US economic conditions are shutting the door on the red-hot residential real estate market in the North Bay, with increasing interest rates contributing to May’s double-digit percentage drop in the region’s home sales, according to the California Association of Realtors.

And this may be just the start of a changing real estate market, thanks in part to interest rates that have doubled since the start of the year.

“The industry was caught very blindsided by that, because all of the mortgage-lending industry and most economists expected mortgage rates to remain in the (3% range) all during this year,” said Nevin Miller, president and CEO of San Rafael- based Pinnacle Loans, which serves Marin, Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties, as well as Southern California. “For them to go from 3% to 6% is a shock to the market.”

The current market still favors sellers, he noted, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t reacting, even with all-time low inventory.

“Sellers who have now got a ton of equity because homes have appreciated so much are rushing to put their home on the market before the market changes, which it is doing now,” Miller said.

In the North Bay, year-over-year property sales in May were down in several counties, according to the agent association. Sonoma County home sales dropped by 22.8% to 385 homes sold; Napa County 12.1% to 102 homes; and Marin County, 10.1% to 178 homes, CAR reported. Solano County sales, however, rose 5.8% to 328 homes sold in May.

This wasn’t surprising to CAR Deputy Chief Economist Oscar Wei, who noted that Solano is the most affordable county in the Bay Area and North Bay.

Insights and cash

In Sonoma Valley, while large overbids on homes have not been unusual, with three-quarters of offers coming in all-cash, the buying frenzy reached out to traditionally more affordable areas of the county, said Duane Margreiter, sales manager for Century 21 NorthBay Alliance in Sonoma. One of his properties was a $1 million home in Windsor, where overbids had previously gone as high as asking $25,000 over, and that property sold for $75,000 over.

“We’re seeing a shift in the market,” Margreiter said. “Buyers are taking a different look. They’re realizing that they do not need to put in an offer on the first thing they see.”

While the rise in interest rates is likely to initially price out first-time homebuyers, overall it likely will result in a shift to a more balanced market, rather than a crash like in 2005 to 2012, when the Great Recession had a wave of foreclosures , Margreiter said.

Patricia Oxman, a 30-year real estate veteran and top producer for Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty, said the Marin County market data she tracks suggests local entry-level buyers have already pulled back so far this year, but higher-priced homes continue to be selling.

Sales of single-family homes in Marin County are down 17%, with 1,120 changing hands so far this year, compared with 1,346 in the same time frame last year. Home sales under $1 million have dropped to 72 from 145 a year ago. Sales of mid-range homes ($2 million to $4 million) moved down to 48% of all sales from 54% last year, while top-end homes (over $4 million) now make up 46% of sales, up from 34% a year ago.

“The luxury market is still strong because buyers pulled money out in anticipation of the purchase, and 28% of our sales are all cash,” Oxman said.

Gerrett Snedaker, broker and partner with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate-Wine Country Group, said he’s seen “a decrease in multiple offers and selling homes in excess of asking prices.” The firm has multiple offices in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties.

In May, 16% of homes in the three counties sold at reduced prices, and by late June that proportion is 19%, in line with the level from a year before, according to Snedaker. And the share of homes selling for over the asking price was 55% in May, 44% through late June and 52% a year before.

Market influences

The changing market conditions have already started to reduce prices on listings.

Just over 9% of Sonoma County listings experienced a price cut in May, compared with 6.9% in April and 4.9% in March, Zillow reported. About the same percentage of sellers lowered their prices in neighboring Napa County, in contrast to reductions in April at 7.1% and 6.3% in March. To the west in Marin County, 6.8% of listings were lowered, versus 5.1% in April and 4.9% in March.

Much of this trend is due to “rising interest rates on the back of the incredible price appreciation in recent years,” Zillow spokesman Matt Kreamer pointed out, adding: “People are being priced out.”

The post North San Francisco Bay Space residential actual property markets react to spiking rates of interest appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

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While rents declined in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, they have spiked by an unprecedented 17.1% nationally over the last year, according to Apartment List. At the same time, the only generation to record an increase in renting activity in the past year (up by 21%, per RentCafe) is Gen Z — a generation which is playing a big role in a seeming urban revival.

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Rent growth continued to increase in March, with Apartment List’s national index up by 0.8%. So far this year, rents are growing more slowly than they did in 2021 — however, rental prices continue to rise at a faster pace than pre-pandemic. In addition, over the first three months of 2022, rents have increased by a total of 1.8%. In March, rents increased in 93 of the nation’s 100 largest cities, with “Sun Belt markets in Florida and Arizona continuing to see some of the nation’s fastest growth,” per Apartment List.

The Miami metro has seen the nation’s fastest rent increase over the past six months, up 8%, and also ranks No. 1 for year-over-year rent growth, producing a 30% increase. Over the past six months New Orleans rents went up 8%, Orlando rents rose 6%, Tucson rents increased by 5% and Salt Lake City rents hiked by 5%.

In terms of supply, Apartment List notes there is a gradual easing of the tight market conditions that have characterized the rental market over the past year.

In the midst of these rising prices, one generation seems to be less affected than others. A RentCafe report finds that Gen Z represents more than a quarter of lease applications nationwide, mostly centered in large urban hubs that promise job opportunities. Gen Z residents may bring new life into cities once considered in decline due to the pandemic.

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In 2021, Gen Z rental hotspots included San Francisco, which saw a 101% increase in new apartment renters of this generation, per RentCafe.

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San Francisco’s popularity was echoed by Jersey City, New Jersey (with a 95% Gen Z increase over the past year), and Manhattan, New York, at a 65% increase. Rounding out the top 10 cities attracting Gen Z renters are Philadelphia, Boston, Arlington, San Jose, Seattle, and Minneapolis.

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About the Author

Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy is a full-time financial journalist and has written for several publications, including Dow Jones, The Financial Times Group, Bloomberg and Business Insider. She also worked as a vice president/senior content writer for major NYC-based financial companies, including New York Life and MSCI. Yaël is now freelancing and most recently, she co-authored the book “Blockchain for Medical Research: Accelerating Trust in Healthcare,” with Dr. Sean Manion. (CRC Press, April 2020) She holds two master’s degrees, including one in Journalism from New York University and one in Russian Studies from Université Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, France.

The post Regardless of Rents Spiking, Gen Z Transferring to Main City Areas Like San Francisco, Manhattan appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.