SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — Real estate firms are reporting a record number of Bay Area homes are being bought with cash, making it increasingly difficult for first-time homebuyers to get their offers accepted.

Often, the bids are only accepted after multiple offers resulting from bidding wars, according to real estate experts.

Real estate agent Peyton Schteevah with Pacific Union in San Francisco said 26 percent of their transactions last year were all-cash deals. That is a reflection of the record statewide high in 2012, where 32.4 percent of overall home sales were cash purchases.

“People came to the table with cash deals because it was so competitive to get homes that they tried to get any advantage they could to get their foot in and have a very compelling offer,” he said.

Schteevah said plenty of people decided to cash in their stocks or use money they had saved in the bank to compete with investors, a situation that is squeezing out buyers obtaining mortgages.

“It is very, very frustrating,” he said.

Adding to the current environment is a low inventory of homes and a median Bay Area price of $426,500 in February, up 22 percent from the same time last year.

“It is a seasonal market. Right now it’s extremely hot, but if we learned anything from the past; it’s up and down,” he said.

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Article source: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/04/03/rise-in-all-cash-home-sales-frustrates-bay-area-first-time-buyers/

No. 5: J. Rockcliff
Realtors

Gross sales by Bay Area office(s) in 2012: $2,070,049,206

Gross sales by Bay Area office(s) in 2011: $1,905,265,505

Top Bay Area executive: Jeff Sposito, President

Elizabeth Matsushita
Editorial researcher- San Francisco Business Times

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The top five Bay Area residential real estate firms held strong to their positions this year, though there were a few small surprises. What San Ramon-based real estate firm dominated our Bay Area list, but came in third on our East Bay list? Which of the top five was the only one to see a decrease in Bay Area sales compared to 2011?

Click on the image to start a slideshow of the Largest Residential Real Estate Firms in the Bay Area.

The San Francisco Business Times publishes industry rankings in each issue of the paper and reprints them at the end of the year for our annual Book of Lists. These lists are unique and authoritative sources of Bay Area business news.

To see the full Top 25 list, check out this week’s issue. The other list in this week’s issue is the Largest Residential Real Estate Firms in the East Bay.

To see our full Lists, subscribe to the San Francisco Business Times in print.

Elizabeth Matsushita is an editorial researcher at the San Francisco Business Times.

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2013/03/top-5-residential-real-estate-firms-in.html