(Read More: Home Buyers Are Back, but Where Are the Houses?)

“What’s holding people back from buying a property is a fear of selling their property and not being able to find one. That’s what the problem is,” noted Herrera.

The Las Vegas market is being fueled by investors, but even the investors can’t find the great bargains anymore. While the economy has improved some, the drop in foreclosures is really due to a new law that went into effect in Nevada last year; it criminalizes faulty foreclosures. Banks have therefore tried to do more short sales and loan modifications. Foreclosures in Nevada dropped 36 percent in 2012 from the previous year, according to RealtyTrac, but the distress is still there.

“People in Las Vegas talk about shadow inventory to the point where nobody really wants to talk about it anymore, said Mike Brunson, a local appraiser. “People will argue and say it isn’t, but I can name a dozen people off the top of my head who have been in their houses for over three years without a payment.”

Brunson called Las Vegas the Titanic of the real estate market. It was once thought unsinkable, and even now that the worst is over, he still thinks the market is on a well-provisioned life raft, not on solid ground.

“The only thing that concerns me is that we have been here before and the market itself is not what is driving the price increases. It’s not that we have new employers coming in and creating tens of thousands of new jobs that are leading to people buying new houses. It’s ‘Las Vegas is on sale,’ and investors are buying up everything they can in the used market.

Whatever the cause, the result is new construction and new life breathed into the nation’s home builders.

“There’s been a lot of talk about shadow inventory. It’s gone on for years, and the reality is there’s not enough inventory out there to meet demand today. Demand has increased, certainly our buyers see that, and we’re getting a lot of buyers because of that,” argued Andrews, whose company is, he said, building 150 percent more homes than a year ago.

(Read More: Home Buyers Are Back, but Where Are the Houses?)

Brunson acknowledged there is no question the demand is real. The sales are real. But he still worries about the fundamentals, such as the slow economic growth and the fact that so much of the funding for new home sales is coming from low down payment, government-backed mortgages.

“We have been here before,” said Brunson.

What remains to be seen is if history will repeat itself or if this recovery is as unique as the collapse that preceded it.

—By CNBC’s Diana Olick; Follow her on Twitter @Diana_Olick or on Facebook at facebook.com/DianaOlickCNBC

Questions? Comments? RealtyCheck@cnbc.com

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100522314

It’s a normal life transition – but one that would have been unavailable to him just a year ago, when his home was underwater. Now, with the Bay Area real estate market on a rapid upward trajectory, Walawitch, 62, should be able to sell his three-bedroom, two-bathroom home at a decent profit.

“This is my dream, it will provide me with the down payment for my retirement home,” he said. “I was quite concerned (during the housing downturn); I didn’t know how long I’d have to stay in the house. I’m very happy the market has turned.”

Sale prices of Bay Area homes surged in 2012 at a pace that accelerated throughout the year, according to DataQuick, a San Diego research firm. In December the nine-county median rose to $442,750, an astounding 32 percent increase compared with the prior year – the highest jump in 25 years of record keeping, DataQuick said Wednesday.

That benchmark is heavily influenced by a changing mixture of homes sold. About half of the increase represents higher values, while the other half stems from fewer bargain-priced distress sales and more high-end homes changing hands.

Foreclosures dropping

Foreclosures and short sales comprised about a third of the resale market in December; a year earlier, they were 52.4 percent of sales. The number of homes sold for more than $500,000 rose 61.2 percent, while the number sold for less than $500,000 fell 12.6 percent compared with a year earlier, DataQuick said.

“This absolutely does not mean the typical house in the Bay Area is up 32 percent compared to last year,” said DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage.

Beating previous year

However, 2012′s strong sales do show a market that is finally in recovery after the carnage of the housing collapse. From April on, Bay Area median sales prices consistently outshone those of the prior year; from June through December they outperformed 2011 by double-digit percentages.

“We’ve had a sustained buildup,” LePage said. “There is real price appreciation, particularly in the more-desirable coastal markets with a lot of demand meeting very little inventory.”

A total of 7,832 new and resale homes and condos changed hands in the nine-county Bay Area in December, up 4.5 percent from a year earlier. Realtors throughout the region report that inventories remain super-tight and many homes attract boom-style bidding wars.

