Sacramento Blogs

Donahue Schriber, a  shopping center owner and developer,  has purchased Gold River Centre — anchored by Bel Air Market and Rite Aid — from the Powell Family Trust.  Robert Powell, who died in 2007, developed the fully leased shopping center on Sunrise at Gold Country boulevards in Gold River. Donahue Schriber did not disclose the purchase price of the center.

The purchase of Gold River Centre brings Donahue Schriber up to 24 shopping centers in the four-county Sacramento region. Overall, Donahue Schriber has 93 shopping centers operating or under development in California, Nevada, Arizona and Oregon.

KB Home posted a larger than expected loss of $772 million in the quarter that ended November 30, much of it due to tax charges the company took to write down the value of unsold inventory and joint ventures. KB’s loss during the same quarter last year was $79 million.

KB was the Sacramento region’s top builder through the first 11 months of 2007.

The company produced 8,132 homes in this quarter, down 22 percent from 10,386 in the year ago period. The average selling price in this quarter was $247,800, down 12 percent from $280,000 in the year-ago period, according to a release.

Alliance Title Company has closed all its offices in California.

The title company had six offices in Placer County and three in Sacramento.

The California insurance regulator said Alliance’s closing and escrow accounts were being handled by Financial Title Company offices in many areas and also at First American Title Company.

Alliance Title, based in Campbell California, was a fast-growing player during the real estate boom of the past decade, when it grew from five branches to nearly 200. At its peak it had more than 2,000 employees.

Title companies are facing tough times because of the current real estate market. The number of home sales has been declining and with it the number of escrows that close. Title companies only get paid when an escrow closes, so when deals fall through, the title company doesn’t get paid for the time it has spent.

Additionally, the sales market is predominantly banks selling their foreclosed properties. The banks often don’t use a local title company, they process most of their escrows though just a few specialized escrow offices, usually located in Southern California.

Sacramento builder Tim Lewis Communities has ranked highest in customer satisfaction for the Sacramento real estate market in two 2007 studies by J.D. Power and Associates.

This is the first time that a locally owned home builder has finished at the top of J.D. Power’s customer satisfaction study and new-home design study.

Tim Lewis began building homes in Sacramento over 25 years ago. They have new-home projects from Roseville to Elk Grove.

Sacramento area building permits for new homes declined almost 25 percent last month, as homebuilders face a significant slowdown of the residential real estate market.

Homebuilders received 549 permits for single-family homes last month in the four county (Sacramento, El Dorado, Place and Yolo) region, a  drop from 663 permits in July 2006.

Stewart Title Company has agreed to pay a penalty of one million dollars to the California Department of Insurance.

The statewide title company was accused of paying more than $500,000 in kickbacks to lenders, builders, and title agents in exchange for receiving business referrals. Stewart Title Company has agreed to halt the illegal activities and pay $1 million in penalties.

Stewart Title has about 10 percent of the California title insurance market and has local branch offices in Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties.

Sacramento home sales declined 10 percent in July from June and are down 23.7 percent from a year ago, according to the California Association of Realtors.

The decline in sales was driven by both tightened mortgage underwriting standards since the beginning of this year and the averse psychological impact of news and information in the Sacramento Bee regarding increases in real estate foreclosures and the subprime loan situation.

The average price of a Sacramento home sold during July was $346,220, only 1.5 percent less than in June and but 8.4 percent less than a year ago.

Existing home sales dropped last month in the Sacramento area, and the average home price fell in three of the four counties (Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo), according to a report released by Lyon Real Estate who seem to be enjoying the bad market or at least being the bearer of bad news.

Lyon announced the mostly disappointing news for the Sacramento housing market though Trendgraphix, a division of Lyon Real Estate.

Prices and sales of new homes continued to slide in the Sacramento area.

The average price for a new single family home dropped 10 percent to $418,000 in June, from $464,990 a year ago, according to the California Building Industry Association. New home sales declined 14.6 percent to 505 homes, from 591 in June 2006.

Our four county region (Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo), often cited as one of the nation’s most overinflated local housing markets, fared slightly better than the state’s overall new home market.

Homebuilders are encountering one of the most difficult housing markets in recent decades, but Sacramento home buyers  are enjoying lower prices.

The Sierra Club and Sierra Foothills Audubon Society announced they have filed a lawsuit against Placer County over its approval of the Placer Vineyards Specific Plan, claiming that the project that would eventually create new homes for 32,000 residents doesn’t adequately preserve critical habitat areas. Placer County government unanimously approved a lower density version of project last month over another proposal that have would built enough homes for an estimated 49,000 residents.

Placer Vineyards is a primarily residential development to be built by approximately two dozen developers and property owners. It is located west of Roseville in the unincorporated area of Placer County land where it borders Sacramento and Sutter counties.