Still, area assessors pointed out that results were mixed. In some counties, most growth in assessments came from the annual 2 percent increase for inflation allowed under Proposition 13. In all counties, thousands of properties were worth less than their previous assessed value – the purchase price plus inflation – because 1978′s Proposition 8 lets the assessment temporarily drop to match the fallen property value.

“Remember, property values plummeted so low that we haven’t come close to making up the losses we’ve experienced,” said Jean Hurst, legislative representative for the California State Association of Counties. “This is no windfall by any means, but it’s a function of the stabilization and the gradual uptick that economists tell us the recovery will look like.”

San Francisco, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties had the biggest increases in the Bay Area, and among the biggest in the state.

“We are clearly on the way back up,” said San Francisco Assessor Phil Ting, noting that it is the only county in the state that never experienced a downturn in its property tax roll over the past few years. “We believe this is probably the last year that many homeowners will be getting a reduction (of assessed value) because the market is coming back.”

Silicon Valley growth

Both San Mateo and Santa Clara counties said they benefited from Silicon Valley firms’ expansion.

“The resurgence here is being led by business,” said Larry Stone, assessor for Santa Clara County, where the overall roll was up 3.25 percent. “The office market is on fire. As spaces lease up, they begin to build out the insides.”

Once businesses lease space and add staff, they buy equipment. That was apparent in both counties as the category of “business personal property,” which includes machinery, computers and fixtures, rose 6.48 percent in Santa Clara County and 5.45 percent in San Mateo.

Still, both counties had tens of thousands of homes that were assessed lower.

“It appears we’re gradually pulling out of the slump,” said Mark Church, assessor of San Mateo County, where the roll rose by 3.33 percent. “We’re moving in the right direction, but we’re not there yet.”

Property tax revenue is split among schools, counties, cities and special assessment districts. The plunge in real estate values resulted in an even tighter budget crunch for those entities.

This year, after three years of minimal or negative growth, Santa Clara County, with the biggest roll in the Bay Area – reflecting the value of Silicon Valley businesses and affluent residential communities – saw an extra $9.7 billion in assessed value. At a 1 percent tax rate, that translates to $97 million more in tax revenue.

But in Solano, the worst-performing Bay Area county, the roll was down by 3.12 percent or $1.22 billion, meaning $12.2 million less in tax revenue.

Wide disparities were evident even within a single county.

Take San Mateo, for instance. Atherton, where the cheapest house for sale is asking $1.595 million, saw assessed values rise more than 9 percent, but in East Palo Alto, where many home values hover around $300,000, the assessments were down 2 percent.

“We’re seeing sharp contrasts between the high-end locations and the entry-level locations,” Church said.

East Bay moderate

In East Bay counties, increases were more moderate.

Alameda County was up 2.14 percent, just a tad ahead of the inflationary increase. “It’s going to take a long time” to fully recover from the downturn, said Brian Hitomi, chief deputy assessor.

Contra Costa’s 0.86 percent growth was largely due to an appeals board decision that increased the value of Chevron’s Richmond refinery for 2007, 2008 and 2009. The tax bump for all three years is reflected in the 2012-13 roll.

“It’s a one-time thing,” said assessor Gus Kramer. “Anyone who hangs their hat on that economically going forward is a fool.”

Contra Costa’s real estate market is basically flat, he said.

“The market is bouncing on the bottom and trying to recover,” he said. “There are some areas that are pretty healthy,” such as the affluent communities of Danville, Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda.

Likewise, the North Bay was fairly stagnant, other than Solano County’s 3.12 percent decline. With towns like Vallejo ravaged by the foreclosure crisis, Solano reduced assessments for more than half of all properties. Since 2007, its roll has fallen by 17.16 percent or $7.849 billon.

Napa County saw a 2.06 percent rise, “mostly due to the inflationary increase,” said Steve Schellhamer, assistant assessor. “Although it’s positive, it would be premature at this point to declare that we’re out of the slump.”

Marin nearly flat

Marin County’s assessed roll nudged up just 0.82 percent.

“The good news is that we don’t see things going dramatically south anymore,” said Assessor Rich Benson. “I don’t think it’s time to say that the market has turned around yet, but we’re seeing some positive indicators.”

He and other assessors pointed out that home sales have been robust throughout the spring. Since assessments for the 2012-13 tax year look at values as of Jan. 1, 2012, those stronger sales aren’t yet factored in.

Sonoma County, which got an extension to close its roll in late July, expects it to be flat.

