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Newport real estate is second highest in US

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 09:47:32 +0000

Forget the cliffside mansions of Carmel-by-the-Sea or San Francisco townhomes with Golden Gate views. If it’s pricey real estate you want, look no further than Newport Beach.

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.

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

Kidder Mathews Adds 7 Brokers to its Bay Area Offices – Virtual

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 06:02:35 +0000

Kidder Mathews continues to grow its Bay Area commercial real estate group, and recently added 5 brokers to its downtown San Jose office, and 1 each to its San Francisco and Redwood Shores offices, bringing the firm’s Bay Area roster to 73 agents.

San Jose, CA (PRWEB) May 30, 2012

“The agents we’ve hired bring a varied mix of specialties to enrich and expand our service lines in each of our offices,” said Reed Payne, Executive Vice President of Brokerage Services for Kidder Mathews.

Joining Kidder Mathews San Jose office are veteran brokers Joe Scuncio, an office/RD specialist, Nigel Keep, investment properties, Kristopher Blais, a retail specialist, along with James Viso and Shaun Enferadi, both industrial brokers. Mike McCormac, an office specialist, joins the firm’s San Francisco office and has been named Vice President, and Bill Kurfess, an office/RD specialist joins the firm’s Redwood Shores office and has been named Senior Vice President. “We are thrilled to have this caliber of brokers join our group,” says Payne.

Kidder Mathews is one of the fastest growing commercial real estate firms on the West Coast with over 400 real estate professionals and staff in 9 offices in California, Washington, and Oregon. We offer a complete range of brokerage, appraisal, property management, and consulting services for all property types. For more information go to http://www.kiddermathews.com.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebkidder-mathews/adds-bay-area-brokers/prweb9554108.htm

Article source: http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2012/05/30/kidder-mathews-adds-7-brokers-its-bay-area-offices

Kidder Mathews Adds 7 Brokers to its Bay Area Offices

Wed, 30 May 2012 17:34:10 +0000

San Jose, CA (PRWEB) May 30, 2012

For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prwebkidder-mathews/adds-bay-area-brokers/prweb9554108.htm

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/05/30/prweb9554108.DTL

Hot ‘spec’ deal 1st in SF since recession began

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 06:01:53 +0000

It’s not every day that a parking lot goes for $41 million. In cash.

Except this parking lot, at Howard and First streets in San Francisco, is located in one of the hottest commercial real estate markets in the country.

Late last week, New York’s Tishman Speyer Properties closed escrow on the space, which, by the end of next year will be transformed into a 10-story, 286,000-square-foot office building serving “tech tenant demands and needs perfectly,” said Allen Palmer, managing director at Tishman Speyer’s San Francisco office, in an e-mail to Bay Area real estate brokers.

Two distinguishing aspects of the deal: It’s the first “spec development” (i.e. built from the ground up with no signed tenants) in the city since the onset of the recession in 2007, and no debt financing is involved. The land, architectural plans and construction costs – the latter estimated between $180 million and $185 million – is “funded with all equity,” said Palmer.

“Tishman has just turned on the light switch,” said Daniel Cressman, executive vice president at Grubb Ellis, suggesting that San Francisco’s tech-driven market, especially in the South of Market area, may see similar deals in the near future. (Grubb Ellis, which was recently acquired by New York’s BCG Partners, is not involved in the Tishman Speyer deal.)

In fact, Tishman Speyer cut an even bigger spec deal at 222 Second St., which is also a parking lot. Scheduled to begin construction next year and to be open for tenants in the fall of 2014, the “world-class” $100 million, 27-story, 452,000-square-foot high-rise is “purposely designed … to cater to the tech user, yet also appeal to the professional, traditional office space user,” said Palmer.

Partnering with Tishman Speyer in both deals is JPMorgan Chase Asset Management, which bought a majority stake in China Basin Landing in January for $415 million. Like Tishman Speyer, which owns 555 Mission St., another spec project, and Infinity Towers, the upscale condo complex on Spear Street, JPMorgan has identified South of Market as the place to be.

“The demand is relentless, especially for tech space,” said Michael Covarrubias, CEO of TMG Partners, which is putting the finishing touches on the retrofit of 1275 Market St., a 17-story office building across the road from Twitter’s soon-to-be-occupied new headquarters.

The space at Howard and First streets is part of the 1.2 million-square-foot Foundry Square development, originally designed for Sun Microsystems. Three architecturally similar 10-story buildings are occupied by Oracle, the law firm of Orrick, Herrington Sutcliffe and BlackRock, the global investment management company.

