SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) – A research firm said home prices in the San Francisco Bay Area began to cool off last month after a torrid run.

California posted its strongest homes sales for any August in seven years as price increases cooled, a research firm said Friday, a relief to buyers who have been competing over slim pickings.

There were 42,546 new and existing houses and condominiums sold, up 3.1 percent from 41,280 sales a year earlier and the highest August tally since 51,054 homes sold in 2006, according to DataQuick.

The median sales price was $361,000, down 0.6 percent from 363,000 in July but still up 28.5 percent from $281,000 in August 2012. It was the 18th straight month of annual price gains.

Sales were especially strong for mid- to high-priced homes. Sales above $500,000 jumped 28.2 percent in the nine-county Bay Area and soared 48.7 percent in Southern California.

Louis Marcoux, 35, lost three bids before buying a four-bedroom house last month for $830,000 in Pleasanton. It is better house than the previous ones he sought—and less expensive.

“It got sort of crazy in May, June,” said Marcoux, an executive at a medical device maker. “We were ready but weren’t pressed for time … The wait was worth it.”

The median sales price in the Bay area was $540,000, down 3.9 percent from $542,000 in July but still up a whopping 31.7 percent from $410,000 in August 2012. There were 8,616 homes sold in the Bay area, down 0.6 percent from a year earlier.

DataQuick reported Thursday that Southern California’s median sales price was $385,000 last month, matching a 64-month high and marking the 13th straight month of annual double-digit gains. Sales increased 2.8 percent to 23,057 homes.

“We’re starting to see an overdue correction that’s going to lead to much more moderate price increases,” said Michael Lea, lecturer at San Diego State University’s Corky McMillin Center for Real Estate.

The sales increase partly reflects a national trend of fewer homeowners owing more than their homes are worth, allowing them to sell without taking a loss, analysts said. CoreLogic Inc., a real-estate data firm, reported this week that 15.4 percent of its mortgaged homes in California were “underwater” at the end of June, down from 21.3 percent three months earlier.

Foreclosed homes, which drove sales after the 2008 financial market meltdown, made up a much smaller part of the sales mix. According to DataQuick, homes foreclosed upon during the previous year accounted for 7.8 percent of existing home sales in August, down from 20 percent a year earlier and 58.8 percent in February 2009.

Lea said he is watching for housing inventories to grow, which will help keep a lid on price increases.

The California Association of Realtors reported a 2.9-month supply of single-family homes for sale in July, down from 3.5 months a year earlier. A normal supply is considered five to seven months.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Article source: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/09/13/bay-area-home-prices-cooling-off/

SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – LessThan6Percent (http://www.lessthan6percent.com), the online marketplace where home sellers can compare commissions and marketing plans from local real estate agents, is exiting its beta launch in the San Francisco Bay Area and expanding into Southern California. Founded in late 2012 by serial entrepreneur Simon Ru, LessThan6Percent provides home sellers a convenient platform to streamline the process of finding the best agents to represent their home.

“The problem home sellers face is that there are thousands of agents in any given market,” says Ru. “It is difficult for home sellers to compare agents to find the best match. They don’t know what questions to ask, what to look for in a marketing proposal, or how to start the awkward conversation of negotiating services commissions.” This is where LessThan6Percent steps in.

LessThan6Percent differs from traditional agent-matching service such as Trulia (http://www.trulia.com/) and Zillow (http://www.zillow.com) by matching sellers to proposals submitted by agents rather than agents’ profiles. Instead of directing sellers to call agents’ numbers on a directory, LessThan6Percent transforms the matching process by having agents compete for sellers’ business. With a click of a button, home sellers would know exactly what services they are going to receive and how much they would cost. This level of transparency is unparalleled in the real estate industry.  

LessThan6Percent Benefits Home Sellers

When using LessThan6Percent, sellers are able to request proposals anonymously and review profiles that showcase agents’ marketing brochures, past transactions and social network reviews. A typical request will receive five proposals within two business days. Each proposal is personalized and includes answers to all the pertinent questions that a seller would typically ask when interviewing agents.  Sellers will be able to compare commission quotes, length of contract, and services such as number of open houses, staging, marketing and virtual tours that the agents are willing to offer.

Beyond quantitative metrics and stats, agents are also given the opportunity to provide a customized response on how they can help the seller obtain a higher price and how they are the best agent for the seller and the property.  This information adds depth to an agent’s profile and helps the seller decide on the appropriate agents to interview and hire.

“When agents compete for your business, the opportunity to get a competitive commission quote comes naturally,” says Ru. On top of the commission savings, LessThan6Percent also offers home sellers a $500 bonus rebate at close of escrow.    

