Press Releases

San Mateo, CA-The San Mateo County Association of REALTORS (SAMCAR) has announced that the association is participating in the REALTOR(R) Nationwide Open House event Saturday, April 10 and Sunday, April 11. The nationwide effort is to increase consumer awareness of the benefits of buying a home and give sellers an opportunity to increase the exposure for their home for sale. Most importantly, the open house event is a collective effort on behalf of SAMCAR and its participating members to continue to spread the word about the expanded first-time homebuyer and long-term homebuyer tax credits, which end April 30. Qualified buyers wishing to take advantage of the credits, which provide up to $8,000 for first-time homebuyers and up to $6,500 for existing homeowners, must enter into a contract by April 30 and close no later than June 30.

On Saturday, January 10th at the Hyatt Regency in Burlingame, the San Mateo County Association of REALTORS(R) held its annual Installation and Awards event. The event, attended by 200 real estate professionals, served to install the incoming Association President, Olivia Edwards, McGuire Real Estate and the 2009 SAMCAR Board of Directors. The evening also included recognition of outstanding SAMCAR members who have dedicated themselves to the success of organized real estate and to the community...

San Bruno-Getting into the holiday giving spirit, members of the San Mateo Association of REALTORS® held their 2nd annual coat drive and live auction to benefit the “Coats For Kids” program. The REALTORS® and affiliates, who were gathered for their weekly tour meeting, raised $3080 in thirty minutes at their live auction. They also donated 50 coats and jackets for children of all ages

The San Mateo Association of REALTORS® Foundation offered to match whatever the real estate professionals were able to raise up to $2500, effectively raising $5,580 to help ensure a warm winter for children in our community.

“Our REALTORS and affiliates were extremely generous with their donations and the amount of coats they donated. In fact, we raised more money this year, than we did last year at our Inaugural “Coats for Kids” holiday event,” stated Jennifer Tasto, SAMCAR 2009 President-Elect and co-organizer of the auction.

Now in its 12th year, the “Coats for Kids” program is coordinated by San Bruno Garbage Company and the City of San Bruno.

San Mateo, CA - Bay Area real estate practitioners, service providers, other experts in the real estate industry, including government officials, will once again gather for the second annual Bay Area Multicultural Real Estate Summit this fall.

This year’s summit will be held Friday, September 26th, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Union City. In keeping with its theme, “Empowering the Real Estate Professional” this year’s summit will feature education classes, a luncheon and keynote speakers, Jeff Davi, Commissioner California Department of Real Estate and Rebecca Gallardo, National Chairman, National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. A networking reception will be held at the conclusion of the day’s events.

This year’s summit includes 17 organizing associations - the Asian Real Estate Association of East Bay, Chinese American Real Estate Association, Chinese Real Estate Association of America, Filipino American Real Estate Professionals Association, National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals of Alameda County, San Francisco and Silicon Valley, South Asian Real Estate Association of America, eight REALTOR® associations - Bay East Association of REALTORS®, Berkeley Association of REALTORS®, California Association of REALTORS®, Contra Costa Association of REALTORS®, San Francisco Association of REALTORS®, San Mateo County Association of REALTORS®, Santa Clara County Association of REALTORS®, Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS®, and Fidelity National Financial.

The summit is supported by the National Association of REALTORS® with a Diversity Grant and has the following sponsors: Platinum: Wells Fargo Home Mortgage; Gold: Bank of America and Property ID; Silver: First Reliance Escrow; Corporate: Key Point Credit Union and Bank of the West; Business: Oakland Association of REALTORS® and Bankers Exchange Services.

The San Mateo County Association of REALTORS® (SAMCAR) indicates that sales of existing homes are showing signs improvement. In recent quarters there has been a drop in the median home price. In the first quarter, the median price was $900,000; in the second quarter, it was $872,500. However, SAMCAR strongly believes that by all indicators, the drop in market prices will soon end, triggering a rise in demand, with supply remaining stable.

In previous years, real estate agents faced record low transaction volume. The San Mateo County market saw a low of 152 closed single-family home transactions in January of 2008. Since then, closed transaction volume has increased each month, with 212 in February; 274 in March; 346 in April; 356 in May; and 375 in June, 2008.

For more statistical information regarding sales homes throughout San Mateo County, please visit SAMCAR’s web site at: http://www.samcar.org/index.cfm/sales_statistics.htm.