The Artisan Group is a strategic alliance of locally-owned, high image real estate companies who have joined forces to create a greater level of service for our clients. We offer individualized local service through an expanded network of professional, meticulously managed real estate brokerages. Our dedication to building relationships in the local and extended communities is a time-proven asset to our clients. Through our alliances, we are able to provide top-quality service in an expanded market area.

No matter where you decide to buy or sell, we connect you with an agent from a company that offers you the personalized service you expect. The Artisan Group agents know the neighborhoods, schools, shopping, zoning, and commuting conditions that are relevant to buying a home in any community of the greater San Francisco Bay Area and Lake Tahoe region.

Here are a few of the Luxury Listings with the Artisan Group:

Paragon Real Estate // San Francisco

336 17th Avenue, San Francisco (Central Richmond)
$1,749,000
http://www.paragon-re.com/ParagonListingDetail.aspx?ID=2911

2777 Pine Street, San Francisco (Lower Pacific Heights)
$1,850,000
http://www.paragon-re.com/ParagonListingDetail.aspx?ID=2924

Paragon consistently achieves the highest average sales-price-to-original-list-price percentage & the lowest average days-on-market of the top 10 brokerages, when acting as listing agent.

When even a half percentage point in sales price equals thousands of dollars…

Paragon agents average 1.5% – 5.5% above other top SF brokers and 9.5% above the city’s overall average sales-price-to-original-list-price percentage of 88%.

Typically, when a buyer feels a sense of urgency to act quickly, they also offer more money. And when multiple buyers feel a sense of urgency, they bid against each other.

Paragon’s average days-on-market figure as listing agent is 5 weeks below the city average of 92 days.

Home sales include houses, condos, co-ops, tenancies in common, and 2-4 unit buildings. Sales over $3 are often confidential and distort the averages.

Hire an agent who knows how to: Price it correctly. Prepare it thoroughly. Market it comprehensively. Negotiate offers effectively. Protect your interests aggressively. It can make a difference of many tens of thousands of dollars.

Values Rose Slightly in San Diego, Fell Modestly in Los Angeles and San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 23, 2010 – Luxury home values in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco began firming at the end of 2009, according to the First Republic Prestige Home Index™ by First Republic Bank, a leading provider of private banking and wealth management services.

In the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2009, the Index indicated the following:

• Los Angeles area values fell 12.9% over the past year and dropped 0.9% from the third quarter of 2009. The average luxury home in Los Angeles is now $2.01 million.
• San Diego area values dropped 12.2% year-over-year and rose 0.8% from the third quarter of 2009. The average luxury home in San Diego is now $1.70 million.
• San Francisco Bay Area values decreased 14.5% over the past year and declined 0.4% from the third quarter of 2009. The average luxury home in San Francisco is now $2.51 million.

“On a year-over-year basis, prices continued to fall sharply, but market conditions improved slightly from the third quarter of 2009 to the fourth quarter of 2009,” said Katherine August-deWilde, President and Chief Operating Officer of First Republic Bank.

“Please join Plan C at 8:15AM on Wednesday, Feb. 3, on the City Hall steps for a rally to support condo conversion reform! As many of you know, the condo lottery drawing happens at 9AM on February 3, and we’ll be done in time for you to attend the lottery itself.

You may have read within the last few months in the Chronicle and in the Examiner that the mayor’s office is considering again the possibility of a condo-lottery bypass initiative for qualifying TIC owners.

SF made it into the top 10 cities to buy in based upon a study done by Forbes magazine:

10 Cities Where It’s Smarter to Buy

For people who want to own a home, the premium to buy—the spread between what they’d spend to rent and what they’d pay for a mortgage—is much lower than the 15-year average in many cities.

To determine what cities are smart buys, Forbes magazine computed the premium and also identified locales where economists predict home prices will go up the most over the next five years.

Here are the top 10 cities the magazine chose as the best places to buy right now.

1. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.
2. Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C.
3. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.
4. Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
5. Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, Colo
6. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis.
7. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md.
8. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.-Wash.
9. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif.
10. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.V.

In 2009, its 5th year in business, Paragon…

• #3 in unit sales
• #4 in dollar volume sales
• Lowest in Days on Market as Listing Agent (of top 10 brokerages)
• Highest Sales Price to original List Price percentage as Listing Agent (of top 10)
• Average home sales price: $929,000

Don’t worry!  This is easy to read. 

NAR Homebuyer Tax Credit Chart: published by the National Association of Realtors, this is a great synopsis of the latest version of the Homebuyer Tax Credit that has been approved by the government. 

There is now a provision for a “homebuyer,” not just “first-time homebuyers.”  As with anything, there are restrictions and limitations.  Take a peek and call me with any questions.

Below are links to wide variety of online resources pertinent to San Francisco real estate. Hope you find them useful.

• SF Market Trends in Charts (updated bi-monthly)
• SF Median Prices & Average Dollar per Square Foot (Nov 2009)
• What Costs How Much Where: Recent SF Home Sales (Oct 2009)
• SF REO & Short Sale Analysis (Sept 2009)
• The SF Home Market Under $750,000 (Sept 2009)
• The SF Luxury Home Market (Aug 2009)
• Appreciation & Depreciation of SF Real Estate since 1995
• SF Market Statistics by Zip Code (updated weekly)
• Who is San Francisco? SF Demographics
• Characteristics of a Good Real Estate Agent
• When is the Time to Buy?
• Mortgage, Refinance & Rent vs. Own Calculators
• Additional Online Resources for Living in San Francisco

Please note some neighborhoods have had very few sales.  Conclusions could be hard to draw because of this.

1995 to Present: SF Median Home Prices (PDF)