December marked “the 20th consecutive month of a decline in inventory,” said Glen Bell of Better Homes and Gardens Mason McDuffie Real Estate, speaking of data for Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

The East Bay now has a two-week supply of homes for sale (meaning the existing inventory would sell out in two weeks at the current sales pace), the lowest he has ever seen, Bell said. Ordinarily it should have a three- or four-month supply.

Investors jumping in

“There is so much (buyer) competition for so few properties out there that people are scrambling to try to get in,” he said. “If a home looks good, is in an area people want to live in and is priced right, you get multiple offers all over the place.”

Even properties that don’t meet those criteria win popularity contests. Bell recently listed “a little, tiny, dinky fixer,” a bank-owned foreclosure in a “not great area of Richmond,” priced at $72,000, and received 32 offers, six of them north of $100,000. Every offer was for all cash, implying they were from investors. It went into contract this week for about two-thirds above the asking price.

All that competition – so many buyers vying over so few houses – is driving up prices. But soon it should also bring more sellers, increasing inventory, which in turn should moderate the pace of price hikes.

Correction is real

Potential sellers “are getting the sense that the market has really corrected and this is a good time to make a move,” said Rick Turley, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, which covers much of Northern California. “The market improvement has gotten people to a point where they can transact, which they previously couldn’t.”

Will spring, the traditional kickoff for real estate’s strongest selling season, see a surge in sellers?

“We are certainly hopeful that the spring will give us the bump we need in listing inventory,” Turley said.

Looking back at the full year, 2012 saw an annual Bay Area median price of $404,000, still shy of the median a decade earlier. But annual medians – which mute some of the month-to-month spikes – paint a portrait of a market where the prices that shot up during the boom and crashed during the collapse now seem on a steadier path.

Could the rise in prices presage another housing bubble?

“I don’t think it will shoot up and crash down again,” Turley said. “The more-conservative lending will help us to stay healthy longer.”

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-surging-4200912.php

A new survey finds that the number of homes sold in California during the month of March has hit a five-year high as prices hold steady.

Real estate research firm DataQuick reported Thursday that more than 37,000 new and existing homes and condominiums sold in the state last month.

That’s almost a 3 percent rise over the same time last year and the highest number since nearly 40,000 homes sold in March 2007.

The median price paid for a home in California last month was $251,000, up less than a percent compared to a year ago.

More than half of last month’s sales statewide were of homes either in foreclosure or being sold for less than what the seller owed.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

Home prices across much of the San Francisco Bay area showed signs of leveling off as March sales hit their highest point in five years, a real estate research firm reported Thursday.

Nearly 7,700 new and existing homes and condominiums sold in a nine-county region in March, up more than 9 percent from the same period in 2011, according to a survey by DataQuick. It’s the highest tally for the month since more than 8,300 homes were sold in March 2007.

The San Diego-based firm said the jump was spurred in part by lower prices, though the decline compared to the same time last year was minimal. The median sales price last month was $358,000, a drop of less than 1 percent from the median March 2011 price of $360,000.

“While the changes we’re seeing are incremental, they’re incremental in a positive direction,” said Dataquick president John Walsh.

About one-quarter of existing home sales were for properties in foreclosure during the previous year. Another 19 percent were “short sales” — when the price is below the amount owed by the seller.

All-cash sales favored by investors accounted for just less than 30 percent of March sales in the region, while absentee buyers made up a little less than one-quarter of all sales. Both rates were near historic highs.

DataQuick said foreclosures in the Bay Area remained above typical levels but were down compared to the peak of the housing crisis.

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/04/19/state/n095526D64.DTL

SAN FRANCISCO

Home prices across much of the San Francisco Bay area showed signs of leveling off as March sales hit their highest point in five years, a real estate research firm reported Thursday.

Nearly 7,700 new and existing homes and condominiums sold in a nine-county region in March, up more than 9 percent from the same period in 2011, according to a survey by DataQuick. It’s the highest tally for the month since more than 8,300 homes were sold in March 2007.

The San Diego-based firm said the jump was spurred in part by lower prices, though the decline compared to the same time last year was minimal. The median sales price last month was $358,000, a drop of less than 1 percent from the median March 2011 price of $360,000.