“I hope we’re close to the bottom,” said Bill Rousseau, chief deputy assessor.

Property tax assessments slowly rise

For the 2012-13 tax year, property tax rolls in most Bay Area counties edged up, even while thousands of homes still had assessments temporarily reduced because their values had declined. Assessments consider value as of Jan. 1, so the recent surge in the real estate market is not yet reflected.

{+1} In billions

{+2} Under Proposition 8, passed in 1978, properties are temporarily assessed lower when their market value falls below their previously assessed value – the purchase price plus an annual increase of 2% or the California Consumer Price Index, whichever is less. When the market rebounds, properties can be reassessed to this “factored base year value.”

{+3} Sonoma County numbers are estimates; roll will close in late July.

Source: County assessors

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

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Property-tax-assessments-gradually-bouncing-back-3690479.php

Every now and then you need to take a step back and put the housing market into perspective, take a break from all the monthly motions and commotions, stress and distress.

Today I read a report that did just that. It takes a big-picture snapshot of how housing has fundamentally changed over the past several decades, which could have a big impact on its future as the industry rebuilds itself, literally and economically.

The report, from John Burns Real Estate Consulting’s Chris Porter, is titled simply, “Tremendous Demographic Shift.” And the numbers are pretty tremendous.

“The number of non-family households—people living alone or households that do not have any members related to the householder—has increased nearly five times in the last 50 years, from 7.9 million to 39.2 million. At the same time, the number of family households has increased by just 1.7 times, from 45.1 million to 77.5 million,” according to Porter.

In addition, married couples have dropped to less than half of all US households from 75 percent in 1960.

So let’s think about the current housing stock, much of which is more than 50 years old. We’ve recently seen a downsizing trend for several reasons, namely the weak economy and builders constructing cheaper homes to meet the demand but also the environmental movement and the high cost of energy.

Page 1 of 3 | Next Page
Show Entire Article

Week Ahead: Markets Will Be Hyperfocused on Economy After Dreadful Jobs Report

Debt Talks: What Needs to Be Resolved-And Soon

China June Inflation Accelerates to 6.4% on Year, Above Forecasts

Former first lady Betty Ford dies at 93

Unemployment Expected to Fall Through 2012

More Top Stories

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/43687637?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS

Sales of existing homes fell 3.8 percent in May, not as deep a drop as some had forecast, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million units.

April’s figure was revised down to 5 million.

Potential homebuyers continue to be held back by tough credit standards and poor confidence. Sales activity was 15.3 percent below the pace set in May of 2010, when buyers were rushing to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit.

“Spiking gasoline prices along with widespread severe weather hurt house shopping in April, leading to soft figures for actual closings in May,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $166,500 in May, down 4.6 percent from May 2010. Home prices continue to be pressured by the large supply of distressed properties, which typically sold at a discount of about 20 percent in May. Foreclosures and short sales, where the home is sold for less than the value of the mortgage, accounted for 31 percent of sales in May, down from 37 percent in April.

Page 1 of 3 | Next Page
Show Entire Article

Surviving Greek Government to Approve New Austerity

Bernanke to Walk a Fine Line on Inflation, Growth

Caution About Greece Returns to the Markets

FedEx Profit Rises, Sees Robust 2012

Obama To Set Course for Drawing Down Afghan War

More Top Stories

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/43478610?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS

Any time I see a 74 percent jump in anything, I hear alarm bells, so when the Treasury Department reported just that big a jump in its Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program, I figured there had to be something really big behind it.

And I was wrong.

There’s nothing big behind it, in fact there’s something very small behind it: Small numbers.

HAFA provides financial incentives for servicers and borrowers to do short sales (selling the property for less than the value of the mortgage) and deeds in lieu of foreclosure (basically just giving the property back to the bank). The program launched in April of 2010 and was later streamlined in December, 2010, based on feedback from mortgage servicers, real estate agents and homeowners.

So far, HAFA has completed 7,113 short sales or DIL’s. In April, however, HAFA saw 1,666 completed, up 74 percent from the 959 done in March.

Why the jump?

“It’s too early to draw broad conclusions,” says Treasury spokesman Andrea Risotto, noting that Treasury just began reporting the numbers two months ago. She also points to a long reporting lag because the short sale process still takes so long. But none of this is the story. The 74 percent jump exists because the numbers are just so small, and that’s the story. HAFA is doing a relatively miniscule number of short sales, when you compare the program to what the big banks are doing on their own.

