October 19, 2007 (LPAC)--The San Francisco Chronicle, from the front page of its Business section, awakened its readers on Friday, October 19, 2007:

Home Sales in Bay Area Crash to 20-Year Low

County        Number Sold  Percent Change   Median Price

Santa Clara   779          -39.0%           $775,000
Alameda       565          -51.8%           $599,500
Contra Costa  484          -55.8%           $585,000
San Mateo     371          -37.0%           $800,000
Sonoma        270          -37.2%           $522,500
San Francisco 229          -30.4%           $850,000
Solano        214          -52.2%           $399,000
Marin         158          -24.4%           $860,000
Napa           48          -49.5%           $521,000
Bay Area    3,113          -44.8%           $670,000

Figures are for sales of existing homes in 2007 compared with 2006 (A single year!)

In the accompanying report, Chronicle staff writer Carolyn Said blamed "tighter lending standards" which "walloped an already-declining market." Continuing, she quoted John Karevoll, "a DataQuick analyst" who told her: "The main factor in the September numbers is that the financing for jumbos dried up."

But, the worst part of the story, "Before a bank forecloses, desperate homeowners who are behind in their payments often try to unload the property as a 'short sale' for less than they owe on the mortgage," said Rob Chrisman, director of capital markets at NL Inc, a mortgage bank in Walnut Creek.

Don Forrester, a Realtor with Century 21 Housing Associates, again in Walnut Creek, shared his experience: he had shown a client "30-something [nearby] homes... at the price level of $356,000. Eighty percent were bank-owned foreclosures or short sales." Don exclaimed, "That was huge." [emphasis added]

This slug was submitted by Michael Moberg, an LPAC supporter and member in San Francisco, CA.