LessThan6Percent Also Benefits Agents

While home sellers enjoy convenience, selection and savings when using LessThan6Percent, real estate agents will enjoy a new avenue to connect with sellers they would not have met otherwise. By gathering and analyzing massive amounts of data from credit bureaus and third-party data sources, LessThan6Percent identifies potential home sellers and brings them to the site. LessThan6Percent’s team interviews and identifies the needs of each seller so that agents can create tailor-made proposals. Because the proposals and commission quotes are personalized and only viewable by the seller, LessThan6Percent provides a safe platform for full-service agents to compete with discount brokerages such as Redfin (http://www.redfin.com/) in a way that was not previously available.  

Since piloting the beta in February 2013, LessThan6Percent has established partnerships with over 300 real estate agents in the San Francisco Bay Area. Several of its partner agents are ranked in the Wall Street Journal as among the top 100 agents in the U.S.

About LessThan6Percent
Founded in November 2012 by serial entrepreneur Simon Ru and led by a team that has helped grow companies like EBay (http://www.ebay.com/) and Redfin, LessThan6Percent™ is a marketplace where home sellers can compare commission quotes and listing proposals from local real estate agents. To learn more about LessThan6Percent, please visit http://www.lessthan6percent.com

LessThan6Percent, Inc.
1001 Bayhill Drive, #294
San Bruno, CA 94066
(Office) 1-800-692-5010

SOURCE LessThan6Percent

RELATED LINKS
http://www.lessthan6percent.com

Article source: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lessthan6percent-revolutionizes-how-home-sellers-and-real-estate-agents-connect-205310341.html

“I do think some of these delinquent properties will still end up as foreclosures down the road,” notes Blomquist. “But this type of legislation is also forcing lenders to consider other creative ways of disposing of the delinquencies that may not be as difficult as foreclosure has become.”

That includes short sales, deeds in lieu of foreclosure and a growing trend of selling off bad loans to investors. The investors, since they are buying at a deep discount, are able to offer more drastic modifications to keep borrowers in their homes.

(Read More: Americans Are UsingTheir Houses as ATMs Again)

Short sales, when the property is sold for less than the mortgage, are becoming ever more frequent. Nearly 26 percent of Southern California home sales in January were short sales, according to DataQuick, while just 15 percent were foreclosure sales. Investor and cash buying was at or near record levels.

“A lot of today’s housing demand is fueled not by spectacular job growth and soaring consumer confidence, but by super-low mortgage rates and unusually high levels of investor and cash purchases. Take away any one of those elements and it will matter,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

With legal changes in California, Florida now has the dubious distinction of having the most properties with foreclosure filings in the nation. One in every 300 homes had a filing in January, according to RealtyTrac. That is twice the national average.

(Read More: Big Banks Told to Review Their Own Foreclosures )

States that require a judge in the foreclosure process, like Illinois and New Jersey, saw big January jumps in foreclosure auctions (sales back to the bank or to an investor), but non-judicial states saw the biggest increases in newly started foreclosures. In Nevada, where new legislation slowed the process dramatically last year, foreclosure starts were up 87 percent from a year ago.

While the numbers can be parsed in many ways, the bottom line is that while fewer borrowers are getting into trouble, an enormous backlog of distress is still moving through the foreclosure system, in some places quite quickly, and in others ever more slowly. Until the overall numbers come down to a more normal level, any speculation on overall price stability is risky at best.

(Read More: Mortgage Mess StillMires US Housing Recovery)

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100460456

Blanca Torres
Reporter- San Francisco Business Times

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Platt Inc. Real Estate, a boutique Oakland-based real estate company, has joined Harcourts USA, a national real estate firm based in Aliso Viejo, and is changing its name to Harcourts Platt Inc. Real Estate.

The new office is Harcourts’ first foray into the Bay Area.

The new firm has five agents working in the East Bay. Cameron Platt, founder of Platt Inc., completed more than $10 million in sales in 2012 and expects to his firm rake in more money by joining Harcourts.

“The professionals at Harcourts Platt Inc. Real Estate are joining a team of over 12,000 professionals working in 10 countries, including Australia, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Indonesia, and South Africa,” said Aaron Hodson, CEO of Harcourts USA. “Harcourts is actively involved in the personal and professional development of every person on its team. That’s why the average annual income of Harcourts agents worldwide was in excess of $168,000 in 2011 – a vast improvement over the industry average in California which currently sits at just $18,000 per year.”

Harcourts’ parent company, based in Australia and New Zealand, has an international presence with more than 800 offices in 10 countries.

It established its USA division in 2011 and has more than a dozen offices in Southern California.

Blanca Torres covers East Bay real estate for the San Francisco Business Times.

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2013/01/harcourts-plants-flag-in-the-bay-area.html