The Berkeley Hills are home to amazing city views, old money and a veritable fleet of Priuses. Oh, and some pretty amazing homes with pretty amazing views.

Prices have held up better than most parts of the Bay Area, since the area remains very desirable. Even though affordability isn’t the best in Berkeley, as you go up the hill, further from downtown, BART and San Francisco, you can pick up a pretty
sweet home without breaking the bank.

Like this one.

A full-sized basketball court, amazing city views and a retro style with modern upgrades. The exterior could use a little TLC, and the master bedroom shares a bathroom with what could be the kids’ rooms, so the home isn’t perfect, but it’s a pretty unique setting up there on the hill.

There’s little question about the house itself –  but is it priced
well enough to be a deal??

DEAL or NO DEAL?

Address: 1305 Campus Dr, Berkeley, CA 94708 (MLS Listing)
Status: ACTIVE
Bedrooms: 3; Bathrooms: 2
Living Space: 1,575 sq ft
Lot Size: 13,622 sq ft
List Date: 6/05/2009
Original List Price: $759,000
Current List Price: $759,000
MLS number: 40413400

Real Estate Agent Comment: Unique, architect-designed hm with fabulous GG Bridge views. Huge lot with level backyard. Bdrms, living & dining room all open to the outdoors making the separation between the outside and inside disappear. Great location just a few minutes from N. Berk. shops & Tilden Prk. Peaceful retreat

DEAL or NO DEAL?
Comment below and tell us what you think!

This post first appeared on Minyanville.

It appears even the embattled homebuilding industry is getting rosy-eyed, finding enough “green shoots” of economic recovery to stick their shovels back into the ground.

In May, US builders broke ground on 17.2% more projects than in April, far exceeding analysts’ expectations. Work on new apartment buildings leaped, while single-family starts continued what’s now become a 3-month rally.

Although the aggregate figure is still well off last year’s rate, economists are breathing a sigh of relief that the worst of the housing market swoon could be behind us. Skeptics, however, are quick to point out that any recovery could be muted, as high levels of inventory, a weak labor market, and mortgage rates that just won’t seem to stay down, could forestall any recovery.

As Kenneth Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, told the New York Times, “There’s a real possibility [housing starts] will just stall at a low level. If the recent jump in interest rates is sustained, that could choke off buyer enthusiasm for new homes.”

For nearly 4 years, the business of building and selling homes has been, in a word, lousy. As home prices tumbled, the likes of KB Home (KBH), Toll Brothers (TOL) and Lennar (LEN) slashed prices, offered generous incentives, and otherwise bent over backwards to unload inventory. Building all but stalled, jacking up unemployment — particularly in exurbs and sprawling communities whose economies were largely based on the construction trade. An industry that grew fat during the boom was forced to slim down, lay off workers, and hibernate, while the market’s violent correction ran its course.

And although a host of small builders have closed up shop, to date, no major US homebuilder has gone under. Consolidation, too, has been scant. The only merger of note was Pulte Home’s (PHM) purchase of Centex (CTX), a marriage that, once consummated, will create the country’s largest builder.

The outlook for those builders that remain — builders that are bleeding cash while pleading with creditors to extend loan terms and waive busted covenants — is bleak. Last week, the National Association of Homebuilders/Wells Fargo Builder Sentiment Survey ticked down after rising far more than expected the month before. Higher interest rates are mostly to blame, as the specter of bigger monthly payments is quelling optimism that the housing market is on the mend.

The reality — an unfortunate one for builders and their employees — is that for the foreseeable future, their services aren’t needed in this country; we have too many homes as it is. Demand for new ones remains weak as communities just a decade old slip into disrepair, and shoddy craftsmanship and half-finished developments scare off prospective buyers.

Builders are also fouling up the nascent housing “recovery” by turning recently completed condominium units into rentals. Even as demand wanes thanks to job losses and tighter budgets, rental inventory is rising. Rents, as a result, are falling. This is great news for tenants, eager to jump on affordable apartments, but bad news for landlords and even homeowners.

One of the most popular arguments posited by housing-market-bottom callers is that in some of the hardest hit areas, prices have gotten so low that investors can scoop up cheap homes and rent them for an attractive return. What they neglect to mention, however, is that this sort of market-clearing activity also increases the supply of rental units, further pressuring home prices. Even in the worst, most washed-out areas, a bottom remains elusive.

Address: 140 Antonette Dr. Tiburon, CA (MLS Listing)
List Date: 05/26/2009
Current List Price: $8,500,000
Original List Price: $8,500,000

* 5 bedroom, 5.5 bathroom, 7,123 sqft living area, 1.23 acres
* Huge circle drive
* At the end of a cul-de-sac, private setting
* Agents comments – “Recently compltd w/state-of-the-art technology (inc. elevator … ” (I mean really, for $8.5 million you could hit the spell check, right?)

When exactly did an elevator become state of the art technology?  1950s?

The thought here is … this is the worst day to have this view and it still isn’t that bad

When I look at this picture, I am thinking one thing … time to replace those chairs.

A daily list of the stories YOU should be reading.

