#1. This three-bedroom home in Piedmont is offered at $2.75 million. Piedmont has a School Score of 9.5 and a median home price of $1.2 million.

Blanca Torres
Reporter- San Francisco Business Times

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For homebuyers looking for a great public school district, the East Bay is the top area to buy a home in the Bay Area. Emeryville-based ZipRealty, an online brokerage, compiled a list of the top selling cities in the Bay Area with the highest ranking public schools — eight were in the East Bay.

Click on the slideshow to see the top 10 .

“Home values and school scores are always going to be linked,” said ZipRealty President and CEO Lanny Baker. “In order to give our users the most complete picture of a home’s value, we provide a School Score, which is calculated based on test-score data as well as student/teacher ratios, for every home listing on ZipRealty.com.”

The scores range from zero to 10 with 10 being the highest.

The No. 1 city with the highest school score is Piedmont, a small rich enclave completely surrounded by Oakland where the schools scored a 9.5 and the median price dropped 27 percent to $1.2 million in August of 2013 from $1.53 during the same month last year.

The only non-East Bay cities on the list were Palo Alto and Benicia.

Overall, median home prices in the Bay Area rose 36 percent during the past year to $585,000.

Nationwide, the Bay Area real estate market ranked second after Sacramento for having the best public schools. The Bay Area is followed by Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Orlando.

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

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2013/09/bay-area-real-estate-top-school-district.html

This home at 3800 Washington St. in the Presidio Heights neighborhood of San Francisco is on the market for $21 million. It has eight bedrooms, seven bathrooms and 17,895 square feet. Prices for homes above $1 million grew by 11 percent during the past year.

Blanca Torres
Reporter- San Francisco Business Times

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The Bay Area’s housing market continues heating up, but for how long?

Home values in the Bay Area rose by 27.8 percent during the past year to an average of $628,200 in July, according to Zillow, a real estate information site. Zillow calculates home value appreciation for all homes, not just homes that have sold or are on the market.

Click on the image for a slideshow of Bay Area homes that are on the market or have risen significantly in value.

San Francisco ranked third nationwide for home value appreciation after Sacramento with 33.1 percent growth to $274,600 and Las Vegas with 30.8 percent growth to $151,600.

Nationwide, home values crept up by 6 percent during the past year to an average $161,600 — about 25 percent of San Francisco’s average (kind of makes you want to move doesn’t it?).

“The U.S. housing market recovery has proven it is on very sound footing,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. “We have entered a new phase in the recovery when we can begin to turn away from ugly recent history and turn toward what the housing market of the future will look like and how it will act.”

The housing market has improved significantly, but I’m not sure the Bay Area’s performance will continue to rise at the rapid pace we’ve seen in the past couple of years.

Also, the market here is increasingly shifting toward the high-end and away from first-time and entry-level buyers.

First Republic Bank reported today that luxury home prices in the Bay Area jumped 10.9 percent during the second quarter of this year compared with 2012 to an average of $2.9 million — the highest since the fourth quarter of 2008 and approaching the all-time highs of 2007.

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

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2013/08/bay-area-home-values-up-28-percent.html

Mortgage rates are about a full percentage point higher today than they were at the beginning of March. The average rate on the 30-year fixed hit 4.80 percent by the middle of last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That is the highest since April 2011.

Rates have been trending higher on expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin to taper its investments in mortgage-backed securities.

Home prices are also trending higher in part due to the fact that there are fewer distressed properties for sale. Excluding distressed sales, prices were up 11.4 percent year over year. Distressed properties have seen big price jumps in the past year, as investors fight to get the remaining bargains.

Markets hit hardest by the housing crash have seen some of the biggest price gains: Nevada home prices were up 27 percent annually in July, California up 23 percent and Arizona up 17 percent. Completed foreclosures nationally were down 25 percent in July from a year ago, according to CoreLogic.

(Read more: Map: Tracking the recovery)

Prices are also getting a boost from the sheer lack of properties for sale. Inventories are way down in local markets across the nation, and home builders are not ramping up production fast enough to meet new demand.

While the inventory situation is not expected to ease very much over the next year, home prices are expected to weaken slightly, as higher rates and weak income growth put a cap on just how high prices can go.

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101004096

The negative home equity rate fell in the second quarter of this year, the fifth straight quarterly drop, but it is still alarmingly high and continues to hamper the housing recovery.

Currently, 23.8 percent of homeowners with a mortgage, or approximately 12.2 million, owe more than their homes are worth, down from 15.3 million one year ago, according to the report. Some, however, are still so far underwater that even with fast-rising prices, it will take years for them to see any home equity.

(Read more: Home sales suffer on higher rates: Realtors)

“Widespread rising home values during the past year have helped chip away at negative equity nationwide, helping many homeowners who were only modestly underwater to come up for air. For those homeowners who are deeply underwater, though, there is still a long row to hoe,” said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries in a release.

(Read more: He’s not buying a house—why is Obama on Zillow?)

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100995592

Foreclosures were a common sight in many towns, such as San Pablo (pictured), just two years ago. Now with fewer foreclosures and home values surging, many people who got a temporary property-tax reduction will see a bump up this year. (Chronicle staff photo)

It’s a letter from Larry Stone or Ron Thomsen or Gus Kramer or another Bay Area county assessor.

You open it up and your eyes pop. Steam starts coming out of your ears like a little cartoon character.

Your property taxes are going up by a hefty amount for the 2013-14 tax year.

What happened? What about California’s Proposition 13, which guarantees a 2% annual cap on property tax increases?

Think back to 2009, when a similar missive arrived. Remember what a relief it was that your property taxes were slashed by about a third? Your house had plunged in value due to the real estate downturn. Under Proposition 8* — a companion to Prop 13, also passed in 1976 — assessors are supposed to cut your property taxes  temporarily when your home’s market value goes below your previous assessed value. That went on extensively throughout the state over the brutal downturn; it’s one reason cities, counties and California itself had to tighten their belts so much.

But the key word is “temporarily.” That same Prop 8 requires assessors to bring the values back up when the market recovers. It can go up by a big chunk. There is still a ceiling.  The maximum you can be assessed is what’s called your “factored base value.” That’s you original base value (what you paid for the house) plus 2% a year increases (or even less; if the California consumer price index is lower than 2%, that gets used instead).

Thousands of people will be getting these notices in coming weeks.  For instance, in Alameda County, 9,800 properties are being fully restored to their “factored base value” after having had a temporary tax cut. Another 69,000 are being partially restored in sync with the changing market. In San Francisco, 4,900 properties are being fully restored, and another 9,900 are being partially restored.

All the assessors have extensive explanations about Props 8 and 13 on their websites. The one on the Sonoma County Assessor’s website has a helpful graphic showing the interactions between Prop 13 values and Prop 8 market values.

Assessors are hopeful that homeowners will see the bright side.

“We are getting out of the market-value reductions and increasing our values,” said Ron Thomsen, Alameda County assessor. “It’s good for homeowners as they see increases in the equity of their homes.”

But many folks may not be jazzed about this.

Still, for the counties, cities, special districts and schools that depend on property-tax revenue, it’s definitely good news that the assessments are going up after several brutal years of steep declines. For a detailed look at what’s happening for Bay Area county assessments, click here. For more information about the impact on homeowners, click here.

Remember, you have the right to appeal your property-tax assessment — and you definitely do not need to pay anyone else to help you with this. Information on filing an appeal is available on each county assessor’s website.

*Not the Prop 8 about same-sex marriage that just went to the U.S. Supreme Court. California thriftily recycles proposition numbers; it wouldn’t be that catchy of a slogan to say: “Vote for Proposition 46,787?!

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. For news and insights on Bay Area real estate, follower her on Twitter: @csaid

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2013/07/05/brace-yourself-your-property-tax-bill-is-on-its-way/

Foreclosures were a common sight in many towns, such as San Pablo (pictured), just two years ago. Now with fewer foreclosures and home values surging, many people who got a temporary property-tax reduction will see a bump up this year. (Chronicle staff photo)

It’s a letter from Larry Stone or Ron Thomsen or Gus Kramer or another Bay Area county assessor.

You open it up and your eyes pop. Steam starts coming out of your ears like a little cartoon character.

Your property taxes are going up by a hefty amount for the 2013-14 tax year.

What happened? What about California’s Proposition 13, which guarantees a 2% annual cap on property tax increases?

Think back to 2009, when a similar missive arrived. Remember what a relief it was that your property taxes were slashed by about a third? Your house had plunged in value due to the real estate downturn. Under Proposition 8* — a companion to Prop 13, also passed in 1976 — assessors are supposed to cut your property taxes  temporarily when your home’s market value goes below your previous assessed value. That went on extensively throughout the state over the brutal downturn; it’s one reason cities, counties and California itself had to tighten their belts so much.

But the key word is “temporarily.” That same Prop 8 requires assessors to bring the values back up when the market recovers. It can go up by a big chunk. There is still a ceiling.  The maximum you can be assessed is what’s called your “factored base value.” That’s you original base value (what you paid for the house) plus 2% a year increases (or even less; if the California consumer price index is lower than 2%, that gets used instead).

Thousands of people will be getting these notices in coming weeks.  For instance, in Alameda County, 9,800 properties are being fully restored to their “factored base value” after having had a temporary tax cut. Another 69,000 are being partially restored in sync with the changing market. In San Francisco, 4,900 properties are being fully restored, and another 9,900 are being partially restored.

All the assessors have extensive explanations about Props 8 and 13 on their websites. The one on the Sonoma County Assessor’s website has a helpful graphic showing the interactions between Prop 13 values and Prop 8 market values.

Assessors are hopeful that homeowners will see the bright side.

“We are getting out of the market-value reductions and increasing our values,” said Ron Thomsen, Alameda County assessor. “It’s good for homeowners as they see increases in the equity of their homes.”

But many folks may not be jazzed about this.

Still, for the counties, cities, special districts and schools that depend on property-tax revenue, it’s definitely good news that the assessments are going up after several brutal years of steep declines. For a detailed look at what’s happening for Bay Area county assessments, click here. For more information about the impact on homeowners, click here.

Remember, you have the right to appeal your property-tax assessment — and you definitely do not need to pay anyone else to help you with this. Information on filing an appeal is available on each county assessor’s website.

*Not the Prop 8 about same-sex marriage that just went to the U.S. Supreme Court. California thriftily recycles proposition numbers; it wouldn’t be that catchy of a slogan to say: “Vote for Proposition 46,787?!

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. For news and insights on Bay Area real estate, follower her on Twitter: @csaid

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2013/07/05/brace-yourself-your-property-tax-bill-is-on-its-way/

What a difference two months (and 1.11%) makes: Higher rates mean this Brisbane condo would now pencil out to $254 more a month (Kiesha Stephens/Redfin)

Mortgage interest rates are on a tear. Last week they registered their sharpest one-week spike in years, hitting 4.46% for a fixed-rate 30-year home loan, according to Freddie Mac. Less than two months earlier, the rate was 3.35%.

Today’s Chronicle looks at the impact on the housing market; click here for the story.

Is a percentage more really that big a deal? Well, just ask all the folks who refinanced to carve that 1% off their mortgage rate.

Those who have not yet refinanced, perhaps because they were either underwater or close to it (lacking that magic 20% equity) are getting worried they may be out of luck. It’s a balancing act to see what will happen faster: Higher home values to increase their equity or higher mortgage rates that will make a refi less attractive.

Some home buyers, as well as those refinancing, may see the rising rates as motivation to get in the game.

“The rate increase spurred a lot of people to pull the trigger,” said Jay Voorhees, owner/broker of JVM Lending in Walnut Creek. “We’ve had an uptick in volume recently with both purchases and refinances.”

In his blog, mortgage broker Julian Hebron of RPM Mortgage in San Francisco discusses the possibility that rates could hit 5% in the near future.

While many experts say the housing market as a whole is likely to shrug off the higher rates, for some individual buyers, especially those on a shoestring budget, the impact will be stronger.

Consider these two homes now on the market, a condo very close to the Bay Area median, and a more high end home. Assuming a standard 20% down payment, look at what the monthly mortgage payments would be under today’s rate, and what it would have been in early May with the 3.35% rate.

This Brisbane two-bedroom condo “steps from the great outdoors,” (at top) is listed at $499,000. At today’s rate of 4.6%, monthly mortgage payments would be $2,017.  Monthly payments at 3.35% would be $1,763, or $254 less.

This San Jose 5-bedroom with an “inviting floor plan” and “lush backyard” in the Cambrian neighborhood (below)  lists at $889,000. The monthly cost at 4.6%: $3,587.  At 3.35%: 3,135. The difference: $452 a month. (Caveat: In reality this jumbo mortgage might mean a higher rate, but the spread between two months ago and now would be consistent.)

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. For Bay Area real estate news and insights, follow  her on Twitter: @csaid

This 5-bedroom in San Jose’s Cambrian neighborhood lists for $889,000. (Ashley Rabello/Redfin)

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2013/06/30/mortgage-interest-rates-on-upswing-heres-the-pocketbook-impact/

SUNNYVALE (KCBS)— New townhome projects continue at a rapid pace in Sunnyvale, where home construction can barely keep up with demand. The 14 currently under construction probably won’t be empty for long. Home values increased nearly 11-percent nationwide over the last year, but homes in the Bay Area are getting even greater gains.

The Standard Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday showed that all 20 cities measured by the report posted year-over-year gains for the third straight month.

And prices rose in 15 cities in March from February. That’s up from only 11 in the previous month. The monthly figures aren’t seasonally adjusted and may reflect the beginning of the spring buying season.

• Latest Case-Shiller Survey Results
• DataQuick’s Median Bay Area House Price By County

Prices rose in Phoenix by 22.5 percent over the past 12 months, the biggest gain among cities. It was followed by the Bay Area (22.2 percent) and Las Vegas (20.6 percent).

Niccole Beckerman said her family has been priced out of the Silicon Valley.

“It’s really expensive. My parents were trying to buy a house and it’s really expensive just because the schools are really good,” Beckerman said.