The fully leased BlackRock building reportedly has been sold for $240 million by another New York property company to the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio. A second Foundry building, owned by Utah Retirement Systems and leased to Oracle, was put on the market in February, with a reported asking price in the $185 million range, “or just shy of an eye-popping $800 per square foot,” according to Real Estate Alert, an online newsletter.

“Our initial goal is to find one tenant” for the space at Howard and First streets, Palmer told potentially interested brokers. “But don’t let that goal get in your client’s way if they would like to pursue part of the building.”

Buyers’ market: If San Francisco real estate is a little too rich for your blood, how about Oakland? Home sales are up, especially in the condo market, and property developers are keen to show you their wares.

A number of developers and real estate firms, including Holliday Development and Uptown Place, are part of a monthlong business campaign called Passport Oakland, designed to entice folks to experience a city that has had some not-so-good press lately. Five “new home communities” are available for inspection, plus neighborhood tours. Barbecues, wine tasting, deals on meals and $100 gift-card prizes are among other incentives.

More information at passportoakland.com and on Facebook (Facebook.com/PassportOAK) and Twitter (#PassportOAK).

Andrew S. Ross is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Blogging at www.sfgate.com/columns/bottomline. Facebook page: sfg.ly/doACKM. Tweeting: @andrewsross. E-mail: bottomline@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page D – 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/09/BUET1O0RN2.DTL&type=tech

Silicon Valley’s commercial real estate market expected to remain hot

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 06:10:56 +0000

With the tech boom building momentum, Silicon Valley companies are on the hunt for space equal to nine shopping malls.

That was the highlight conclusion of a conference Tuesday organized by realty brokerage Cornish Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank. The gathering heard brokers present a robust outlook for the Bay Area economy and the region’s commercial real estate sector.

“We had a lot of tenant demand in 2011, and there is still more tenant demand coming,” said Phil Mahoney, an executive vice president with Cornish Carey.

At present, tenants are seeking a combined 9.6 million square feet of office and research space in Silicon Valley, estimated Cornish brokers, who update tenant demand estimates every three months.

Demand in early 2012 follows a spike at the end of 2011 that saw tenant demand reach 11.1 million square feet of office and research space, the highest level in the past five years.

When San Francisco and San Mateo County are added to Silicon Valley, estimated tenant demand is 15.6 million square feet of office and research space.

“This is a strong recovery,” Mahoney said. “The hiring rebound is continuing.”

About 9,400 openings for tech jobs are currently listed in the Bay Area, according to Cornish Carey.

The South Bay during 2011 posted a 3 percent gain in total payroll jobs, more than twice the hiring pace for the U.S. overall, which reported a 1.3 percent gain.

“The

Bay Area will continue to be an outlier for job growth,” said Erik Doyle, an executive managing director with Cornish Carey.

To be sure, tenant demand won’t translate at a 100 percent rate into new leases. Tenants often decide to remain where they are and renew their leases. Still, Mahoney estimates that in a decent economy — which appears to be the case in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco metro region — about two-thirds of the demand winds up as a new office space lease.

That could mean 6.4 million square feet of leases in coming months in Silicon Valley alone. And it might result in 10 million square feet of leasing activity in the South Bay, Peninsula and San Francisco markets before long.

The amount of prime office space available in Silicon Valley has been chopped nearly in half, due to the strong demand. At the end of 2010, the region had a 20.6 percent vacancy rate. One year later, Class A office vacancies had dwindled to 11.9 percent, Cornish Carey reported.

Brokers suggested that recent activity in Palo Alto, Cupertino, Menlo Park, Sunnyvale and Mountain View is poised to spread to nearby regions.

The hottest spots in the short term are South San Francisco, San Mateo County and North San Jose.

Further out, the next waves of expansion are expected to reach Milpitas, downtown San Jose, central San Francisco and Fremont.

The East Bay will also benefit from the upswing if companies can’t find space in their primary target areas of Silicon Valley and San Francisco, said Thomas Fehr, a senior vice president with Cornish Carey.

“There is not enough existing space to fill all that demand,” Fehr said. “Historically, when there has been an overflow, it has come to the East Bay. We expect that overflow again.”

Contact George Avalos at 925-977-8477. Follow him at twitter.com/george_avalos.

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Article source: http://www.mercurynews.com/real-estate/ci_19812931

Homebuilders Face New Hurdles

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 13:59:50 +0000

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Builders are on track to construct the fewest single family homes in history this year. Total housing starts in July were down 1.7 percent, month to month, which may not sound like a lot, but when you break the number down, you see the problem.

Single family starts were down 4.9 percent, while multifamily starts rose 6.3 percent. Rental demand continues to rise, as consumer confidence in homeownership was decimated yet again by the recent debt turmoil in the economy.