“While the changes we’re seeing are incremental, they’re incremental in a positive direction,” said Dataquick president John Walsh.

About one-quarter of existing home sales were for properties in foreclosure during the previous year. Another 19 percent were “short sales” — when the price is below the amount owed by the seller.

All-cash sales favored by investors accounted for just less than 30 percent of March sales in the region, while absentee buyers made up a little less than one-quarter of all sales. Both rates were near historic highs.

DataQuick said foreclosures in the Bay Area remained above typical levels but were down compared to the peak of the housing crisis.

Article source: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-04/D9U85KVG0.htm

WALNUT CREEK, CA, Jan 30, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) –
The San Francisco Bay Area Agency, a local office of the MassMutual
Financial Group, today announced that Tony Delumen, 34, and an
eighth-year agent, has qualified for the prestigious MassMutual
Chairman’s Club for 2012, an honor bestowed to the top 10 career
agents annually, from among 5300 agents around the US.

The Chairman’s Club recipients are the top 10 annual producers of the
entire MassMutual pool of more than 5300 agents and are considered
the pinnacle of MassMutual’s sales force. The honor recognizes the
individuals who have achieved the highest levels of all-around sales
and performance during the previous year.

“This is an incredible distinction for Tony, who has been an
outstanding member of our team since he joined the Agency,” said
Robert Fakhimi, General Agent of the San Francisco Bay Area Insurance
Agency. “He is continually attaining the highest levels of
achievement in the company by delivering extraordinary service to his
clients. This latest honor is a testament to Tony’s diligence, hard
work and supreme skills in the field.”

Other achievements by Delumen include both the title of 2009 Top
Premium Producer and Top Annuity Producer over the more than 5000
MassMutual career agents in the company’s 84 national offices. He
also earned the prestigious Freshman 5 award for his performance
during his first year as an agent, given to only five MassMutual
first-year agents nationally each year. Plus he was named Agent of
the Year four years in a row in the local office.

Delumen’s latest award continues the top achievements of the overall
SF Bay Area Insurance Agency. In the last seven years, this firm,
with Fakhimi as general agent, has developed six Freshman 5 award
honorees. In addition, the Agency has been honored with the
MassMutual Chairman’s Trophy for performance eight times in the last
nine years. The award is a reflection of an agency’s accomplishments
in revenue growth, recruitment and productivity.

About the San Francisco Bay Area Insurance Agency Inc.
With roots
going back to 1891, the San Francisco Bay Area Insurance Agency Inc.
is a significant contributor to the local economy, as shown by the
following figures about the San Francisco Bay Area Insurance Agency
and its detached offices (as of December 31, 2010):

        --  More than 36,000 policyholders and clients(1)
        --  Managing over $863 Million in assets (including assets and certain
            external investment funds managed by MassMutual and its subsidiaries)
        --  More than $4.7 billion in life insurance face amount in force(2)
        --  Will return more than $8.3 million in dividends to its participating
            policyholders in 2010(3)

Robert Fakhimi is CEO and Managing Partner of the San Francisco Bay
Area Insurance Agency Inc. Recently named as one of the Bay Area’s
Best Places to Work, the agency is headquartered in Walnut Creek with
branch offices in San Francisco, Fremont and Milpitas. Mr. Fakhimi
can be reached at 888-803-3631, ext. 320 or by e-mailing him at
rfakhimi@financialguide.com. Securities and investment advisory
services offered through qualified registered representatives of MML
Investors Services LLC, member SIPC, Inc. 2121 N. California Blvd.
Suite 395 Walnut Creek, CA 94596 (925) 979-2300.

About MassMutual

Founded in 1851, MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance
company that is run for the benefit of its members and participating
policyholders. The company has a long history of financial strength
and strong performance, and although dividends are not guaranteed,
MassMutual has paid dividends to eligible participating policyholders
every year since the 1860s. With whole life insurance as its
foundation, MassMutual provides products to help meet the financial
needs of clients, such as life insurance, disability income
insurance, long term care insurance, retirement/401(k) plan services,
and annuities. In addition, the company’s strong and growing network
of financial professionals helps clients make good financial
decisions for the long-term.

