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D.G.W.
Bay Area real estate sales are booming LOCAL JULY NUMBERS HIGHEST SINCE 2005
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f you’re planning on purchasing a home in the Bay Area soon, you may be up against steep competition. According to San Diego-based company DataQuick, house and condo sales throughout the Bay Area in July were the highest since 2005. A total of 9,339 sales were finalized, up 13.3 percent from July 2012, when 8,241 homes were sold, according to DataQuick. The sales were at its highest since 12,538 homes sold in July 2005, the data company stated. The spike in sales was most evident in Santa Clara County, where 2,244 homes were sold, 26.1 percent more than the 1,779 from July last year. In San Francisco, 718 homes sold last month, up 31.3 percent from last July’s 547 sales. Solano County was the only Bay Area county that recorded fewer sales this July from last, totaling a
HOSPITAL
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sharper distinction has now been drawn between the hospital and the taxpayer-funded hospital district. Before, the hospital was named El Camino Hospital and the district was named the El Camino Hospital District, and both entities shared a single website. Now, the district has changed its name to the El Camino Healthcare District and it no longer shares a website with the hospital. According to Abe-Koga, money collected by the healthcare district used to essentially be funneled directly into the hospital corporation. Once there, officials promised that they only used they taxpayergenerated funds for capital improvements and community benefits projects as the law requires. However, because there was no sharp dividing line, many questioned whether that money might be used for other purposes. Now, the district keeps a very separate set of books, and instead of sending tax dollars directly to the hospital’s capital improvement and community benefit funds, the hospital corporation now has to formally request funds from the district, according to Abe-Koga. “We were very pleased that
0.8 percent decrease, from 610 last year to 605 last month. With the rise in sales, the median price of homes in the Bay Area has also increased, reaching its highest price in more than five and a half years. In July, the median price was $562,000, the highest since December 2007 when homes were averaging a price tag of roughly $587,500, according to DataQuick. Twelve months ago, the median price of homes in the ninecounty region was 33.5 percent less, averaging roughly $421,000 per sale. All counties throughout the Bay Area recorded an increase in median sale prices, but none more than in Contra Costa County, which had its median sale price rise nearly 43 percent from $308,000 to $440,000, according to DataQuick. —Bay City News Service
the district took LAFCO’s recommendations seriously,” AbeKoga said. “Overall things are looking much better than they did a year ago.” In addition to Abe-Koga’s endorsement, the district also received a certificate acknowledging their efforts to increase transparency from the Special District Leadership Foundation. The SDLF, an organization composed of leaders from special districts from all over California, gave the district its District Transparency Certificate of Excellence — recognizing the district for taking a number of steps to improve its openness. Those steps included putting all of its board members through an ethics training course, adopting official policies for dealing with public records act requests, conducting annual audits and making sure policies are in place to prevent conflicts of interest. “This award is a true testament to the hard work and collaboration between the district and our community over the past several years,” ECHD Chair Patricia Einarson said in a press release. “As a publicly accountable organization, we are committed to being open and transparent about activities and decisions impacting district residents.”
Est. 1985
Auctioneers & Appraisers 760 Kifer Road Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Phone: (408) 245-1863 Fax: (408) 245-1283 Email: dgw@dgwauctioneers.com Web: www.dgwauctioneers.com
Fine Estates Auction Saturday, September 21, 2013 10:00am Preview: Friday, September 20th 1:00pm - 8:00pm Saturday, September 21st 8:30am - 10:00am
Consignments Now Being Accepted for our September 21st On-line Fine Estates Auction
Sterling Silver, including this R.W. Wallace, 154 piece Flatware Service Marc Chagall (French/Russian, 1887-1985) Color lithograph, limited edition: #43/50 The Ride, 1970
Items Accepted for Consignment Include: s Silver & Gold s *EWELRY s 7ATCHES #LOCKS s &INE !RT s #RYSTAL 0ORCELAIN s &IREARMS s &INE WINES s !NTIQUES s -ODERN &URNITURE s %LECTRONICS s 4OOLS s #OLLECTIBLES s !SIAN !RT s 6EHICLES
Fine Jewelry and watches (library photo)
Asian Objets d’art, Jade, Porcelain and Furniture (library photo)
Marc Chagall (French Russian, 1887-1985) Color lithograph, limited edition: #40/50 Le Grand Bouquet
Owen Smith, (American, 1964-) Oil on paper board, The New Yorker Cover March 31, 2003 signed lower left O Smith
Fine Wines (library photo)
Fine Crystal, including this German Silver and Etched Glass 4-bottle Decanter Set
Modern and Collectible Cars, Motorcycles, Boats, and other Vehicles (library photo) Vintage, Modern, & Collector Firearms (library photo)
Reach an International Audience Online bidding available at:
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D.G.W. Auctioneers & Appraisers Email: dgw@dgwauctioneers.com Website: www.dgwauctioneers.com
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August 23, 2013 ■ Mountain View Voice ■ MountainViewOnline.com ■
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