DS News - Digital Archives

» By initiating the transaction online through the company's new tool, agents can keep an archive of offers received and the relevant communications. Zillow Announces HotPads Acquisition Completed for About $16M Cash Zillow, Inc., announced the completion of its acquisition of HotPads for approximately $16 million in cash. In late November 2012, Zillow revealed plans to purchase the mapbased rental and real estate search site. San Francisco-based HotPads offers a website and five mobile apps. The company boasted nearly 2.8 million unique users in October 2012 alone, with most visitors shopping for rentals. According to a company release, the acquisition allows Zillow to expand its growing rental audience and extend the reach of its marketing tools and productivity solutions for rental professionals. HotPads was Zillow's sixth acquisition in less than two years. "HotPads brings a younger, complementary, and rental-focused audience to Zillow's growing portfolio of brands," said Spencer Rascoff, CEO of Zillow, in a release. "With this acquisition, Zillow becomes even more relevant to consumers at the beginning of their real estate life cycle." HotPads currently has 19 employees. The company will eventually be consolidated with Zillow's new San Francisco office, which is scheduled to open early this year. HotPads co-founder and CEO Matt Corgan was appointed group program manager. "We're incredibly excited to join Zillow and to continue to empower consumers with information and resources to help them quickly and easily find the best place to live," Corgan said. KNOW THIS It took 278 days for a home to foreclose at the end of last year in Washington, according to ForeclosureRadar. Report: California's Foreclosure Inventory Continues to Dry Up Foreclosure inventory in California continued its steady decline in November 2012, according to data from ForeclosureRadar. The total number of preforeclosures, foreclosures scheduled for sale, and REOs fell 7.6 percent from October to November 2012 and declined by 31.8 percent from the prior year. "The significant decline in foreclosure inventory over the past year has contributed to what some are calling an 'inventory crisis' of total homes for sale," ForeclosureRadar said. The company attributes foreclosure cancellations as part of the reason for the decline. Cancellations rose 4.7 percent from October 2012 and spiked 69.9 percent over the next two months. Compared with 2011, cancellations were up 34.7 percent. ForeclosureRadar believes short sales and successful modifications likely led to cancellations rather than statutory time frames or filing errors. Foreclosure starts and sales were also down in California. Starts fell by 19.9 percent month-over-month, and foreclosure sales decreased by 14.8 percent from October 2012. The company also tracks foreclosure activity in four other states located west: Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Most states also experienced monthly declines in foreclosure starts and sales. In Arizona, foreclosure starts fell month-overmonth by 23.5 percent, and sales were down by 16.8 percent. Nevada experienced a 19 percent drop in foreclosure starts and a 9.8 percent decline in foreclosure sales. While Oregon experienced the biggest drop in terms of percentage, a closer look at the numbers explains the dramatic declines. In Oregon, foreclosure starts fell by 45.9 percent, but the actual number of foreclosures went from 85 to 46. In California, foreclosure starts totaled 11,533 in November 2012 after dropping from 14,398 the month before. Foreclosure sales in Oregon decreased by 36.7 percent, but were reduced to 112, a small number compared with sales in California, which totaled 7,494. In Washington, foreclosure starts fell by 2.9 percent, but sales increased by 81.8 percent to 1,367. VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM Median Home Price in California Increases, Sales Slow: DataQuick Home sales in California displayed a typical seasonal decline in November 2012 and fell month-over-month, but the median price posted both monthly and yearly gains, San Diego-based DataQuick reported. About 37,481 new and existing homes were sold in November 2012, representing a 4.5 percent decline from October 2012, but a 14.7 percent increase from November 2011, according to DataQuick. When averaging November sales since 1988—the year when DataQuick's statistics began—November 2012 sales sat 5.3 percent below the 39,594 average. The median price for a home sold in California was $291,000, up 2.1 percent from October 2012 and up 19.3 percent from November 2011, marking the ninth straight month of yearly gains. At its peak, the median price for a home in California was $484,000 in early 2007, and at its low point, the median price was $221,000 in April 2009, according to DataQuick. In November 2012, 16.6 percent of resales were foreclosures, down from 32.9 percent the previous year. November 2012 foreclosures were at their lowest level since October 2007, when foreclosure resales made up 16 percent of the resale market. In February 2009, foreclosure resales reached their peak at 58.5 percent. Short sales accounted for 26.3 percent of resales in November 2012, a month-overmonth decrease from 27.1 percent, but an increase from 24.9 percent a year earlier. California Broker Explains Short Sale Lease-Back Program Short sales are quickly becoming a popular alternative to foreclosure, even outpacing REO sales in certain states, according to data from RealtyTrac. While short sales have become a more common home forfeiture solution, an individual in California has been working on a program to turn short sales into a solution for homeowners who want to remain in their home, but as renters instead of owners. In 2011, Treasury released a directive amending the "arm's length" rule for short sales completed through the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program. Rather 103

• Cover