April 2019 Market Update – Presented by Sterling Homes

As your trusted real estate experts, we feel it’s our duty to give you, our valued client, all the information you need to better understand the complex San Francisco real estate market. Whether you’re buying or selling, we want to make sure you have the best, most pertinent information, so we’ve put together this monthly analysis breaking down specifics about the market. It’s all part of our mission to give you the very best in personalized service. We would love to know what you think!

– Anna Spathis & Dennis Stavropoulos, DRE #01416042 / DRE #01830850

Oh, BEFORE WE FORGET TO ASK…
Please introduce us to someone you know who is thinking of selling. Inventory is low – this is a good time to sell.

Welcome to our April newsletter. In this month’s issue we spotlight:

• Interest rates. In March we saw the largest single-day drop in the 30-year fixed mortgage interest rate in 10 years. This gives homebuyers a big boost to their wallets during the spring season.
• The Lyft IPO
• The latest market trends in the San Francisco housing market

While a lot has happened in the last month, the major headline is that 30-year mortgage rates continue to plummet. In the last week of March, they had their biggest weekly drop in a decade. This creates a huge affordability window for homebuyers and homeowners.

Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.06% in the last week – a massive drop of 22 basis points from the previous week’s rate of 4.28%.

30-year fixed mortgage rates are now hovering closer to the same level as the summer of 2017 at 3.8%. During that time the housing market was hot. Low rates were helping home buyers finance more expensive houses, and sellers were able to ask higher prices. This is a big change from the end of 2018. Rates went up as high as 5% last November.

30-year fixed mortgage rates are now hovering closer to the same level as the summer of 2017 at 3.8%.

First, let’s explore why rates fell. The reason is because the Federal Reserve cut its growth forecast for the economy and signaled that it would not do any more of its own rate hikes in 2019. Looking ahead at through 2021, we think rates will continue to stay low until at least 2020 when the Fed plans to raise its interest rate by a quarter of a point.

This means the Fed sees things slowing down in some areas of the country and in some sectors of the economy. For that, however, the Fed must be looking in markets other than San Francisco; San Francisco has one of the most vibrant economies in the US. Even though last month’s unemployment figures did tick up slightly, we still have one of the lowest unemployment rates nationwide. The Fed considers an unemployment rate of between 5.2% to 6% to be the long term stable rate. Areas that have unemployment rates below this should see increasing wage growth. San Francisco’s unemployment rate is 2.6%. The combination of a strong local economy and lower mortgage rates is going to create a robust housing market throughout 2019.

To better illustrate the impact that low rates are going to have on 2019, let’s back up in time. Starting in 2011 and coming out of a steep recessionary decline, San Francisco saw seven full years of price increases. Most of the greater area counties saw prices that either matched or exceeded the frothy pre-recession prices of 2007. San Francisco’s housing market hit a wall in 2018, and much of it was driven by interest rates finally moving upward. This was enough to send the long term 12-month rolling average of the median home price in San Francisco into decline. The rate rise was the single greatest contributor to a number of factors: home prices falling, inventory decreasing, and homes taking longer to sell. Last month single family home prices were down 11% since their April 2018 highs.

The drop in rates is beginning to reverse the late 2018 trends and put us back in line with the price growth we’ve seen since 2011.

Now in 2019, the drop in rates is beginning to reverse the late 2018 trends and put us back in line with the price growth we’ve seen since 2011. This brings good news. The historical rate drop in March is welcome to home sellers and buyers alike because everyone wins when rates drop as significantly as they have. It gives homeowners an opportunity to refinance. It increases property values. Most of all, it gives homebuyers a big boost to their wallets when looking to purchase a home.

Here is some exciting math. Using the median sales price of a single family home in San Francisco, the decrease saves homeowners an average of almost $1000 per month or about a 15% decrease in their monthly payment.

That kind of money is substantial. Potential buyers who are holding off on purchasing a home because of higher rates should remember rates are again near all-time historical lows. It is a good time to buy.

Let’s take a look at home price movements through March of this year. San Francisco is prone to price movements that are wider than other areas in the US. On the Median Sale Price chart below you can see the sharp decline in price from January of 2018 through January of 2019. That reversed in February when prices ticked up. This data corresponds with interest rates. Single family homes appreciated 11% month-to-month and 20% over the last 60 days. Condos increased 8% month-to-month and almost 25% over the last 60 days. That is tremendous price growth. Year-over-year, prices are now in the black, and once again, they are near historical highs.

This data suggests that March’s historical drop in interest rates will usher in even higher prices in the spring months. Homebuyers’ incomes will go further, and the competition for homes will push prices up. If prices are moving fast enough and Days on Market continues to decrease, homebuyers will need to be strategic in making their offers. This is where guidance from an agent, highly aware of the competitive landscape, offers an advantage.

Looking at this past month, let’s take a look at Active Listings, which tells us how much outstanding housing inventory is on the market. Normally active listings bottom out in December and then rise steadily through the spring months. In March, however, active listings fell from its February inventory level. This is another signal that housing inventory is tightening. The data suggests that homebuyers waiting to purchase a home took advantage of the low rates and took some of the inventory off the market.

To conclude with our discussion on interest rates, lower rates mean homebuyers can stretch their money further. However, it also means that the market is heating up again, and homes are selling faster. Buyers will need to act quickly.

Rounding out March, let’s discuss the other big event from last month: Lyft’s IPO.

Lyft went public in the end of March. The stock jumped 12% during the first day of trading and then pulled back during the most recent trading days. Its stock price is down into the $60’s but is stable enough at the moment to be a good indicator that the other tech companies expected to IPO this year will do well. This includes Uber, AirBnB, Pinterest, and Slack. Another indicator that it will be another heavy IPO year is that the S&P 500 is strong and nearing its 2018 highs. When the overall market is doing well, it encourages private companies to list.

These IPO’s will put even more upward pressure on local home prices because the IPOs create a huge influx of cash. These companies and many of their employees are located in the Bay Area. Look for their stock options to vest within six months to a year after their company’s IPO.

Homebuyers who live in areas with a higher concentration of tech employees from companies planning to IPO this year may want to consider beating the rush. Facebook’s IPO in 2012 raised home values by 25% in some neighborhoods located within Menlo Park and Palo Alto. While the impact on San Francisco was smaller, it still created an uptick in housing prices throughout 2012 and 2013. As we pointed out in our February newsletter, the IPOs will create approximately 5,000-10,000 new millionaires in the Bay Area. This influx of liquid wealth will affect the luxury housing and condo markets with high end condos expected to be most affected.

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