January 2013 Trulia Price Monitor Summary

% change in
asking prices

# of 100 largest
metros with asking-
price increases

% change in asking
prices, excluding
foreclosures

Month-over-month,
seasonally adjusted

0.9%

Not reported

1.2%

Quarter-over-quarter,
seasonally adjusted

2.2%

79

2.9%

Year-over-year

5.9%

86

6.5%

Booming Housing Markets Have Both Price Gains and Healthy Fundamentals

Healthy housing markets are defined by strong job growth, low vacancy rates, and low foreclosure inventory. In “booming” markets such as San Francisco and Seattle, rising asking prices are supported by strong job growth and are unthreatened by future foreclosures. However, investor-fueled price increases in “rebounding” markets like Phoenix and Las Vegas are at risk from slow job growth, high vacancies, or future foreclosures. At the other end of the spectrum, healthy markets without dramatic price gains, such as Houston, will continue to hum along after avoiding the worst of the housing bubble and bust. Meanwhile, markets like Chicago continue to struggle without strong market fundamentals or big price gains.

BOOMING

Big price increases and healthier
market
fundamentals.

• San
  Francisco
• Seattle
• Denver
• San
  Jose
• Salt
  Lake City

HUMMING

Stronger market fundamentals
without dramatic price
gains.

• Houston
• Boston
• Raleigh
• Dallas

REBOUNDING

Big price increases, but weaker
market fundamentals.

• Phoenix
• Las
  Vegas
• Riverside-San
  Bernardino
• Detroit

STRUGGLING

Neither strong market
fundamentals nor big price
gains.

• Newark
• Chicago
• Albuquerque

New Construction Eases Rent Gains Nationally

With more newly-constructed multi-unit buildings coming to completion, rent gains fell behind asking price increases at the national level for the first time since the price recovery began last spring. In January, rents rose 4.1 percent Y-o-Y nationally, slowing down from 4.7 percent in July 2012. Regionally, rent gains cooled the most in San Francisco, where rents rose only 2.4 percent versus 11.5 percent in July 2012. According to the Census, construction activity in San Francisco has been well above normal for the last year, and it’s nearly all in multi-unit buildings.

Where Rent Gains Slowed Down Most

#

U.S. Metro

% Change in
Rents, Y-o-Y,
Jan 2013

% Change in
Rents, Y-o-Y,
July 2012

Percentage
Point
Difference

1

San
Francisco, CA

2.4%

11.5%

-9.1%

2

Portland,
OR-WA

4.7%

9.2%

-4.4%

3

Seattle,
WA

6.4%

10.8%

-4.4%

4

Denver,
CO

7.4%

10.3%

-2.9%

5

San
Diego, CA

2.0%

4.4%

-2.4%

PRE-APPROVED QUOTES

• “In many local markets today, dramatic price gains can mask serious
  red flags,” says Jed Kolko, Trulia’s Chief Economist. “Strong job
  growth, low vacancy rate, and low foreclosure inventory–not huge price
  gains–are signs of a healthy housing market. Without strong underlying
  market fundamentals, price rebounds might be here today, but gone
  tomorrow.”
• “Rent gains are slowing down because of more supply, not less demand,”
  explains Jed Kolko, Trulia’s Chief Economist. “Many of the multi-unit
  buildings that have been under construction over the past two years
  are now coming onto the market. Renters in San Francisco, Seattle, and
  Denver are starting to get a touch of relief, even though rising
  prices might put homeownership out of their reach.”

MULTIMEDIA

• To read the full report, see here.
• To download the full list of price and rent changes for the largest
  metro areas, see here.
• To download a graph of price changes from January 2011 to January
  2013, see here.
• To download a scatter plot graph contrasting price trends with the
  market’s health for the 100 largest metros, see here.

METHODOLOGY

To view the full methodology and 2013 release schedule, see here. The next release of the Trulia Price Monitor and the Trulia Rent Monitor will be Tuesday, March 5, at 10 AM ET.

ABOUT TRULIA, INC.

Trulia (NYSE: TRLA) gives home buyers, sellers, owners, and renters the inside scoop on properties, places, and real estate professionals. Trulia has unique info on the areas people want to live that can’t be found anywhere else: users can learn about agents, neighborhoods, schools, crime, commute times, and even ask the local community questions. Real estate professionals use Trulia to connect with millions of transaction-ready buyers and sellers each month via our hyper local advertising services, social recommendations, and top-rated mobile real estate apps. Trulia is headquartered in downtown San Francisco. Trulia is a registered trademark of Trulia, Inc.

