YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ward Winning News al A pa
Vol. 10, No. 3
Including Surrounding Communities
www.thepress.net
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January 15, 2010
THIS WEEK
Pseudo-seller’s market assessed Fit and by Dave Roberts Staff Writer It sounds like a contradiction, but strong arguments can be made that the East County housing market is both a seller’s market and a great time to buy. It’s a seller’s market because there is currently a limited supply of houses for sale, prices are no longer in free-fall and many sellers are receiving multiple offers above the asking price in bidding wars. Attractive houses at attractive prices are snapped up in fairly short order by eager buyers. On the other hand, buyers have a lot of things going for them right now: discounts of 50 percent or more on fairly new houses, $6,500-$8,000 federal tax incentives if they buy soon and interest rates near historic lows. “It’s a pseudo-sellers market,” said Shawn Beddingfield, broker associate with Coldwell Banker Amaral & Associates.
Photo by Dave Roberts
Ray Valverde, left, who is looking to buy, talks with Matthew Anderson of Coldwell Banker at an open house Saturday in Brentwood. “We went from a buyer’s market two to three years ago to where it switched over the last year to a pseudo-seller’s market. Technically speaking, it’s a seller’s
market. But because prices have come down so far, it’s still a buyer’s market.” It’s definitely a bonanza for bargain hunters, particu-
larly compared to what houses cost just a few years ago. In Brentwood, a five-bedroom Inverness Court house that sold for $820,000 in 2005 was recently picked up for $365,000. A threebedroom house on Morro Drive in Antioch that sold for $489,000 in 2006 was recently purchased for $182,000. A three-bedroom Discovery Bay house on Merritt Court that sold for $645,000 in 2006 was snapped up for $305,000 last month. In Oakley a four-bedroom house on Puffin Circle selling for $654,000 in 2006 recently went for $270,000. “I think the height of the market was four or five years ago,” said Beddingfield. “It took the first couple years to start trending downward. Two years ago and last year we had the inventory glut. It stabilized in the $500,000s and started coming down. The last 10 months to a year we have been below see Market page 9A
Council repeals Rosewood project rezone by Samie Hartley Staff Writer
In response to a petition organized by the Committee To Stop Rosewood, the Oakley City Council voted Tuesday night to rescind its decision to rezone the Rosewood development in order to comply with the city’s General Plan. The decision effectively puts on hold the proposed Rosewood Estates housing project off of Laurel Road. The Committee To Stop Rosewood petitioned the Council’s Oct. 13, 2009 decision to rezone 13.9 acres from a general agriculture district to a planned development district. The committee argued that the high-density houses allowed by the new zoning were not compatible with the existing neighborhood and therefore violated the General Plan. Since the committee’s peti-
“ Just to let you know, when these density projects come up again, the same groups of people are going to continue getting together until we get a General Plan rewrite because that’s what we want.
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Resident Paul Seger tion was legally verified by the Contra Costa County Elections Division, the council was required to either repeal its October decision or send the decision to the voters in an election that would have cost the city $28,218 to $91,708, depending on when the election was scheduled. The council voted 5-0 to nullify the rezone and address the topic at a later date. Discovery Builders originally planned to build 76 houses in Rosewood at roughly 3.8 to 5.5 houses per acre. Under the coun-
cil’s Tuesday decision, Discovery Builders must petition to rezone the land again if it wishes to proceed with the housing project. Discovery Builders representative Sal Evola told the council prior to its vote that he supported the decision to repeal the rezone and looked forward to working with the city and the community to find a compromise. “We are still dedicated to be working with staff on this project,” Evola said. “We heard a lot of good comments at the Oct. 28
What’s up?
community meeting as well as the night in which you approved the zoning when you did not approve the tentative map, which told me you weren’t going to approve the maximum density. “I don’t plan on coming back again at that maximum density. I do commit to continue working with staff, if given the chance, to come back with a plan that incorporates comments made to the council tonight and from the community meeting, and work to bring back a plan with a lower density.” However, Committee To Stop Rosewood members don’t want high-density houses built in the area even if all the homes are built at the minimum 3.8 houses per acre. Members want the council to amend the General Plan to designate the parcel in question to medium-density, see Rosewood page 16A
fabulous
For a wealth of ideas on how to get fine tuned inside and out, check out our Health, Beauty & Fitness Guide.
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Picturesque procurement Our regional park district has been working hard so that lovers of the outdoors can play easy.
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Bumper crop of buckets
The bad news: the Pittsburg Pirates scored a whopping 84 points; the good news: the Freedom Falcons scored 93.
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INSIDE Business .............................8A Calendar ..........................19B Classifieds ........................12B Cop Logs ..........................15A Entertainment ................18B Food .................................10B Health, Beauty & Fitness ..1B Milestones ......................... 9B Opinion ...........................14A Sports ...............................17A
Check the community calendar.
Find out about hometown events or post your event for free at www.thepress.net. See page 18B.
FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A