O the month of May, the merry month of May, so frolic, so gay, and so green, so green, so green!*
Dear friends,
In our beautiful East Bay, in addition to green we’re enjoying so many beautiful colors of flowers at their peak of bloom. It’s a perfect time to visit any of the wonderful public gardens. Roses especially are in their prime now.
If you want to enjoy unusual roses, or learn more about old roses, there’s a special annual event in Albany:
The Celebration of Old Roses: Sunday, May 17th, 11 am – 3:30 pm, FREE at VETERAN’S MEMORIAL BUILDING – ALBANY, 1325 Portland at Carmel
Purchase heirloom and hard-to-find roses from specialty nurseries. Rose enthusiasts will be available to answer questions. Bring your unknown rose to hopefully be identified. Then enter a room filled with rose displays. The perfume is intoxicating!
Then to enjoy the amazing diversity of beautiful plants to be found in our area, consider a visit to these gardens:
• Berkeley Rose Garden: Located on Euclid Avenue, this terraced, cascading amphitheater boasts 1500 roses that hit their lush peak this month. And the views are tremendous!
• Morcom Rose Garden (Oakland): This 7-acre Oakland gem features thousands of exotic roses that continue their spectacular bloom this month
Native Plants & Succulents (and birds!)
• UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley: Tucked in the hills, this sprawling 10-acre living museum contains over 10,000 plants from across the globe. It’s a great spot to see exotic blooms along with rare California natives, and they have a charming gift shop.
• Regional Parks Botanic Garden (Tilden Park): Located in the hills above Berkeley, this garden exclusively features native California flora, making it the perfect place to see seasonal wildflowers and unique coastal blooms, as well as a wonderful assortment of birds.
My husband David (a Master Birder among other skills…) leads monthly birding tours along with a garden docent. To sign up for his next tour on Saturday, June 13th 9-11 am, you can register starting Tuesday, May 19th at Golden Gate Bird Alliance. Space is limited to 10 people.
Here’s hoping you are enjoying this very green, and very abundant month!
Arlene
*The Merry Month of May is a poem by Thomas Dekker (c. 1572–1632), an English Elizabethan dramatist and pamphleteer.
So how’s the Market?
Often March and April are the months when the Spring market peaks, and we see the most inventory. As I mentioned last month, in the first few months of this year, inventory was lower than in the previous year. But now we are seeing an abundance in May, later than usual. That’s a happy situation for buyers, but not so much for sellers. I was hoping that our new listing at 1634 Walnut Street in North Berkeley would be coming to market after the spring peak, but unfortunately, after months with very few listings in the Gourmet District, there are currently three properties including ours listed right around $2M, and another dozen homes in North Berkeley in general in the price range from $1.85-2.1M! Dang!
Over the past few weeks my listing partner and I were feeling optimistic for our sellers, as we watched more than eight homes listed in that range close at prices that were at least 50% over their list prices, with five of them closing more than a $1M over list. But that was before the significant influx of May inventory.
At least we can be sure that we have the only listing in this area with a home climbing gym! Our clients created this fully-permitted structure for their pleasure as serious home climbers. Last fall I sold them a beautiful Walter Ratcliff home near Mortar Rock and Indian Rock parks, so they can now climb outdoors, though it may not be quite as convenient, or safe, as having your own climbing walls! If the buyers have no interest in climbing, no problem! The sellers thoughtfully designed the walls for easy removal, so you will have a soaring space that could make a super studio or the perfect professional office with a separate entry. It’s a beautiful home with spacious, bright rooms, updated kitchen, baths and systems. One of my favorite features is a magnificent Japanese maple tree that is the central feature of a deck built around the trunk. It also provides sylvan views from an upstairs sunroom. You’d be welcome to stop by on Sunday May 17th and join us for sparkling cider, or take a look at the video tour I narrate. It’s part of the website 1643Walnut.com
While inventory is in their favor, buyers will be facing slightly escalating mortgage rates, should they be obtaining a loan. Rates for a 30-year fixed rate loan are now averaging 6.65%, a nine-month high, with 15-year fixed averaging 6.1%. For a thorough discussion of the current mortgage environment as well as historic context, I encourage you to check out the current update here from my favorite lender, Faramarz Moeen-Ziai of FMZ Loans.
Out and About in the Bay
HAMNET at ACT in San Francisco
Just about the time that you might be reading my newsletter, my husband and I will be enjoying a production of this work. We both thoroughly enjoyed the book, and are looking forward to the live performance, a collaboration of The Royal Shakespeare Company and ACT. Now through just May 24.
There are still preview tickets available for performances next week of a delightful new musical adaptation of Ritesh Batra’s internationally acclaimed film filled with heart, humor, and hope. In bustling Mumbai, a lunchbox delivery service, the Dabbawallah, makes a highly unusual mistake, that leads to surprising connections. Until June 28.
The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy
At the Legion of Honor through Sept. 30th. This is a surprising exhibition that I need to see again! The pottery and the gold jewelry were remarkable, as were the feats this civilization accomplished. As it says in their marketing, Togas, temples, hydraulic engineering, winemaking, and even “Roman” numerals, all widely credited to the Romans, were actually Etruscan innovations.
Matisse’s Femme au Chapeau: A Modern Scandal
At SF MOMA—and ONLY there! I am very much looking forward to this exhibition celebrating the historical context and lasting influence of this landmark painting on modern art. Now through Sept. 13th, with a free day for all on May 24th.
I look forward to this tribute to the man who influenced so many folk singers, performed by five dear people whom I feel honored to call friends.
The Good News Department!
Each month I share some news that made me smile, and hope it will make you smile as well!
The Bay area will soon enjoy the services of the country’s first high-speed, battery-powered, zero-emission ferries, and thanks to a recent contest, they will have very appropriate names. Pulled from Bay Area lore, Doubtfire is a reference to “Mrs. Doubtfire,” the San Francisco-set Robin Williams film. Farallon is a nod to the Farallon Islands, a group of islands off the coast of San Francisco. Say Hey references the Say Hey Kid, the nickname of Willie Mays, the legendary Giants center fielder. Sea-Wolf, the name that received the most votes, is the title of a Jack London novel that begins with a bay ferry, and Rosie is an allusion to Rosie the Riveter. I rather liked a proposal that didn’t quite make the cut: Sourdough!
Three of the ferries will have 150-rider capacities, and two will hold 400 passengers, according to the Chronicle, that sponsored the naming competition. They are expected to arrive in 2027 and 2028.
Arlene Baxter
arlene.baxter@theagencyre.com
15107171799
Lic. #1209552
1619 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709
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