MassMutual Financial Group is a marketing name for Massachusetts
Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) and its affiliated
companies and sales representatives. MassMutual is headquartered in
Springfield, Massachusetts and its major affiliates include: Babson
Capital Management LLC; Baring Asset Management Limited; Cornerstone
Real Estate Advisers LLC; The First Mercantile Trust Company;
MassMutual International LLC; MML Investors Services, LLC., member
FINRA and SIPC; OppenheimerFunds, Inc.; and The MassMutual Trust
Company, FSB.

For more information, visit massmutual.com.

(1) An insured, owner, or payer of a MassMutual policy or contract.

(2) Amount of individual life insurance in force at the end of the
period related to products issued by Massachusetts Mutual Life
Insurance Company and its subsidiaries, C.M. Life Insurance Company
and MML Baystate Life Insurance Company.
(3) The amount of
dividends to whole life policyholders in 2010.

        Contact:
        Erica Zeidenberg
        925-631-0553

SOURCE: SF Bay Area Insurance Agency

Copyright 2012 Marketwire, Inc., All rights reserved.

Article source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/san-francisco-bay-area-insurance-agency-advisor-attains-national-massmutual-honor-awarded-to-only-ten-agents-annually-2012-01-30

“We are certainly seeing a lower level of foreclosure activity than a year or two ago,” said DataQuick President John Walsh. “The question is, how much of that decline is due to market conditions, and how much is due to policy changes that try to address economic distress?”

In the Bay Area, lenders filed 10,012 notices of default, the formal first step in the foreclosure process, in the final three months of the year, DataQuick said. That was down 16.6 percent from the same time in 2010. Statewide, 61,517 notices of default were filed, down 11.9 percent from the previous year.

The trend carried through to trustee’s deeds, the final step in the foreclosure process. In the Bay Area, a total of 4,831 trustee’s deeds were recorded in the fourth quarter, a 16.2 percent decline from 2010. In California, 31,260 trustee’s deeds were filed, an 11.8 percent decline.

The numbers are still high by historic standards, but are down compared with the rise in foreclosures four years ago.

As the housing market finds its footing and the economy adds jobs, the number of homeowners forced into foreclosure tends to drop.

“Once prices stabilize or start going up a little, fewer people get pushed into the distressed arena because there is a better chance that they will be able to refinance or sell the house and clear their loan,” said Andrew Le-Page, a DataQuick analyst. “Or they decide to fight to hang on. If prices were still going down, they might decide to throw in the towel.”

Lenders, which have come under ferocious criticism for not being more responsive to struggling homeowners, also have altered the way they handle late payments. Some of those changes stemmed from the 2010 robo-signing scandal that uncovered sloppy foreclosure paperwork.

“Five years ago, almost all mortgage payment delinquencies would have triggered a default notice after a certain amount of time,” Walsh said. “Strategies now include short sales, refinances, interest rate changes, principal reduction, as well as just plain waiting longer. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as the economy improves and the housing market finds its footing.”

Much of the housing distress remains concentrated in lower-cost inland areas where overbuilding was rampant during the housing boom. San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin remain the three California counties where mortgages are least likely to go into default, DataQuick said.

Across the Bay Area, there were 5.7 notices of default for every 1,000 homes in the fourth quarter. That concentration ranges from a low of 2.9 notices of default per 1,000 homes in San Francisco to a high of 10.7 such notices per 1,000 homes in Solano County. Statewide, the average was 7 notices of default per 1,000 homes.

For trustee’s deeds, the Bay Area had 2.7 per 1,000 homes, ranging from 1.2 per 1,000 homes in San Francisco to 6 in Solano. Statewide, there were 3.7 trustee’s deeds per 1,000 homes.

“We’ve worked through the worst of it,” LePage said.

E-mail Carolyn Said at csaid@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/2012/01/25/BU0U1MTTIP.DTL

Just over 11 million Americans moved between March of 2010 and March of 2011, according to a new report from the U.S. Census.

That might sound like a lot, but it’s actually a record low, down from 12 and a half million who moved the previous year.

The record high was 46 million movers in 1984-85, and you have to factor in that the population has grown immensely since then.

The housing crash has left Americans stagnant, but even worse, it has left homeowners trapped. The decline in the mobility rate of those who already own homes was even more dramatic. Just 4.7 percent of homeowners moved in the past year, down from 5.2 percent the previous year, according to the Census. That translates into 9.7 million homeowners, again a record low.

The immobility of current homeowners is a huge drag on the economy; when you move, you spend money not just on the new house, but on renovations, moving trucks, travel expenses, possible temporary housing, even food when you restock the new refrigerator. There are initial payments, like setting up the new cable, installing the wifi, putting in an alarm system, registering your car in another state. Endless sectors of the economy, and even local government, benefit from American mobility, most of all being the job market itself.

Last week I heard a statistic that a few thousand jobs stood open in the month of October, unable to be filled.

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Falling home prices may be plaguing the US economy, but they are candy to foreign investors, who already have a weak dollar on their side.

Buyers from overseas spent roughly $41 billion on US residential real estate last year, a bump up from the previous year. US real estate agents report a surge this Spring especially, as foreign buyers see continued pressure on home prices and ample bargains.

“I don’t think they’re so concerned about the prices dropping as they are about getting value for their money,” says Rick Ambrose, a Coldwell Banker agent in Lake Mohawk, NJ.

Ambrose and his colleague Mary Pat Spekhardt recently hosted two groups of Japanese investors searching for homes on the scenic lake just about an hour outside of New York City.

“They can work here, be close to the city, be close to their corporations and still feel like they’re on vacation. I think that’s really what grabbed everybody. That’s what got them,” says Spekhardt.

The group of about 35 from Japan also toured properties in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, which are more popular choices among foreign investors.

A new survey by Trulia.com that tracks searches from potential foreign buyers found LA ranked number one in potential interest traffic, trailed by New York City, Cape Coral, Fl, Fort Lauderdale, FL and Las Vegas.

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Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/43410052?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS

San Mateo County homes suffering from what is known as negative equity rose to 17.5 percent in the first quarter of this year as compared to 11 percent last year, Zillow.com reported. The change, driven by falling property values, reflected trends seen at the local, state and even national level.

For data on homes in negative equity by county and foreclosures by city, click on the photo to the right.

The numbers could signal another wave of foreclosures in the making. For residents with homes in negative equity, the options can often come down to either seeking a short sale, meaning a sale for less than the mortgage value of the house — or walking away and letting it fall into foreclosure, said Arton Chau, General Manager of Burlingame-based Home Buyers Alliance.

Chau, who specializes in negotiating short sales, says his clients are either encountering severe economic stress that renders them unable to make payments, or they can make payments but have found it makes more financial sense to let the underwater home go.

“For me, it’s really about getting them out of this difficult situation,” Chau said.

For communities like Daly City, already hit hard by the foreclosure crisis of recent years, the numbers could mean more bad news to come. The city had 791 foreclosed homes this January, down from 884 the previous year but still the highest number in the county.

“The foreclosures are absolute disasters,” said Daly City Councilman David Canepa. “These are the people who have been the fabric of our society. I saw the data, and it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better.”

Canepa said that foreclosures and negative equity impact the city’s source revenue of property tax, as well as the community as a whole. Though a renter himself, Canepa can’t escape the anguish of people losing their homes as he receives about two calls a month from people asking for help.

“It’s heartbreaking, these people are pouring their hearts out. We all got steamrolled by this economy.”

County Supervisor and Daly City native Adrienne Tissier said she began hosting foreclosure workshops three years ago when the first foreclosure wave hit.

“Everyone is talking about the economy coming back a little bit, but the foreclosure issue is still very, very real,” she said.

Tissier’s workshops aim to both help those who are battling foreclosures and those preparing for life after losing their home.

“My hope is if I help at least one person, that’s one more person that isn’t on the street,” she said.

The trend toward increased negative equity was not limited to San Mateo County. In San Francisco, the percentage of underwater homes rose from 8.4 percent this time last year to 21.8 percent, while Bay Area-wide it increased to 25.7 percent from last year’s 22.4 percent mark.

National and state negative equities were also up with the national numbers climbing to 28.4 percent from 22.2 percent last year, and California recording 32.2 percent, up from 28.7 percent.

aterrazas@sfexaminer.com

Article source: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/bay-area/2011/05/spread-underwater-foreclosures-feared-san-mateo-county