With an average home listing price of $1.658 million, Newport ranked second among the most expensive real estate markets in the country, according to Coldwell Banker’s annual Home Listing Report released this week.

That’s down a spot from last year, when Newport was at the top of the national list.

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Bay Area suburb Los Altos ranked No. 1.

Of course, that Newport has ranked high in expensive housing is hardly a surprise, said Rick Jenkins, regional vice president of Coldwell for Orange County and desert regions.

“Newport is constantly well up there,” he said. “Certainly close to, if not at the top.”

And that’s a good thing, said Tricia Moore, executive vice president of the Newport Beach Assn. of Realtors.

“Overall I think it’s a positive for the city. It’s the same as a school getting a Blue Ribbon Award,” she said. “We’re a desirable community.”

Costa Mesa, at 19th most expensive in California, was the second highest ranked city in Orange County with an average asking price of $851,799. Irvine, with an average listing of $721,035, ranked 28th most expensive in the state.

Newport held down the sole Southern California spot in the list’s top six most expensive markets nationwide. The other five are Silicon Valley suburbs. The top average asking price? About $1.7 million.

According to the report, there’s about a $1.6-million drop down to the average price in the most affordable market surveyed: Redford, Mich. at $60,490.

Despite the fact that 12 of the list’s most expensive markets are in California, the state overall was less expensive on average than Hawaii and Massachusetts, which were most and second most expensive, respectively.

The report is based on the average listing prices of four-bedroom, two-bathroom homes in 2,500 U.S. markets from January to June.

Jenkins said the report is meant more as a “snapshot” of a particular type of home in certain areas than as a broad portrait of the housing market.

In general, he said, that picture is getting rosier.

“Broadly and generally, our Newport market is extremely good,” he said. Inventory counts have gone down throughout Orange County, which means demand is higher. And the percentage of sales categorized as distressed — as in the case of a foreclosure or short sale — is down from more than 50% in 2010 to about 13% now.

Those indicators, especially in combination, Jenkins said, point to a strong housing market.

“All in all we are just pleased with the real estate market as it’s going and we look forward to it continuing,” he said. “Frankly, it’s a good time to sell.”

Moore said she’s a little less optimistic, as the country hurtles toward that looming “fiscal cliff.”

“[In Newport] we saw the market starting to improve, I would say in July and August of this year.” Whether that continues, she said, “I guess it’ll depend on what transpires in the next 45 or 60 days.”

jill.cowan@latimes.com

Twitter: @jillcowan

Article source: http://www.dailypilot.com/news/tn-dpt-1130-newport-housing-prices-20121129,0,2509969.story

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 16, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) –
HFF announced today that it has closed the portfolio sale of 398 rooms
consisting of three iconic, generational hotels in the San Francisco Bay
area — The Huntington Hotel in San Francisco, and the La Playa Hotel and
Cottages-by-the-Sea in Carmel-by-the-Sea, in which the seller held a fee
interest in the properties, as well as the Galleria Park Hotel in San
Francisco, in which the seller held a leased-fee interest in the land
beneath the hotel.

HFF marketed the hotels on behalf of the seller, Nob Hill Properties,
Inc. The properties were purchased by four separate investors. Grace
International Pte Ltd, based in Singapore, purchased The Huntington
Hotel (140 rooms), Classic Hotels and Resorts, a subsidiary of Grossman
Company Properties purchased La Playa Hotel (75 rooms and one cottage),
Carmel Cottages, LLC purchased Cottages-by-the-Sea (five cottages), and
an affiliate of Interwest Capital Corporation purchased the Galleria
Park Hotel (177 rooms).

The Huntington Hotel, located at 1075 California Street atop Nob Hill in
San Francisco, is situated adjacent to Grace Cathedral and Huntington
Park as well as other luxury hotels including the Fairmont, Mark Hopkins
and the Ritz Carlton. The 12-story property, which is a short distance
from the Financial District and Union Square shopping area, has 140
rooms, conference and meeting room facilities, the “award winning” Big 4
Restaurant, and Nob Hill Spa, named by the San Francisco Chronicle as
“one of the most luxurious spas in the city.” The hotel was sold
unencumbered by management and any franchise affiliation.

La Playa Hotel, a boutique Mediterranean-style resort, is located two
blocks from Carmel Beach and Ocean Avenue in Carmel-by-the-Sea. The
historic resort is also less than two miles from a number of
“world-renowned” golf courses including Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and
Cypress Point. La Playa Hotel has 75 rooms plus one, stand-alone
cottage, the Terrace Grill and five meeting rooms. The resort was sold
unencumbered by management and any franchise affiliation.

Cottages-by-the-Sea is a cluster of five “very unique” one- to
three-bedroom cottages ranging in size from 448 to 2,163 square feet.
Cottages-by-the-Sea is located across the street from La Playa Hotel and
will be operated separately from La Playa Hotel.

The Galleria Park Hotel, located at 191 Sutter Street in San Francisco,
is nestled between Union Square and the Financial District. The 177-room
hotel is managed by Joie de Vivre Hospitality.

The HFF investment sales team representing Nob Hill Properties, Inc.
included senior managing directors Daniel Peek, Michael Leggett and
Gerry Rohm and managing director Holden Lim.

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, LP (“HFF”) and HFF Securities LP (“HFFS”) are
owned by HFF, Inc.


/quotes/zigman/442188/quotes/nls/hf HF
-1.34%



. HFF operates out of 19 offices nationwide
and is a leading provider of commercial real estate and capital markets
services to the U.S. commercial real estate industry. HFF together with
its affiliate HFFS offer clients a fully integrated national capital
markets platform including debt placement, investment sales, advisory
services, structured finance, private equity, loan sales, and commercial
loan servicing.
www.hfflp.com .

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P., acting by and through Holliday GP Corp.,
a real estate broker licensed with the California Department of Real
Estate, License Number 01385740.

SOURCE: HFF

        HFF
        Holden Lim, (415) 276-6948
        CA Lic. (#01328565)
        Managing Director
        hlim@hfflp.com
        or
        Gerry Rohm, (415) 276-6935
        CA Lic. (# 01367742)
        Senior Managing Director
        grohm@hfflp.com
        or
        Kristen Murphy, (713) 852-3500
        Associate Director, Marketing
        krmurphy@hfflp.com

Copyright Business Wire 2011

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Article source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hff-closes-portfolio-sale-of-three-iconic-san-francisco-bay-area-hotels-in-four-separate-transactions-2011-11-16