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Here are a half-dozen things you should know about California’s housing market as the second half of 2016 starts … No. 1: Prices are still rising The median selling price of a California home hit a nine-year high at $441,250, up 6.3 percent in a year, according to Property Radar. Gains are fairly widespread with prices in 18 of California’s 26 largest counties reaching similar heights. And for those who like pricey: San Mateo County hit $1.27 million, the highest median of any county in Property Radar records that date to 2001. No. 2: Many buyers are still paying up

The news coming out of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland has so far been dominated by whether Melania Trump intentionally ripped off a chunk of her speech from first lady Michelle Obama (blame the speechwriter), angry protests outside the event, and which celebrities and politicos showed up to support presidential nominee Donald Trump (and those who stayed away). But here’s what the press hasn’t been focused on: what a Republican in the White House, especially a real estate mogul, would mean for the U.S. housing market. Surprised? After all, buying a home is the biggest purchase most Americans will make in their lifetime—and represents the kind of financial stability that

Ask any agent in the major metro areas of California what the hardest part about the market is right now and every single agent will tell you the same thing – no inventory. Houses are flying off the market within days, with most receiving multiple offers pushing the prices higher than list price. Constant bidding wars are occurring across the state. What does this mean, and how can you manage to buy a home in CA in today’s market? Nationwide, bidding wars are showing signs of losing steam, with 61% of offers being put into multiple offer situations, down from 63% in

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–All Property Management, a Buildium subsidiary and operator of the largest online network of property management services, today released findings from its inaugural Rental Ranking Report. This report features insights into the attractiveness of real estate investment in 75 major U.S. metropolitan areas, over all four quarters of 2015. The higher a metropolitan area’s ranking, the better ROI for rental housing within it. The report includes a breakdown of regional performance trends and a look into early indicators for Q1 2016 and the rest of the coming year. The Rental Ranking Report is calculated with a combination of U.S. real estate, rental

The chance of a widespread drop in local or statewide home prices in the next two years is practically nil, according to a new forecast from a private mortgage insurer. Arch MI’s quarterly housing reports pegs the risk of a price drop based on a host of real estate trends, credit market factors and economic patterns. Recent economic turbulence has raised questions about the durability of housing’s rebound from its collapse and the Great Recession. Based on first-quarter data, Arch calculated the risk of price drops in all of California – as well as in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside or

Wow, it sure did get hot fast this year! Summer has barely unfurled, but the residential real estate market is already delivering the most blistering June in a decade, according to new data on inventory and user activity on realtor.com®. Homes for sale in June are moving off the market 2% more quickly than last year as prices continue to hit new record highs. However, there were signs of a slight—we’ll repeat, a slight—slowdown in a handful of the nation’s hottest markets. “In June, for the first time that I can recall, the hottest real estate markets saw inventory movement slow down, while the rest of

After years of punishing rent increases, activists across Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area are pushing a spate of rent control proposals, driven by outrage over soaring housing prices and fears that the growing income gap is turning middle-class families into an endangered species. Those campaigns, if successful, would lead to the largest expansion of tenant laws since the 1970s. “In the national picture, tenants’ rights and housing advocacy for the poor has been pretty sleepy for several decades,” said Michelle Wilde Anderson, a law professor at Stanford. “California is starting to wake up, and it may lead

1: This is a high-stress market and it will continue Buying or selling a home is usually prompted by a life event: death, divorce, marriage, relocation, job change and increase or decrease in family. These life events often bring stress and buying or selling a house adds to this stress. Add in the drama of a notably contentious presidential campaign, toss in the uncertainty of the financial markets and then add the pressure of the fast-paced expensive Bay Area market where decisions and offers need to be made quickly. Unfortunately, all this is here to stay for a while. Yes,

If you’re considering putting your home on the market, don’t neglect your outdoor space while making improvements indoors as well. Your home’s exterior and the backyard are important in drawing the eyes of potential buyers and making your home as appealing as possible. Here are some modern trends in outdoor living that will entice today’s buyers. Outdoor structures These outdoor structures boost the function, and therefore increase your home’s value. These structures make the backyard, and even the front yard in some homes, more functional. An outdoor structure can be something simple like a gazebo or pergola, or even an

Housing affordability is on the rise, thanks to strong wage growth and lower home prices, a real estate group said Monday. Thirty-four percent of California households could afford to purchase the $465,280 median-priced home in the first quarter, up from 30 percent in fourth-quarter 2015 and unchanged from 34 percent in first-quarter 2015, the California Association of Realtors reported. A minimum annual income of $92,571 was needed to make monthly payments of $2,314, including principle,interest, and taxes on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 4.01 percent interest rate. Forty-one percent of home buyers were able to purchase the $389,910 median-priced condo or townhome. An