Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious:
OAKLAND’S UPTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S GREATEST
Oakland’s hip, happening Uptown neighborhood is once again garnering national attention. After being named one the top places to visit in the world by The New York Times in 2012, the American Planning Association has declared that Uptown is one of the 10 great neighborhoods in the United States.
Calling Uptown the Bay Area’s “premier arts and entertainment district,” the APA points to the revitalized Fox Theater and Art Deco cinema Paramount Theater as cornerstones of the neighborhood’s cultural scene. The organization’s report also mentions Uptown’s monthly First Friday Festival as another neighborhood highlight.
What else makes Uptown one of the top neighborhoods in the country? Access to public transportation and freeways, says APA, noting Uptown’s easy access to both.
THREE BAY AREA CITIES DEEMED SMARTEST IN U.S.
Access to some of the country’s most prestigious educational institutions are a big draw for many Bay Area homebuyers, so it comes as little surprise that three of our local suburbs have been named as among the nation’s brainiest.
According to a study by real estate classified ads operator Movoto, Berkeley ranks as the No. 3 smartest suburb in the country, based on a combination of factors such as universities per capita, percentage of residents with bachelor’s degrees, and GreatSchools.org. rating. Movoto notes that Berkeley has the most colleges per capita in the U.S.
Santa Clara County’s Cupertino ranked as the sixth most intelligent American suburb, with the city’s students putting up the highest test scores in the country. The island city of Alameda rounded out Movoto’s top 10 list, earning points for its museum and library count.
ARE BAY AREA HOUSING MARKETS BUBBLING UP?
Home values across the country are 3 percent undervalued, according to a recent estimate from Trulia. But here in the Bay Area, home prices in our three largest cities are overvalued relative to fundamentals, the company says.
As calculated by Trulia, home prices in San Francisco were 12 percent overvalued in the third quarter, making it the fourth most overheated market in the U.S. San Jose and Oakland also made Trulia’s list of the top 10 overvalued markets, taking the seventh and 10th spots, respectively.
Even so, home prices in the three cities are nowhere near as overvalued as they were during the previous housing boom. Trulia says that in the first quarter of 2006, home prices were 67 percent overvalued in Oakland, 53 percent overvalued in San Jose, and 46 percent overvalued in San Francisco.
RATE OF SERIOUS DELINQUENCIES LOWEST SINCE 2008
Citing data from Fannie Mae, DSNews reports that serious delinquencies across the U.S. are at their lowest levels in almost six years.
The article says the amount of serious delinquencies – defined as those are three months behind on the mortgage or foreclosed – dropped to 1.99 percent in August, the lowest since October 2008. Serious delinquencies in the U.S. decreased from 2.00 percent from July and 2.61 percent from a year earlier.
DSNews says that serious delinquencies could fall below their baseline level of 1.0 percent by 2016.
(Image: Flickr/Evan Hamilton)