The $510,000 median for the nine-county Bay Area represents a jump of 30.8 percent from a year ago and a record 17 percent above March’s median price, said DataQuick, a San Diego real estate service that produced the report.

“The Bay Area is getting back to normal fast,” said Andrew LePage, a DataQuick analyst. “We’ve had just the right ingredients for big increases in the median and other price measures. We’ve got drum-tight inventory of homes for sale, an unprecedented level of investors chasing homes, interest rates lower than most of us alive have ever seen, and changes in the types of homes selling and where they’re selling.”

The median represents a midpoint, meaning half of Bay Area homes sold for more than $510,000 and half sold for less. It is influenced both by actual appreciation in home values and by a changing mix of homes sold.

The Bay Area median peaked at $665,000 in summer 2007. During the real estate downturn, bargain-basement foreclosures and short sales helped drag the median down to a low of $375,000 in March 2009. Now, with far fewer distress sales and more high-end homes changing hands, a similar dynamic is buoying it. DataQuick said the median has regained 59 percent of its losses.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: Csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Bay-Area-median-home-price-hits-510-000-4520145.php

The nine-county region saw the highest November sales rate in six years, said San Diego-based DataQuick. A total of 7,296 new and resale homes changed hands in November, up 15.5 percent from a year earlier. That was nearing the long-term November average of 7,873 sales.

“We’re seeing a more-normal level of sales and a more-normal distribution of sales across price categories,” said Andrew LePage, a DataQuick analyst. “The market isn’t quite as lopsided.”

Bay Area buyers paid a median price of $438,000 last month, up 20.5 percent from November 2011. DataQuick said about half of the increase stemmed from a shift in the mix of houses sold.

Bargain-basement foreclosure resales are now at their lowest level in five years, accounting for 11.5 percent of November resale transactions. A year ago they were a quarter of the market; at their peak in 2009, foreclosures were 52 percent of all resales.

Short sales – homes sold for less than is owed on the mortgage – were 23 percent of the resale market, down from 24.9 percent a year ago.

More buyers committed to pricier homes. Mortgages above the old “jumbo” limit of $417,000 were 40.1 percent of the November market, up from 29 percent a year earlier.

Realtors throughout the Bay Area report that a dearth of supply is fueling bidding wars, with properties selling well above asking prices.

“We’re getting 30 offers on properties at the lowest price points,” said Don Faught, managing broker with Alain Pinel Realtors in the Tri-Valley area.

“The challenge we have now is that there’s nothing to sell,” he said. “But now that prices are increasing, people are finally realizing that they can sell their house.”

LePage agreed. “This is a strengthening market that is still undersupplied, hence the pressure on prices,” he said. “If these trends hold, we will see a lot more inventory. As prices ratchet up, fewer people are underwater and those who are in a position to sell will be tempted to make their move now.”

Investors remained a potent market force. Buyers paying all cash bought 28.7 percent of Bay Area properties in November, the same as a year earlier, paying a median $320,000, up 27 percent from November 2011.

Low interest rates – one trend underlying the surge in sales – seem likely to continue. The rates on 30-year mortgages dipped last week to an average of 3.32, nearing the record low, according to a Freddie Mac survey, also released Thursday. The all-time low was 3.31 percent in the Nov. 21 report.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it would continue buying government securities and mortgage bonds until unemployment drops below 6.5 percent – something it predicts will not happen until 2015. The tens of billions of dollars it is pouring into those purchases will keep interest rates low.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: csaid@sfchronicle.com

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/Bay-Area-home-sales-prices-jump-4116852.php

The nine-county region saw the highest November sales rate in six years, said San Diego-based DataQuick. A total of 7,296 new and resale homes changed hands in November, up 15.5 percent from a year earlier. That was nearing the long-term November average of 7,873 sales.

“We’re seeing a more-normal level of sales and a more-normal distribution of sales across price categories,” said Andrew LePage, a DataQuick analyst. “The market isn’t quite as lopsided.”

Bay Area buyers paid a median price of $438,000 last month, up 20.5 percent from November 2011. DataQuick said about half of the increase stemmed from a shift in the mix of houses sold.

Bargain-basement foreclosure resales are now at their lowest level in five years, accounting for 11.5 percent of November resale transactions. A year ago they were a quarter of the market; at their peak in 2009, foreclosures were 52 percent of all resales.

Short sales – homes sold for less than is owed on the mortgage – were 23 percent of the resale market, down from 24.9 percent a year ago.

More buyers committed to pricier homes. Mortgages above the old “jumbo” limit of $417,000 were 40.1 percent of the November market, up from 29 percent a year earlier.

Realtors throughout the Bay Area report that a dearth of supply is fueling bidding wars, with properties selling well above asking prices.

“We’re getting 30 offers on properties at the lowest price points,” said Don Faught, managing broker with Alain Pinel Realtors in the Tri-Valley area.

“The challenge we have now is that there’s nothing to sell,” he said. “But now that prices are increasing, people are finally realizing that they can sell their house.”

LePage agreed. “This is a strengthening market that is still undersupplied, hence the pressure on prices,” he said. “If these trends hold, we will see a lot more inventory. As prices ratchet up, fewer people are underwater and those who are in a position to sell will be tempted to make their move now.”

Investors remained a potent market force. Buyers paying all cash bought 28.7 percent of Bay Area properties in November, the same as a year earlier, paying a median $320,000, up 27 percent from November 2011.

Low interest rates – one trend underlying the surge in sales – seem likely to continue. The rates on 30-year mortgages dipped last week to an average of 3.32, nearing the record low, according to a Freddie Mac survey, also released Thursday. The all-time low was 3.31 percent in the Nov. 21 report.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it would continue buying government securities and mortgage bonds until unemployment drops below 6.5 percent – something it predicts will not happen until 2015. The tens of billions of dollars it is pouring into those purchases will keep interest rates low.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: csaid@sfchronicle.com

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/Bay-Area-home-sales-prices-jump-4116852.php

We didn’t need KB Home’s dismal quarterly earnings release today to tell us that foreclosures are digging home builders into an even deeper hole.

We knew that already; this just put a period on it.

KB [ KBH 11.69  +0.00 (+0.00%) ] caters to first time home buyers, with smaller, less expensive homes. Unfortunately, bargain basement foreclosures, many of which are relatively new construction, offer more home for the money, and first time buyers are making up less of the buying population today than historical norms.

Right now banks are pushing foreclosures to market faster than ever, perhaps due to improving paperwork procedures, and perhaps due to the fear of some kind of settlement/penalty coming down the pike from state attorneys general and federal regulators. In any case, the volumes are rising, and that hurts home prices and home builders.

“We continue to think prices will be under pressure throughout 2011; we may have to re-evaluate all of our assumptions given the weakness we’re seeing right now,” notes analyst Buck Horne at Raymond James.

So what’s a builder to do?

Well, Lennar [ LEN 18.32  +0.00 (+0.00%) ] has been investing in troubled mortgages through its Rialto Capital Advisors division, and that has helped boost its bottom line.

Page 1 of 2 | Next Page
Show Entire Article

US Apartment Vacancies Fall; Rents Edge Up

Congress Struggles on Budget Deal; Obama Meeting Slated

Analysts Backing Gold All the Way to $1,500

US Mortgage Applications Slide as Refinancing Drops

SEC Unveils Plan to Reduce Market Volatility

More Top Stories

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/42438394?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS