The New Year Should Bring New Opportunities for Bay Area Homebuyers

 Executive Summary: With December’s 22 percent year-over-year decline in overall Bay Area home sales, 2018 ended with 1 percent more activity than in 2017.Santa Clara and Sonoma counties concluded the year with sales declines, while San Francisco outpaced the previous year with a 9 percent increase.Sales of homes priced higher than $1 million outstripped 2018 activity by more than 20 percent.Overall inventory increased by 31...

Homeownership Remains a Major Part of the American Dream

More than 90 percent of homeowners and about 75 percent of non-homeowners believe that buying real estate is a key ingredient in fulfilling the American Dream.Eighty-four percent of non-owners hope to purchase a home in the future.Non-owners cite a lack of affordable homes on the market as the biggest reason that they do not yet own real estate. More than nine in 10 homeowners say...

Real Estate Roundup: California Leads the Nation for Big Cash-Out Refinances

Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious. CALIFORNIA ACCOUNTS FOR MORE THAN HALF OF THE NATION’S HIGH-DOLLAR CASH-OUT REFINANCES More than half of all mortgage refinances originated over the past six years by affluent homeowners have been done to obtain cash, with Golden State homeowners accounting for the lion’s share of the total. A recent CoreLogic report...

Small Home Price Increase Cuts Out a Large Number of Buyers

A $1,000 increase in the median sales price of a new home would push nearly 130,000 U.S. households out of the market. In California, adding $1,000 to the price of a home would cut affordability by almost 10,000 buyers. A 25 basis-point increase in mortgage rates means that nearly 1 million additional U.S. households will be unable to afford a home. A seemingly tiny uptick...

California Housing Markets Continued Cooling in December

Active home listings in the San Jose metropolitan area increased by 158 percent year over year in December, the most of any large U.S. housing market. San Jose also saw the biggest annual list price decline in the country, at 12 percent. The number of active listings in San Francisco and Los Angeles rose by a respective 74 percent and 33 percent from December 2017....

Which Home-Remodeling Project Do Owners Most Regret Doing Themselves?

Nearly two-thirds of homeowners who have performed renovations themselves regret doing at least one of the projects. Installing new tile floors is the most commonly regretted improvement job. About half of owners who did a remodeling project that went wrong say that it took longer than anticipated and was physically or technically harder than they initially thought. Taking a do-it-yourself approach to home improvements can...

Home of the Week: New Pacific Palisades Treasure Embraces Classic Details

This multi-level, new-construction Pacific Palisades residence combines classic detailing and quality finishes with an open, contemporary floor plan that invites gatherings large and small. Extraordinary indoor and outdoor living spaces are set on approximately 1.8 acres of mature cypress, palm, and oak trees. Refined interior treatments include vintage tin and hand-coffered wood ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, disappearing doors, and premium limestone and hardwood flooring. The impressive...

What Are the Most Expensive Neighborhoods in Los Angeles and San Francisco?

Neighborhoods in Malibu and Beverly Hills were the most expensive in Los Angeles County in 2018, two with median sales prices of more than $10 million. A $110 million home sale in Malibu last year marked the second-largest such transaction ever in California. Presidio Heights is San Francisco’s highest-end enclave, with the $4.5 million median sales price up by almost 25 percent year over year....

Real Estate Roundup: San Francisco Is One of America’s Best Cities for Telecommuters

Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious. SAN FRANCISCO NAMED ONE OF THE NATION’S TOP CITIES FOR WORKING FROM HOME San Francisco is not only an excellent city for finding a job, it’s also one of the best in the country for workers who want the flexibility of telecommuting. That’s according to a new study by SmartAsset,...