5. Even though we dont deserve it (dont try to say we do, we’ve had a negative savings rate for the last ten years), it looks like the US will be keeping our AAA credit rating.

4. The core consumer price index is up a little (0.1%, about as little as it can be up) for the month of May.

3. Foreclosures are starting to hit the California marketplace again after a months long pause due to foreclosure moratoria.

2. Mortgage applications continue to falter, now at a seven month low.

1. In today’s news thats not really news, a neighbor’s foreclosure will negatively affect your home’s value.  What was that you were saying about not wanting to bailout the guy down the street?

Address: 175 Bonita Ave. Redwood City, CA (MLS Listing)
List Date: 03/16/2009
Current List Price: $899,000
Original List Price: $1,029,000

* 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 2,650 sqft living area, 7,500 sqft lot
* Very good curb appeal
* One of the newer homes in the area (21 years old)
* Sweet deck in the back

Good curb appeal with dual garage

No word on whether the pool table comes with the home

Nothing quite like a deck

A daily list of the stories YOU should be reading.

5. Finally, I don’t have to pay off my credit card anymore.

4. Exactly what the country needs … more houses.

3. The people that got it right in 2008 are betting on hyperinflation.

2. What exactly is a Bing?

1. Did the lack of success with the first loan MODs ruin it for everyone else? Sure seems that way.

Homebuilders remain cautious, as rising mortgage rates and persistent unemployment weighed on hopes for a speedy recovery in the battered housing market. Today’s National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder confidence fell to 15, down from 16 last month, according to Bloomberg. Analysts expected the reading to come in at 17.

The NAHB chief economist, David Crowe said “The housing market continues to bump along trying to find a bottom. Builders are taking their cue from consumers, who remain uncertain about the economy and their own situation.”

As discussed at length here at Cirios, buyers should largely ignore calls in the media and real estate industry for a housing market “bottom.” Markets do not bottom at once, so a bottom in nationwide housing data will mean little for individual markets. At Cirios we do street-level, house by house analysis to identify micro-trends within local housing markets — have a question about your market?

Contact us today for a free consultation!

This post first appeared on Minyanville.

It’s the government, stupid.

As Washington expands its role in managing the day-to-day operations of American business, companies are increasingly turning their strategic focus to tapping federal cash and lending programs. And despite the strings often attached to government money, many are finding that Uncle Sam is the only game in town during these troubled economic times.

This morning’s Wall Street Journal highlights just how essential lawmakers and regulators have become in America’s new breed of government-directed capitalism. Hunting retailers, farm-equipment manufacturers, and, of course, banks (Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Wells Fargo (WFC)) and insurance companies are all sidling up to the government trough.

And even as public opinion slowly turns against bureaucrats’ massive intervention into the private economy, Washington insiders are raking in piles of cash. According to the Journal, spending on lobbyists in 2009 could reach $3.3 billion, equal to the total during the 2008 election year. And for good reason: Without representation in Washington, companies just can’t compete.

After the financing arm of Deere & Co. (DE) tapped the FDIC to guarantee $2 billion in debt last December, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, a trade group, leapt into action to protect other members. Deere rivals, including Caterpillar (CAT) and a host of smaller firms, weren’t eligible for government-supported debt issuances, so the group’s president asked the Federal Reserve to expand the Troubled Asset Lending Facility to include sales of farm equipment and other machinery.

The Fed acquiesced; the agricultural industry must also be too big to fail.

But not every company has the ear of the Washington power brokers, leaving those forced to go it alone at a distinct disadvantage. Credit is already precious for small businesses, and what little they do have is far more expensive than that of their larger, better-connected rivals. This doesn’t bode well for an economy struggling to drag itself out of recession, since small businesses account for the lion’s share of job growth on the other side of a downturn.

The eventual recovery, which a growing number of optimists predict is just around the corner, could yield a bitter pill for corners of the economy still heavily dependent on government handouts. Although lawmakers vow to support systemically vital companies and industries for as long as needed, at some point Washington must try to take back what it has so generously given.

Witness the market for home loans, where government purchases of mortgage-backed securities have helped keep rates abnormally low. Even without the Fed dumping its Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) bond portfolio onto the market, rates have risen sharply in the past month, threatening to forestall the nascent “recovery” in the housing market.

Were the Fed to pull back its support of the housing market, rates would skyrocket. This would be politically — not to mention economically — unacceptable.

And while the ideological debate rages over whether Washington bureaucrats are becoming too entrenched in the American economy, businessmen and -women still must get up each morning, head to work, and try to stay above water. And — insofar as lobbying for government money outstrips developing new technologies or innovating, producing and otherwise generating economic output — the economy suffers.

And green shoots or no, this economy already has enough cards stacked against it.

Address: 1518 Woolsey St., Berkeley, CA (MLS Listing)
List Date: 06/10/2009
Current List Price: $425,000
Original List Price: $425,000

* 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1,035 sqft living area, 4,296 sqft lot
* Recently remodeled, close to Ashyby BART
* Move-in ready home, affordable
* Looks like the landscaping leaves a little to be desired, no lawn

Pleasant looking entrance

Updated kitchen, pretty standard

At least the watering bill won’t be too big, but where will the children play?