DRE News Clips
COVERAGE INFORMATION:
California Department of Real Estate (DRE) NEWS CLIPS service coverage:
Monday through Friday (except state holidays) each week includes electronic format articles retrieved from newspapers or news services that report real estate related news in California and some national services. Coverage is for California newspapers that are available electronically via the Internet - and any significant related breaking news.
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Copyright © , California Department of Real Estate
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Top Stories
Mortgage rates reach five-month high, sap activity
The Real Deal (Subscription)
Applications for mortgage purchases and refinancings decreased 2.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous period for the week ending on Apr. 19, according to the weekly Mortgage Bankers Association survey. The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with conforming loan balances also rose, from 7.13 percent to 7.24 percent.
National News
Prices for pending home sales reach record high
MIKE SOMONSEN, HousingWire
After a couple weeks of big jumps for mortgage rates, we’re still seeing relatively surprising strength in the housing market. In fact, some measures of home prices are now at their all-time highs, having surpassed the previous peak of two years ago.
New home sales rise as builders pile on buyer incentives
CANDYD MENDOZA, Mortgage Professional America
Sales of new single-family houses in March 2024 soared to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 693,000, according to the latest government data, That’s 8.8% higher than the revised February rate of 637,000 and 8.3% above the March 2023 estimate of 640,000.
How baby boomers have remade home buying
BARBARA RUBEN, Washington Post (Subscription)
In its 2024 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Report, the Realtors association found that 19 percent of all buyers over 60 moved to communities specifically designed for older adults. Nearly 60 percent bought single-family houses, while 12 percent bought townhouses and 5 percent purchased condos.
California News
The U.S. Supreme Court just gave California a major opportunity to lower housing costs
LOUIS MIRANTE, CalMatters
Thanks to a recent blockbuster U.S. Supreme Court ruling on excessive and often arbitrary local fees, reform may be on the way that could help ease California’s worsening housing crisis. But critical unanswered questions from the ruling could also lead to an unproductive morass of litigation – something state legislation could avert.
Empty S.F. office tower formerly valued at $62 million sold for $6.5 million
LAURA WAXMAN, San Francisco Chronicle (Subscription)
Deeply discounted office towers have become the norm in San Francisco over the past year, but no recent deal has been as radical as one that closed in the city’s struggling Mid-Market neighborhood this month: An empty 16-story tower traded for just $6.5 million. The $72 per square foot pricing for the tower at 995 Market St., which anchors the corner at 6th and Market streets, represents a 90% drop in value from when the building last sold in 2016, for roughly $62 million.
Nonprofit accuses Orange of using unrealistic parcels in its housing plan
JEFF COLLINS, Orange County Register
A pro-housing group is challenging the viability of the state-approved housing plan filed by the city of Orange, saying the plan fails to show how more than 3,000 needed homes will get built on land where current deed restrictions allegedly forbid development.
Exclusive details on Stonestown mega-project: 3,500 homes, acres of parks, ‘main street’
J.K. DINEEN, San Francisco Chronicle (Subscrption)
In what represents San Francisco’s first post-pandemic mega-project development agreement, the owners of Stonestown Galleria and city officials have agreed to a package of trade-offs and public benefits that would pave the way for 3,500 housing units to sprout on the sea of asphalt that dominates the 40 acre shopping mall.
Industry News
Decades of NAR membership data has vanished amid enrollment dip
ANDREA V. BRAMBILA, Inman (Subscription)
Decades of membership data has been scrubbed from the National Association of Realtors’ website and is no longer available either to members or the public, though the trade group says the data will be available to members again at some point in the future.
Commercial mortgage origination activity nearly halved in 2023
CANDYD MENDOZA, Mortgage Professional America
Commercial real estate (CRE) mortgage originations were down by half in 2023 as property owners paused borrowing. However, multifamily remained a bright spot. Total CRE borrowing and lending reached an estimated $429 billion, a 47% decrease from 2022's figures and a 52% plunge from the record high of $891 billion set in 2021, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest report.
Real Estate Technology
Technology’s role in rental property investment market
MICHAEL LUCARELLI, HousingWire
The challenges any rental property owner most commonly faces include finding dependable tenants, ensuring regular rent payments, meeting the changing needs of today’s renters and managing their properties effectively and efficiently. In order to tackle these challenges and respond to evolving market dynamics, one pivotal shift has been the integration of property technology (proptech) into management practices.
Property News
Why a Calif. mobile home is on the market for $2.1 million
PAULA MEJIA, SFGate
A new listing for a sun-drenched property in Malibu has all the luxurious stylings you’d expect from this wealthy, cliffside stretch of California coastline.
For $2.1 million, the expansive home at 29500 Heathercliff Road feels oddly well priced, especially for comparable beachside real estate in the coveted Southern California enclave. It also happens to be in a trailer park.
In Case You Missed It
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Resources, Webinars, and Other Items of Interest
#VALUE!CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE
Join us, the California Department of Real Estate, for a true story of real estate fraud and deception, along with consumer protection tips. In this episode, Dishonest Dealings, we take you through a case full of misrepresentation and calculated wrongdoings that took place in Southern California across two years.
California Tenants – A Guide to Residential Tenants’ and Landlords’ Rights and Responsibilities – 2024 Update
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE
What should a tenant do if his or her apartment needs repairs? Can a landlord force a tenant to move? How many days' notice does a tenant have to give a landlord before moving out? Can a landlord raise a tenant's rent? California Tenants – A Guide to Residential Tenants’ and Landlords’ Rights and Responsibilities answers these questions and many others.
