Van Meter (879); and Fisher Middle (879).
All but [...]

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More Signals The Bottom Has Occurred?

Posted in May 26th, 2008

by Rick Bonetti in Market Trends

Information from Dataquick, reported last Friday by the Mercury News, indicates that home sales in Silicon Valley in April 2008 were up 33% over March 2008, although they were still down 27% from April 2007 and the current median of $699,500 is down 12.9% from the prior year.
Taken by itself, this information of a month to [...]

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County Property Tax Reassessment Procedures

Posted in May 9th, 2008

by Rick Bonetti in General

There has been much media attention about declining property values. As a result I am starting to be asked if it makes sense to appeal for a reassessment of property values. Here are some basics to get you started:
The lien date for the assessment of property on the assessment roll is 12:01 AM, on January 1 of each year. Homeowners [...]

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Mortgage Rates to Move Up as The Election Race Heats Up

Posted in May 9th, 2008

by Rick Bonetti in Market Trends

The federal reserve lowered the prime rate to 5.0% last week, but the market did not react strongly leaving the longer term interest rate coupons largely unchanged week on week – the current rate for 30 year fixed, fully amortized, non-conforming home loan is 6.875%; jumbo loans ($418-729K) are at 6.5%; and conforming loans (<$417K) are [...]

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Reserve Funding for Homeowners Associations

Posted in May 5th, 2008

by Rick Bonetti in Market Trends

Homeowners Associations in California are not required by law to fully fund reserves for upkeep, repair or replacement of various parts of common areas (which for a condominium usually means everything other than what is actually within the defined air space of the condominium itself), but they must disclose their methodology for forecasting and they must have the funds [...]

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