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DeNova Homes Announces The Release of Petaluma’s Best New Home Value at Spring Clean Event
Southgate, a DeNova Homes community in Petaluma, CA announces the new release of Petaluma homes from $399,000. This fun filled event includes food and prizes for this Spring Clean Sales Event and is offering for two days only to qualified buyers 1 Year Maid Service, 1 Year Yard Service, Washer/Dryer and Backyard Landscape Package for homes purchased April 21 and 22.
Southgate’s popular one and two story homes, 3-5 bedroom plans with flex space options are available in beautiful designs of 1,784 to 2,665 square feet. Included in this release is the brand new single level plan, The Linden, 3 bedrooms and 2 baths with approximately 1,864 square feet of living space.
Homebuyers throughout the Bay Area are finding incredible value in these homes as the primary attraction to this Petaluma community. “We are pleased to offer quality Petaluma new homes that are well-priced and no HOA fees. Purchasing a home in Southgate is often less expensive than paying monthly rent, and can put a family’s dream home within reach.” – Lori Sanson, Executive Vice President of DeNova Homes.
via SFGate.
By: Ari Burack
Mayor Ed Lee and other city officials joined developers and homeless advocates Monday at a ceremony marking what Lee promised would be the first of many affordable-housing developments for the homeless and poor in The City.
The eight-story, 120-unit apartment building at Folsom and Essex streets, one of the first affordable-housing developments in the South of Market redevelopment area where the new Transbay Transit Center will be built, is expected to be completed in September 2013.
Once opened, it will provide studios and one-bedroom apartments for the homeless, as well as counseling and supportive services.
“Ensuring affordable housing in this neighborhood is a top priority,” district Supervisor Jane Kim said.
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By Kathy Chu and Julie Schmit, USA TODAY
China’s great wall of cash is pouring into the struggling U.S. property market, from multi-million-dollar mansions on the West Coast to venerable hotels on the East Coast.
Buyers from mainland China and Hong Kong are snapping up luxury homes, often paying cash, in major U.S. cities such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. They’re coming by the dozens to buy foreclosed properties in downtrodden cities in Florida and Nevada. Chinese buyers are even starting to snap up pricey commercial buildings and hotels in Manhattan.
Chinese interest in U.S. real estate began climbing during the U.S. housing meltdown, when plunging property prices made the U.S. a magnet for global buyers. Today, interest is growing as a rising yuan — up more than 8% since mid-2010 — gives the Chinese greater purchasing power, and the mainland’s restrictions on property purchases encourages them to look overseas. With U.S. single-family home prices a third lower since 2006, the U.S. also compares favorably with other top markets for Chinese investment, such as the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
America’s Top 10 Cities for Hipsters
By Anoosh Chakelian
Here are the top 10:
Seattle
Chosen chiefly for the clever, tech-savvy reputation of its inhabitants, pumped up on highfalutin concept coffee. Labeled as being “ahead of the curve,” Seattle hipsters are pushing into up-and-coming neighborhoods like South Lake Union and Ballard, taking hot new restaurants with them.
Portland, Ore.
The city that helped put hipsters on the map, Portland was always going to end up high on this list. Quirky experiences abound: A vintage clothing store in a double-decker bus! A bar where you can play shuffleboard! An organic pub whose customers pedal stationary bikes to generate the establishment’s electricity! All fodder for the next season of Portlandia, we suspect.
San Francisco
San Francisco’s role as America’s ancestral hippie homeland seems to have come full circle, with the birthplace of the original counterculture now home to a thriving hipster scene — just trade the daisy chains for skinny ties and spliffs for soy lattes (well, most of them). Respondents also gave the city high marks for its diversity and fine-dining opportunities.
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susanne
Pending home sales increased in March and are well above a year ago, another signal the housing market is recovering, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 4.1 percent to 101.4 in March from an upwardly revised 97.4 in February and is 12.8 percent above March 2011 when it was 89.9. The data reflects contracts but not closings.
The index is now at the highest level since April 2010 when it reached 111.3.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said 2012 is expected to be a year of recovery for housing. “First quarter sales closings were the highest first quarter sales in five years. The latest contract signing activity suggests the second quarter will be equally good,” he says.
“The housing market has clearly turned the corner. Rising sales are bringing down inventory and creating much more balanced conditions around the county, which means home prices will be rising in more areas as the year progresses,” Yun says.
Visit new homes at Tavena by Pulte Homes
Pulte Homes
By Kathleen Kingsbury
Splurging on a vacation home shortly after the housing market meltdown was not an easy decision
A STRONG BUYERS’ MARKET
Consumers are taking advantage of bargain-basement prices, desperation sales of distressed properties and anxious sellers to snag dream vacation properties. “Affordability is at an all-time high,” said housing economist Celia Chen of Moody’s Analytics.
But this new round of vacation home purchases looks different from ones that occurred during the height of the real estate bubble. Now, despite record-low interest rates, more second-home buyers are using cash. Cash purchases were up for the second straight year in 2011, making up half of investment-home sales and 42 percent of vacation-home sales, according to the NAR study.
Those buyers should not be expecting to flip their vacation homes for outsized profits anytime soon, said Chen. She suggests that prices may continue to drop in 2012, but will start to crawl up slowly in 2013 or 2014.
Vacation home shoppers who have the money and are willing to stay put for at least a few years may find 2012 to be the year of opportunity. Here’s why.
Check out Talon Pointe Vacation Homes at Reno, NV
If you’d like to use your smartphone to manage home maintenance and improvement projects — you guessed it, there’s an app for that.
HomeZada, a new online service and app, available on iPhone, Android and iPad platforms, helps homeowners track various home projects including maintenance, home improvement and home inventory.
“Do you remember when the furnace needs cleaning?” a spokesperson in a promotional video asks. “Are the gutters on the roof clogged?”
Ostensibly, HomeZada will help a homeowner plan, remember and get needed home maintenance jobs like those done. The app also helps homeowners keep track of cleaning, yard work and other projects. The app’s alerts notify users when a certain task must be performed.
Check out New Homes at Calarosa Community, CA
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SAN JOSE, Calif. — Fort Ord, the sweeping former military base north of Monterey, Calif., known for its oceanfront landscape and a history that dates back to horse cavalry soldiers in World War I, will become America’s newest national monument.
President Barack Obama is scheduled to establish the new designation on Friday, making Fort Ord only the second national monument he has created since becoming president in 2009.
“Fort Ord’s dramatic landscape lives in the memories of thousands of veterans as their first taste of Army life, as a final stop before deploying to war, or as a home base during their military career,” Obama said in a statement late Thursday.
“This national monument will not only protect one of the crown jewels of California’s coast, but will also honor the heroism and dedication of men and women who served our nation and fought in the major conflicts of the 20th century.”
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