I just got back from the Bay Area. Wow, the traffic is getting even worse up there. Looks like the Silicon Valley is on the rebound.

Housing prices are pretty crazy. I was in the East Bay, Pleasanton to be exact, and saw many $1M+ homes advertised.

What was most interesting was the gas prices. I saw as cheap as $1.84 for premium. Why are we paying so much on the Central Coast???????????

Here's the MLS activity from December 1st - today (3:31 PM);

New Listings - 479
Back on Market - 140
Price changed - 243
Contingent - 30
Pending - 497

Have a Happy Holiday!

Thx to Richard at www.slopages.com for sending me this article!

Standards and Poorer has rated San Luis Obispo as the #1 volatile housing market in the nation. Read the article, If the Bubble Bursts, here.

Note at the end it says:
"The report points out that the highest house values are on the coasts with California and the Northeast, and that these tend to be among the most volatile. But homeowners tempted to cash in their gains and move to a lower cost area might want to consider carefully; the index indicates that many of those same areas will also provide the best opportunity for growth."

The new Cal Poly student city is expected to open in 2008 (construction starting in early 2006). The development location is up in the Poly Canyon area. It's planned to have 2700 beds, a recreation center, laundry facilities, swimming pool, and sports bar. The breakdown on rooms are: 100 studio apartments, 250 2-bedroom, 500 four-bedroom. Two parking structures would handle 1900 parking spaces.

While this may sound like it may impact the local rental housing market, I think they are going to increase enrollment when they have this extra housing so it may not affect it.

There are currently 54 Single Family Residences (homes and condos) currently under $300K (most are condos):

- 17 in Santa Maria
- 4 in Atascadero
- 14 in Paso Robles
- 4 in Cuyama
- 5 in San Miguel
- 6 in Lake Naciemiento
- 3 in Shandon
- 1 in Los Osos

An article in today's Telegram Tribune talked about Templeton expecting to lose around 40 students each year over the next several years. They attribute this to the higher home prices in the area plus that it's a statewide trend too.

It looks like a new resort in Avila Valley got past its' first hurdle, a rezoning approval. The resort is planned to be built across the street from the Avila Valley Barn. They'll even offer bikes to guests which is nice since the Bob Jones Memorial Bike Path is close by. I don't know if the Sycamore Mineral Springs offers bikes for use already as it sounds like a good idea for a health resort.

The Coastal Commission gave it's approval to PG&E on the construction of the storage area of some of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant's waste material. For those of you reading this from out of the area...yes, we have a nuke plant in our backyard. This is a mandatory disclosure for real estate transactions, but most agents will assume you all already know about it.

I'm not really seeing any indications that we've hit the "bubble". Although it is the typical slow season, new listings are still going out at hefty prices. We'll know more after the new year if the inventory takes a big jump.

A 4 bedroom home on the 16th fairway of the San Luis Country Club came on the market. Asking price is $1.2M.

A 40 acre lot in Nipomo came on the market for $2.5M. It was part of a 100 acre citrus and avocado orchard that's being split. 3 homes can be built on this parcel.

Here's the MLS Activity for November 2004 (entire Central Coast):

New Listings - 764
Back on Market - 194
Price Change - 410
Pending - 668
Contingent - 48