Testimonials for Blog

The good feelings generated by many swollen bank accounts in Silicon Valley’s real estate industry should spread to more markets next year, while the Bay Area continues to reap the benefits of a strong local economy. That was one takeaway from this year’s presentation of Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2014, the closely watched survey of real estate sentiment from PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute. (You can download a copy of the report here.) “All the markets are getting better — that’s the general theme,” said Andrew Warren, PwC’s director of real estate research. Warren spoke to a gathering of industry

CoreLogic a leading residential property information, analytics and services provider, today released its October CoreLogic Home Price Index (HPI(®)) report. On a month-over-month basis, including distressed sales, home prices increased by only 0.2 percent in October 2013 compared to September 2013*. Year over year, home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 12.5 percent in October 2013 compared to October 2012. This change represents the 20(th) consecutive monthly year-over-year increase in home prices nationally. Excluding distressed sales, home prices increased 0.4 percent month over month in October 2013 compared to September 2013. On a year-over-year basis, excluding distressed sales, home prices

If the real estate recovery is a baseball game, we’re in the fourth or fifth inning. So what will the rest of the game look like? Experts from the Urban Land Institute unveiled their view of how the rest of the recovery will play out in their Emerging Trends in Real Estate report, released this week at the land use and planning nonprofit’s annual conference in Chicago. The group highlighted a number of housing trends we can expect to see playing out over the next few years, based on surveys and interviews with real estate developers, investors, lenders, servicers and

Foreclosures and default notices, which deluged California and the Bay Area just a few years ago, have now slowed to a trickle as the economy and the housing market stabilize. Rising home prices, increased job creation and government foreclosure-prevention efforts caused mortgage distress to plummet in the Bay Area and California in the third quarter, a real estate service reported Tuesday. “We are getting close to normal, to the extent we can define normal in a boom-bust state,” said Andrew LePage, an analyst with San Diego’s DataQuick, which produced the report. “Assuming the economic recovery stays on track, this is the final

It’s not breaking news that the California housing market is heating up, but now the California Association of Realtors is confirming it on the record, predicting that the trend will continue upward into 2014. In its latest forecast, CAR predicts primary home buyers will make a comeback after a period of tough competition with investors for what has been a limited supply of homes on the market. “We’ve come up against an exceptionally low-inventory situation in California for at least the last year and half, and it has started to take a bite out of sales” says Leslie Appleton-Young, the

Understanding today’s real estate market can make all the difference between making a solid profit or experiencing some of today’s real estate doldrums. Getting the most from today’s tight marketplace means sellers and buyers need to apply the most current techniques to get an edge on the competition. Here are some tips to gaining an edge in today’s real estate sellers’ market: Make a Good First Impression The first thing potential buyers will notice in a home for sale is the exterior. First impressions can make a huge difference in the chances of selling your property. Be sure to boost

  The technology-powered real estate brokerage, Redfin has issued its Fastest Markets Report for August which shows home-selling speeds fell for the fourth month in a row. In August, 27.9 percent of homes went under contract in less than two weeks, down from 29 percent in July and 33.7 percent in April. As Redfin’s latest Bidding War Report shows, the competitive landscape in the housing market has changed drastically since spring, due to elevated home prices and mortgage rates. This has led many buyers to slow or pause their buying plans over the past four months. Overall Fastest/Slowest * San

The sizzling Bay Area housing market cooled in August following one of the most dramatic run-ups in recent years, according to a report released Friday. After months of increases, single-family home sales dropped 3.2 percent from a year ago, and were down 8.8 percent from July, according to real estate information service DataQuick. While the median single-family price of $588,000 extended several months of double-digit annual gains, it was 3.9 percent lower than it was in July, the first such drop in six months, DataQuick reported. The market is stabilizing, said Arvin Paredes of Keller Williams in Campbell. “The competitive

  This list shows how single-family home prices changed from July 2012 to July 2013. These rankings are based on a repeat-sales index that tracks increases and decreases in sales prices and includes distressed sales. 1. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA +22.62% The Southland housing market includes the cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Glendale, Calif. It’s also one of the hottest real estate markets in the country right now, with home prices rising more than 22% annually, according to CoreLogic. It’s so hot, in fact, that some analysts are starting to use the “bubble” word. According to Jed Kolko,