The story is the same throughout much of the Bay Area. According to the San Francisco Association Of Realtors, the median Bay Area price for a single-family home has crossed above the $1 million mark for the first time since 2007.

The Inventory of available homes remains extremely low according to San Jose realtor David Martz. He said there are only about 1,000 homes for sale in a population of nearly two-million people in the greater San Jose area.

“Combined with the fact that we currently have interest rates at an all-time low, it’s possible to get an interest rate close to three percent, which is driving demand, so the buyers are out there in force,” said Martz.

Martz said four out of every five homes that come on the market here receive multiple offers, with prices, in some cases, going up hundreds of thousands of dollars over asking.

Despite the gains, a limited number of homeowners are putting their houses on the market. That’s helped lift home prices. And it’s made builders more willing to ramp up construction. Applications for building permits rose in April to the highest level in nearly five years.

The supply of available homes jumped in April, but was still 14 percent below its level a year earlier.

Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow, a real estate data provider, said that the increase in the Case-Shiller index has been skewed higher by cities such as Phoenix and San Francisco. Fewer homes are available in those areas because many homeowners still owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. That makes it difficult to sell.

Still, even excluding those markets, home prices are rising steadily nationwide, Humphries said. The increases are “certainly confirmation that the housing market is experiencing a brisk recovery,” he added.

The housing recovery is creating more construction jobs and bolstering the economy in other ways. Higher home prices make homeowners feel wealthier and encourages them to spend more.

Rising prices also encourage more would-be buyers to purchase homes, before prices rise further. They also enable more homeowners to sell homes, by reducing the number of people who owe more on their mortgages than the homes are worth.

Prices have been increasing steadily since last summer. Still, they are about 29 percent below the peak reached in July 2006.

Banks have raised their credit standards since the housing bubble burst and are demanding larger down payments. That’s made it particularly hard for potential first-time buyers to get a mortgage.

(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/2013/05/28/builders-cant-keep-pace-with-demand-as-bay-area-housing-booms-again/

“This was originally contemplated as something you could draw money from over a long period of time, as a way of supplementing your income or providing income when you had not others. Now a lot of people are looking to reverse mortgages as a quick fix,” said David Certner of AARP.

About 9.5 percent of the 775,000 reverse mortgages outstanding are delinquent, far higher than the rate on regular mortgage loans. While lenders are pushing them aggressively, fewer are being made today, due to the drop in home values. Advocates say they can be a valuable tool, if used correctly, and that there are ample safeguards.

(Read More: Rising Mortgage Rates Amid Fed Fears)

“The reverse mortgage, unlike any other financial service in the United States, requires every single borrower, prospective borrower to go before an independent third party reverse mortgage counselor at a HUD-approved, HUD-funded counseling agency prior to even making an application for the loan,” claimed Bell. “So where somebody is coming off title would be in a discussion.”

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is now looking at new rules to protect consumers, which could include stricter supervision of lenders and more transparency for borrowers.

“It’s a balancing issue, you want to make sure that people have access to credit or the help they need or even those who may need a reverse mortgage, but you also want to make sure that one, people not getting reverse mortgage when it’s not the right product for them and two that when they are getting the product they are getting the best one that’s available for them,” explained Certner.

Those changes could go a long way to help seniors benefit from the loans, but they would likely be too late for Robert Bennett.

“I guess I could make it somewhere else, but I would walk away empty.”

—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/100788816

“This was originally contemplated as something you could draw money from over a long period of time, as a way of supplementing your income or providing income when you had not others. Now a lot of people are looking to reverse mortgages as a quick fix,” said David Certner of AARP.

About 9.5 percent of the 775,000 reverse mortgages outstanding are delinquent, far higher than the rate on regular mortgage loans. While lenders are pushing them aggressively, fewer are being made today, due to the drop in home values. Advocates say they can be a valuable tool, if used correctly, and that there are ample safeguards.

(Read More: Rising Mortgage Rates Amid Fed Fears)

“The reverse mortgage, unlike any other financial service in the United States, requires every single borrower, prospective borrower to go before an independent third party reverse mortgage counselor at a HUD-approved, HUD-funded counseling agency prior to even making an application for the loan,” claimed Bell. “So where somebody is coming off title would be in a discussion.”

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is now looking at new rules to protect consumers, which could include stricter supervision of lenders and more transparency for borrowers.

“It’s a balancing issue, you want to make sure that people have access to credit or the help they need or even those who may need a reverse mortgage, but you also want to make sure that one, people not getting reverse mortgage when it’s not the right product for them and two that when they are getting the product they are getting the best one that’s available for them,” explained Certner.

Those changes could go a long way to help seniors benefit from the loans, but they would likely be too late for Robert Bennett.

“I guess I could make it somewhere else, but I would walk away empty.”

—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/100788816