Page 1 of 3 | Next Page
Show Entire Article

China May Inflation at 5.5%; Markets Expected 5.4%

Hackers Break Into U.S. Senate Computers

Lagarde, Carstens Shortlisted for IMF Race

Why US Oil Prices Are So Out Of Sync With Global Crude

US Is in Even Worse Shape Financially Than Greece: Gross

More Top Stories

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/43384757?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS

Thanks to all the streaming feeds of constant news I’m subjected to, I just clicked on a CNBC story titled, Four Years Later, Housing Market Shows Signs of Life.” I was curious, seeing as I write about housing for CNBC, and I didn’t write that. It’s a Reuters piece, and I don’t buy it.

But wait, what about this morning’s report of an 11 percent jump in sales of newly built homes and last week’s report of a 4 percent jump in sales of existing homes; March was a great month, right? A little perspective, please.

Yes, the numbers are going in the right direction, but only after big, albeit partially revised, drops in February. We’re working off a bottom here, and we’re still bumping around it. My concern, as it has been for years now, is distressed properties. Foreclosures and short sales (where the home is sold for less than the value of the mortgage) are ruling the roost, and that is not good news for home prices, which are still dropping, despite this one month of rising sales. Sales are all well and good, but prices are key in so so many ways.

For existing homes in March, the bulk of the market, 35 percent of all transactions were all-cash (that’s a new record), and 22 percent were sales to investors; investors don’t necessarily want to hold on to these properties for very long, so they may come back on the market again soon.

Page 1 of 3 | Next Page
Show Entire Article

Protecting Your Retirement Portfolio Against Inflation

Judge Orders End to NFL Lockout; Appeal Expected

Oracle CFO Resigns, to Be Replaced by Safra Catz

Netflix Earnings Leap, but Shares Slide on Weak Outlook

Commentary: ‘The Bride Is Nervous and Shedding’

More Top Stories

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/42749735?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS

“This week the cost of buying a home is coming down, way down,” begins the radio ad.

The big home builders do it all the time; holiday sales, weekend sales, special end-of-the-year clearance. Now the state of Maine is doing it.

With the Spring season kicking off with a whimper, the Maine Association of Realtors is taking a cue from the builders and launching their own one-week “Clearance Event.” That’s right, at least $10,000 off of participating existing homes. They started the week with 115 sellers signing on, and within a few days that grew to over 900. Some discounts are even larger.

“We’ve been on the market for a couple of months, so by joining the clearance even, it puts us back out in front of some of those people that maybe weren’t thinking about it a few months ago, but are now,” says seller Lisa Lee, who dropped her five bedroom, Cumberland home’s price $10,000 from $507,000. “You’ve got to be competitive, again, it’s a high price point in this market, so it was worth taking the loss.”

The median price of a Maine home is $159,450 according to the MAR, so $10,000 is a big chunk, especially for first-time buyers who are fighting a very tough credit market.

Realtors in Maine, and pretty much everywhere else in the country, will tell you today’s market is all about price.

Page 1 of 2 | Next Page
Show Entire Article

Southwest Grounds About 80 Planes After Mid-Air Emergency

Obama: Shift From Foreign Oil Will Help Create More Jobs

Americans Just Took a Pay Cut As Inflation Outpaces Wages

Subprime Probe to Show Rifts Between Banks: Report

Microsoft + Nokia = Challenge For Apple

More Top Stories

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/42376301?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS

Last week the Realtors were on the block, criticized for overestimating the number of existing home sales in 2010.

They admitted there were some issues with their “benchmarking,” and are currently working on a quick fix.

That acknowledgement was certainly a bombshell to those of us who cover housing, but it didn’t really affect investors, as it’s more of a macro-economic issue than a tradable one.

Well here’s a new one that could affect how you stock players trade.

Housing analyst Ivy Zelman, much renowned during her time at Credit Suisse for calling the crash of the subprime mortgage and charting adjustable rate mortgage resets, tells me the Census Department’s data on sales of new construction is also way off:

“In December, our survey channel checks implied a 12 percent sequential decline in seasonally-adjusted new home sales, which was consistent with what the public builders had said throughout earnings season, yet the Census reported an 18 percent increase.

Page 1 of 2 | Next Page
Show Entire Article

China Industrial Growth Hits 6-Month Low on Tightening

Tuesday Look Ahead: If Oil is Calm, March Could Come in Like a Lamb

US Calls China’s Baidu ‘Notorious Market’

Lean and Green Railroad Sector Powers Ahead

No Inflation? That’s Not What Food Prices Are Saying

More Top Stories

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/41830035?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS