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~Jne of state's largest retirement develo meets
<br />~ ROSSMOOR
<br />55, said Linda Fernbach, an agent an employed woman between 55 opened nearly 45 years ago, wom- A major (actor boo Y
<br />From previous page with Rossmoor Realty. and 60.
<br />KQED,~where he has been since
<br />1976. One of the major demo-
<br />graphic changes from the devel-
<br />opment's early days is the growing
<br />number of employed single wom-
<br />en moving in as soon as they mm
<br />For the past two decades, Fern-
<br />bach has collected statistics on ev-
<br />ery aspect of Rossmoor's housing
<br />market for Mazketrak, a real estate
<br />statistical tracking business she
<br />owns and operates: These days,
<br />she said, 1 in 5 Rossmoor buyers u
<br />They continue to work and
<br />commute, oken using BART to
<br />reach jobs in San Francisco,
<br />Berkeley and Oakland, she said
<br />"Women really like the sense of
<br />security [ha[ they fled in Ross-
<br />moor; they like the gates." Since it
<br />eo have always outnumbered men
<br />in [he community, a reflection of
<br />the demographics of older Amer-
<br />icans.as much as the choices. of
<br />,widbwed, divorced ar single fe-
<br />males to live there, Fernbach and
<br />other real estate agents note. Cur-
<br />rently; about 64 out of every 100
<br />residents is female, affording to
<br />Maureen O'Rourke, editor of [he
<br />Rossmoor News.
<br />An ok-repeated joke about
<br />Rossmoor is that if a single man
<br />moves in, he will find (our casse-
<br />roles on his doorstep from inter-
<br />ested neighliors ~ before he un-
<br />packs~'irs belongings.
<br />Rossmoor, opened in 1964, has
<br />gradually expanded through near-
<br />ly 45 years of up.and down real
<br />estate cycles. At the moment, with
<br />the Bay Area market re0ecjing the
<br />deep national subprime mortgage
<br />crisis, prices are down considera-
<br />bly from their last peak in 2005,
<br />according to John Russell, owner
<br />o(Rossmoor Realry-
<br />Dwellingsare currently oQered
<br />from $98,800 for a small apart-
<br />meet to about $1.39 million for a
<br />single-(amity home. The low pric-
<br />es "are the best-kept secret in Con-
<br />tra Costa County," Russell said-
<br />Last week, there were 176 proper-
<br />ties for sale within Rossmoor,
<br />down from a peak of 235 in 2006
<br />but considerably more than the 19
<br />that were on [he market a[ one
<br />point in 2005, Fernbach said. At is
<br />[he case in many parts of the Bay
<br />Area, the number of Rossmoor
<br />units on the market has been ris-
<br />ing in recent months, based on an
<br />examination of onhne listings.
<br />
<br />s mg the
<br />creasing number of unsold m.
<br />ors is the inability o(would-be t
<br />iden[s to sell their existing hoe
<br />elsewhere in order to buy a plx
<br />in the gated community, seve
<br />real estate agents said.
<br />Russell, a housing optvnist, c
<br />culates that the values o(homes
<br />the development will again appr
<br />cute, although how soon is an
<br />one's guess. This is inevitable, 1
<br />says, because the huge Bal
<br />Boomer generation is beginnir
<br />to reach the age when millions ai
<br />looking to downsize and trans
<br />tion m aless-demanding IJestyh
<br />Rossmoor is just such a plan
<br />he and Fernbach said, where vi;
<br />[wally every ms[ beyondthe inter
<br />or walls of one's dwelling is cm
<br />erect by monthly homeowners' as
<br />sociation dues. These range iron
<br />about $4l5 to about $725a month
<br />depending on the area in whist
<br />an individual lives. In addition
<br />residents pay their estimates
<br />property taxes by the month
<br />which usually adds between $20C
<br />and $1,000 more to the monthly
<br />bill.
<br />~ The first inhabitants of what is
<br />now called the Tice Valley were
<br />probably the Saklan Indians, who
<br />descended from humans who
<br />probably migrated to North
<br />America from Asia across the Be-
<br />ring Strait. Archaeological ew
<br />dense indicates humans have in-
<br />habited the rolling hills and val-
<br />leys west of Mount Diablo for
<br />hundreds, perhaps thousands of
<br />years.
<br />By the early 20th century, how-
<br />~ ROSSMOOR: Next page
<br />rrry Neuman of KQED-Ptvl works out at the Rossmoor Fitness
<br />corer, which is one the erounds. iusr minumc fry,,, bl~ r,,...,,,
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