Testimonials for Blog

Real estate prices continue to rise, and housing markets in the West are leading the way. Some East Coast markets are exhibiting weakness. In March, the median sales price for new homes was $247,000, increasing from the previous month’s $226,400, according to the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The average sales price fell, however, to $279,900 from $286,300. A forecast from the National Association of Realtors projects that the national median existing-home price will rise about 7.5 percent this year from 2012. The trade group said that the national median existing-home price for all housing types was $184,300

California home sales continued strong last month as investors snapped up mid- to high-end homes, though it was unclear whether the rebound will continue through the year, real estate research firm DataQuick reported Wednesday. The region recorded its highest February sales in six years, with 15,945 homes sold in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties, DataQuick said. That was down 0.7 percent from January but up 1 percent from February 2012. The median sales price was $320,000, down slightly from January but up nearly 21 percent from February of last year, DataQuick reported. Year-over-year prices

Increasing demand from new arrivals to the United States is helping to strengthen the housing sector, according to a new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association analyzing the effects of immigration on real estate market trends. “Immigrants are an important and growing source of demand that has bolstered housing markets in recent decades,” Prof. Dowell Myers, of the University of Southern California’s Population Dynamics Research Group, said in a statement. “Growth in housing demand in recent decades has been more stable among foreign-born than native-born households.” Homeownership among immigrant households has steadily increased, reaching 2.4 million by 2010, according to

Almost every corner of the Bay Area is poised for robust home-price appreciation this year in a surge that will outpace projected national growth, according to a forecast from real-estate information site Zillow.com. Looking at 245 Bay Area ZIP codes, Zillow projects that 244 will see home values ratchet up by significant margins in 2013, with 27 ZIPs seeing double-digit appreciation. Only one of the ZIPs analyzed – 94515 in Calistoga – is forecast to see values recede, by a modest 1.4 percent. “The forces of supply and demand seem to be exacerbated here right now,” said Svenja Gudell, senior

Many states with faster foreclosure processes are seeing sharper increases in home prices. There are exceptions. And other factors, such as job growth, are likely stronger drivers of home price trends, economists say. But home price data generally show stronger price increases in states where courts don’t have to approve foreclosures than in states where they do. Foreclosures are completed faster where court approval isn’t necessary. Last year, home values tracked by Zillow, a Web-based real estate tracker, rose an average 5.4 percent in the 24 states where foreclosures don’t go through the courts, according to Zillow. Where they do,

Turnaround trends continued apace in the Bay Area housing market last month with the strongest January sales in six years and the tenth straight year-over-year increase in the median sale price, a real estate information service reported. A total of 5,501 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county Bay Area last month. That was down 28.4 percent from 7,688 in December, and up 3.2 percent from 5,330 for January a year ago, according to San Diego-based DataQuick. Sales always drop from December to January. While still below the long-term January average of 6,094, last month’s sales

What has been reported nationally about the resurgent single-family housing market and the reasons for its recent growth spurt undoubtedly applies to California. Low inventory, rising median sales prices and a swarm of cash investors are just a few of the explanations, but it’s important to remember that the local market is unique inits own right. From low-income homes to vacation homes, Long Beach in many ways reflects the range of economic and social dynamics at play in the real estate market today. Housing, in general, is creeping back to pre-recession form. “The market is just booming right now,” said

Irvine, CA-based CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), a leading residential property information, analytics and services provider, on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013 released its December CoreLogic HPI® report which showed that home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased on a year-over-year basis by 8.3 percent in December 2012 compared to December 2011. This change represents the biggest increase since May 2006 and the 10th consecutive monthly increase in home prices nationally. On a month-over-month basis, including distressed sales, home prices increased by 0.4 percent in December 2012 compared to November 2012*. The HPI analysis shows that all but four states are experiencing year-over-year