Article source: http://www.fortmilltimes.com/2013/02/05/2478046/trulia-classifies-housing-markets.html

Asking prices for homes for sale around the Bay Area rose substantially in December compared with the same time last year, according to San Francisco real estate website Trulia, ranging from a 16.3 percent spike in tech-fueled Santa Clara County to a 7.6 percent increase in Napa County. The nine-county Bay Area saw an average increase of 13 percent. By comparison, asking prices nationwide rose 5.1 percent in December compared with December 2011, Trulia said.

“Both job growth and tighter inventory gave (sale) prices a lift,” said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist. “Price increases accelerated throughout 2012, getting bigger as the year went on.”

Analyzing asking prices of homes currently for sale provides a leading indicator of what sales numbers are likely to look like in a few months’ time, Trulia said.

Data on sales throughout much of 2012 have shown the housing market recovering from the extended downturn that started in 2007.

Nationwide, Trulia said, “2012 marked a huge turnaround year for most local housing markets” with prices increasing in 82 of the 100 largest metro areas in December. In December 2011, only 12 markets had price increases.

Las Vegas, Seattle and Phoenix were Trulia’s “top turnaround” markets, followed by Oakland metro (Alameda and Contra Costa counties) and San Jose metro (Santa Clara and San Benito counties).

California cities such as Sacramento and Fresno that were devastated by the housing crisis also saw strong gains in 2012, Trulia said.

“Nine of the top 10 turnaround markets in 2012 were in the West,” Kolko said. “The only one east of the Rockies was Atlanta.”

Asking rents also rose, with Alameda County seeing the biggest spike (13.2 percent) and already pricey San Francisco the least (2.9 percent), Trulia said. The average increase for eight Bay Area counties (Napa did not have enough data) was 7.8 percent. Nationwide, rents grew 5.2 percent.

“We’re seeing rent increases across the region,” Kolko said. “In San Francisco they were smaller because rents are already so much higher there than elsewhere and it has had strong rent increases before this. The slower increase doesn’t make the city affordable.”

While rising home prices illustrate a housing market beginning to recover – and to stimulate economic recovery – they of course are not good news for those house hunting.

“They come with the perennial challenge of affordability in the Bay Area,” Kolko said.

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

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/Bay-Area-rents-home-prices-up-sharply-4163037.php

Real estate search and marketing company Trulia is making strides in its push to cooperate with multiple listing services nationwide in order to better the quality of listing information online.

The company announced this week that it has signed up all five MLSs in the San Francisco Bay Area to its quality assurance system, Trulia Direct Reference, The system allows MLSs, brokers and agents to identify discrepancies between real estate listings from MLSs and listings on third-party syndication sites.

Trulia introduced the system last year. Participating MLSs provide Trulia Direct Reference with accurate data on factors such as list price and status. The system then automatically reports discrepancies back to the MLS, broker and listing agent. The agent then has the option to visit the third-party sources and correct the information. MLSs can participate in the system at no cost whether or not they syndicate listings to Trulia.

The five participating Bay Area MLSs are East Bay Regional Data Inc. (EBRDI), San Francisco Association of Realtors, MLSListings, Bay Area Real Estate Information Services (BAREIS), and Bay East Association of Realtors. MLSListings and BAREIS also syndicate listings to Trulia.

EBRDI was the latest to sign up. “TDR will ensure that our listings are accurately displayed and provide the highest quality exposure and experience for our members,” said Rosemary Scardina, CEO of EBRDI, in a statement.

With all five MLSs participating, “Bay Area homebuyers, sellers and renters will have access to high quality property information to help them complete their home search,” said Matt Dollinger, Trulia’s head of industry relations, in a statement.

Listings quality is a long-standing issue across the online real estate space. Some brokerages have cited listing inaccuracy as one of the reasons they’ve stopped syndicating listings to Trulia and other third-party sites. Trulia and rival Zillow have recently offered brokers incentives to feed the portals listings data directly and both companies say they prioritize listing information that comes directly from MLSs and brokers.

In a letter to brokers in May, Trulia CEO Pete Flint emphasized the company’s desire to partner with the industry.

“We know that direct data feeds from brokers drastically improve data accuracy. We ask for your help and support, and are committed to continue to work with the industry to improve data quality on all levels,” he said.

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Article source: http://www.inman.com/news/2012/09/28/trulia-working-with-more-mlss-listing-data-quality