Blog Archives - Page 29 of 35 - Authentic Properties

Technology Leads a Rebound in U.S. Office Rents as Occupancies Increase

Image via CrunchBase Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) drew attention from landlords in March when it leased most of a 36-story downtown Seattle tower built during the recession, a sign that technology job growth would help lift U.S. office rents and occupancies. “The reduction of big blocks of space is always the first indicator of recovery,” said Patrick Callahan, chief executive officer of Urban Renaissance Group, a Seattle-based commercial real estate developer and investor that manages about 2 million square feet (186,000 square meters) of properties. The U.S. office market gained 3.7 million square feet of net occupied space in the three

Pending real estate sales rise in May

Image by Getty Images via @daylife After an April dip, pending home sales rose sharply in May, for the first annual increase in over a year, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors. NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index rose 8.2 percent month-to-month and 13.4 percent year-over-year in May, to 88.8. An index score of 100 is the average level of contract activity in 2001, the first year that index data was collected. May saw the first year-over-year index increase since April 2010, NAR said. The index, which tracks homes under contract, is a leading indicator, and the

A Sliver of Hope for California Housing Market

Image by Getty Images via @daylife California‘s mangled real estate market saw a sliver of promise Tuesday, despite a downward national trend in home sales. The California Association of Realtors said pending home sales statewide rose in May, the first year-over-year increase in 18 months.CAR said its Pending Home Sales Index in May was 118.3, up 1.6% from April’s revised index of 116.4 and a 12% gain over May 2010. The index is based on contracts signed in May. CAR considers pending home sales an indicator of future sales activity.”May marked the first year-over-year increase in pending sales since November

Silicon Valley Home Prices Exploding Amid IPO MIllionaires

Image via CrunchBase A surge in wealth from technology stock sales and initial public offerings is spilling into the Silicon Valley real estate market as newly rich workers bid up home values in suburban cities south of San Francisco. The median price of single-family houses sold in Palo Alto, home of Facebook Inc., climbed 20 percent in May from a year earlier to $1.63 million, the biggest jump since 2008, according to preliminary figures from research company DataQuick. In Mountain View, the base of LinkedIn Corp., prices rose 3.1 percent to $957,500, the ninth year-over-year gain in 12 months. The

Underwater Mortgage: Is It OK to Walk Away?

In spite of the mild economic recovery we’re experiencing, the percentage of homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages — that is, they owe more than their homes are worth — has barely budged. According to new data from CoreLogic, 22.7 percent of homes with mortgages were underwater in the first quarter of this, versus 23.1 percent in the fourth quarter last year. Nevada is by far the worst off, with 63 percent of mortgaged homes underwater; Arizona, Florida, Michigan, and California round out the top five. So the question is this: If you owe $500,000 on a home that

Is Now the Time to Buy a Home?

Back in June 2006, when the housing market peaked, the prospect of a five-year national housing bust seemed unimaginable to most people. And yet here we are, with the latest Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller index showing that prices hit new bear-market lows, falling back to 2002 levels nationally and to 1990s levels in some battered regions. Despite all the gloom, however, there are growing indications that it is a good time to buy. Mortgage rates, which fell to 4.55% for the week ending June 2, according to Freddie Mac, are near 50-year lows. Homes have become more affordable than they

California Short Sale Times Improving

Short sales comprise a significant portion of the home sales conducted in California, due to the large number of distressed property owners in that state. In 2009, 18.5% of all transactions in Southern California were short sales. By January 2011, this number increased to 27.3% of all transactions. A short sale is when a homeowner who has negative equity sells their home for less than what they owe on the mortgage (this requires approval from the lender). The lender then forgives the remainder of the debt. For example, a homeowner could owe $200,000 on their mortgage while their home value

U.S. Commercial Real Estate Prices Decline to Post-Crash Low

U.S. commercial property prices fell to a post-recession low in March as sales of financially distressed assets weighed on the market, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The Moody’s/REAL Commercial Property Price Index dropped 4.2 percent from February and is now 47 percent below the peak of October 2007, Moody’s said in a statement today. The national index has fallen for four straight months as sales of distressed properties hurt real estate values. Investor demand is strongest for well-leased buildings in such major markets as New York and Washington as vacancy rates decline and the economy grows. The index “continues to

Bill Proposes Major Mortgage Shake-Up by This Summer

Two lawmakers, a California Republican and a Michigan Democrat, are set to unveil legislation Thursday to replace mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with at least five private companies that would issue mortgage-backed securities with explicit federal guarantees. The measure is a compromise between conservative Republicans who have advanced bills to build a mostly private mortgage-finance system and Democrats, who say the government shouldn’t abandon the mortgage market. Fannie and Freddie were taken over by the government in 2008 as rising mortgage losses wiped out thin capital cushions. Taxpayers are on the hook for $138 billion to keep the

California Foreclosure Cancellations Rise and Filings Drop by 25%

Foreclosure activity slowed in April. Foreclosure filings were down in Arizona, California, Nevada and Washington, with Oregon being the sole exception where filings were up. California filings were down to levels not seen since late 2008, when governmental intervention caused a temporary but massive drop in activity. Foreclosure sales saw similar declines throughout our coverage area, except Washington. Notably, cancellations were up significantly across the board, leaving fewer propeties scheduled for trustee sale. “The drop in filings, and the rise in cancellations, is surprising,” says Sean O’Toole, CEO and Founder of ForeclosureRadar.com. “Banks have had time to resolve robo-signing issues,

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