I am reporting these numbers from a construction site. Mid-Atlantic Builders of Rockville, Md., is putting up the last phase of a large single-family development out in Bowie, Md., which is about 15 minutes outside the D.C. Beltway. They are a midsized builder, about 40 to 50 homes a year, which is about a third of the business they did just five years ago.

They are now smaller, leaner, but surviving thanks to their location near D.C., where unemployment is low, relative to the rest of the country. Business was even starting to pick up last winter, according to executive vice president Stephen Paul.

“We started what we call the spring market in February. We started out very strong, we had a good February, March, even into April,” he said. “What started to cause consumer confidence to wane was the escalation of gas prices, the debt issue with the government, and what’s going on in Europe.”

In other words: Confidence.

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Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/44162436?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS

San Francisco Real Estate Named Best Market In State: $25 Million Home Tour …

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:43:55 +0000

San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting announced on Thursday that our city has the strongest real estate market in the state, with a growth of nearly $2 billion in the past year.

“We’re very, very fortunate in San Francisco,” Ting told SFAppeal. He also predicted that the growth will only continue here in SF in the coming years.

(SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS)

This may be news for Bay Area buyers and sellers, but real estate agents aren’t surprised.

“This city is a gold mine for real estate,” Rick Teed, cofounder of real estate and development company Teed Haze, told HuffPost. “If you have a house with no view, but it’s redone and in a neighborhood like Pacific Heights, it’s going to be north of $1000-per-square foot for starters.”

Teed agrees with Ting’s prediction that the market will only continue to grow. “We are a seven-by-seven-square-mile city,” said Teed. “There is no new land.”

Daniel Cressman, executive vice president of the commercial real estate company Grubb El, also commented on our city’s limited space. He told NBC Bay Area that San Francisco is “one of the very few markets in the entire country where investment demand for commercial office space is far outstripping the available supply that’s for sale.”

To celebrate this news, we contacted Sotheby’s International Realty and got some pictures of a home they are especially excited about. Check out this unreal Gold Coast-style 1927 home designed by Willis Polk Co. in Pacific Heights. We would move in tomorrow if it weren’t for that $25 million price tag.

Take a look at images of this amazing home below:

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Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/22/san-francisco-real-estate-best-market-in-state_n_907245.html

SF Real Estate "Strongest" in the State

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:46:43 +0000

San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting announced Thursday that the value of the City’s real estate grew by nearly $2 billion in the past fiscal year, a contrast to decreasing property values in most other parts of California.

The total roll assessment value, a combination of residential and commercial property values, grew by 1.3 percent to $163 billion during the fiscal year that ended June 30.

“We’re very, very fortunate in San Francisco,” Ting said. “We still have the strongest real estate market in the state.”

He said many homeowners are still worried about the real estate market but predicted “we’re going to see a continued resurgence” in the coming years.

Daniel Cressman, executive vice president of the commercial real estate company Grubb Ellis, said the value of the city’s commercial properties are doing particularly well.

San Francisco is “one of the very few markets in the entire country where investment demand for commercial office space is far outstripping the available supply that’s for sale,” Cressman said.

That has led to property value increases of up to 40 percent in recent years, he said.

John Lee, the former president of the San Francisco Association of Realtors, said the residential market is not doing as well, particularly for middle-class homeowners.

“People worried about jobs can’t commit to a long-term financial obligation,” Lee said.

He said, “I think the worst is behind us,” but predicted the next few years for the market will probably be about the same as the past one.

About 18,800 owners of single-family homes received a one-year temporary reduction last year in the assessed value of their properties, saving them a combined $27 million in taxes, Ting said.

Copyright Bay City News

Article source: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/SF-Real-Estate-Strongest-in-the-State-126021233.html

Cassidy Turley Adds Leader to Capital Markets Group

Sat, 28 May 2011 05:12:51 +0000

Cassidy Turley named Edward Suharski as senior vice president of its capital markets group in the San Francisco office. Suharski’s new responsibilities will include work as an institutional real estate specialist, concentrating efforts in the San Francisco Bay area.

He previously worked with Grubb Ellis Co. as executive vice president and director of the institutional capital markets group. Suharski also serves on the board of Meals on Wheels and the board of the National Maritime Park Association.

Suharski was the number one producer nationally in 2005 and 2007 and has closed more than $2.6 billion transactions in real estate. He has 30 years of real estate investment experience and handles acquisitions and dispositions for both institutional and substantial private equity investors.

Article source: http://www.costar.com/News/Article/Cassidy-Turley-Names-New-Senior-VP/129094