Been a Bay Area resident for 37 years and US citizen. We are trying to buy a house in Pleasanton with 30% down, but kept getting rejected due to foreign cash coming in. Government should give their citizens priority over foreigners. Going back this weekend to look at more homes again and expected to be beat out by another cash offer. This is unbelievable as some buyers have never even looked at the house, but yet bought it.

I'm crossing my fingers that someone accepts our offer. We love the town and would love our kids grow up here.

As a nation, we should be more concerned about this. It is not just foreign buyers from China looking for a safe place to park their cash, but it is also deep pockets (i.e., investors) who realize that most other buyers cannot compete with their all-cash, over-the-asking-price offer.

So they will drive up the price of housing beyond what most people--except the wealthy--can afford, then proceed to sell it to another investor or desperate person who ends up paying more than they can afford for the house. Or they end up renting it out to people for more than they can afford, but who have no choice but to pay the exorbitant rent.

I am ALL FOR some government intervention in this real estate market. There should be limits to non-owner-occupant foreign buyers as well as how many properties investors can buy.

Btw, I am not a disgruntled home buyer shut out of the market (I currently own a home in Pleasanton). Just a concerned citizen who prefers to live in a stable community with fellow home owners interested in their neighbors and neighborhoods.

As I wrote in the other thread concerning this topic, I don't think that investors are a big influence in the Pleasanton market since the price-to-rent ratio for most Pleasanton houses is not very favorable for investors. Investors in the Bay Area tend to focus on the lower range (sub-$400K), and there aren't a lot of Pleasanton houses that fall into that category.

House purchases by foreign nationals make up about 10% of the overall Bay Area housing market. Not negligible but not huge either. Also, although people seem to be fixated on the image of wealthy Chinese buyers as the foreigners buying up houses here,, more Bay Area houses are bought by Canadian and British buyers. Chinese are third, followed by French, German, Indian, Taiwanese, and Japanese buyers. (East Bay Area real estate story: Web Link )

This is exactly the kind of thing that feeds asset bubbles, and is exacerbated by the behavior of the derivatives speculators on Wall Street. Isn't it strange that we have government and quasi-government organizations like FHA and Fannie Mae whose mission is to make home-ownership more available, yet the government does nothing to stop foreign investors from creating housing bubbles?

No local can find housing here, only China money, cash, speaks. Of course US citizens should have a priority, but then who wants the government to interfere for us and the realtors just keep smiling. Try to buy property in any other country! We never learn.

I'm a Realtor and I believe the main reason for the recent run-up on the price is due to lack of inventory. The foreclosure market has dried up as most lenders do a lot more to help home owners stay in their house. Also, the short sale market has reduced dramatically as well. During the past few years, foreclosures and short sales made up a huge percentage of the homes sold. Now that these are reduced to minimal, but yet demand for homes is high, resulting in the run-up that you see.

Another factor is the low interest rate, but lack of inventory is the main issue.

Realtors that encourage and represent all cash buyers from out of the country have no redeeming value to society [removed] along with the politicians that support or do nothing about their activities. It is obvious that despite one of the worst economic downturns in our country's history, one thing that did not change is corporate and individual greed and government complicity. We should load up these snakes in military transport planes and drop them on our enemies instead of wasting precious resources making bombs.

It is sickening that the real estate market is being distorted like this, in the wake of the damage mortgage fraud has so recently caused. This is NOT just driven by foreign nationals trying to buy a home for themselves or their families. This is real estate played like a stock market.
From the Contra Costa Times: "In February, 1,044 houses and condos -- 28 percent of the sales -- in the counties of Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda and Contra Costa were bought by absentee buyers. That is the highest percentage since DataQuick began tracking them in 2000. In Contra Costa County, absentee buyers were 35 percent of the sales."
This is EXACTLY what drove the lending fraud that was exposed in 2008 - investors desperate for better returns on their "investments", and mortgage lenders eager to make money on the deal.
Real estate agent Melissa Haugh in the same article discussing a fixer-upper in San Jose: "We ended with 69 offers, all but five for cash," she said. "It's mostly foreign investors. I've never seen this much cash, ever." 69 out of 74 offers for cash. Try competing with that.
I'm sure there are buyers from other countries trying to move here and buy a home without ever living or working here. These buyers are not the majority of those cash offers. Investors both in the US and from all over the world are willing to put up cash to be the middlemen in the invest-in-real-estate world. The are driving homeownership out of the hands of people who DO live and work here. It's profit-chasing by exploiting the only investment most of us will ever be able to make. Holding the bar higher on what people NEED: a place to live, so that they can take a slice out of the middle of that purchase. Real Estate has become a diseased market, played by people gambling away America's financial stability.

As a loan officer it's simply frustrating to see how hedgefunds and foreign monies have purchased up not only the this area but areas out past Lodi and then turned around and sold for 50K above what they purchased it for just 60 days prior with out as much as a paint improvement. Sure Banks have guides to protect Buyers as well their investment, but the "cash" investors have found loop holes. It leaves FTHB out in the cold or commuting 2 hours to work. I don't understand how we allow foreign funds to purchase us out of our own neighborhoods...Then again Hedgefunds are getting into the rental business and adding to problem. GREED at it's best.

The last commenter was spot on. Just google "hedge funds buy up houses" and be prepared to be angered--and disgusted.

I recently got back in the real estate market after being divorced for a while and saving up for the down payment. I really wanted to live in Pleasanton due to the school district. It was very frustrating as I lost out on about 4 properties. But finally my 5th offer stuck. Now we live in a nice townhome in Pleasanton. Oh, I am born and raised here in the US. Keep up the faith for those of you still trying to buy in Ptown!

In response to the comments above- Realtors are very frustrated with this market as well. Most who work full time are writing offer after offer for our clients. We all wish for a more even market.
I tell my sellers when reviewing offers:
1. Look for strong financing- pre-approved and proof of funds- many lenders will approve a buyer up to the loan being underwritten so these buyers can compete with the cash buyers.
2. Contingencies- keep them at a minimum.
3. The desire to close escrow- how much does this buyer want the home?
If you are looking for a home, don't give up and it is important to stay positive!!

To me, the response posted by "Realtor" is a non-response. Just put up more money, give more to sellers on the deal and don't think about how you are the loser here. Just eat it and smile!
What better advice from the person making money on the transaction. Not an informed word about the issue being discussed here: why there are so many cashs offers, absentee buyers, and lack of concern about another real estate fiasco.

We just bought a house in Pleasanton with the first offer we made after a brief search, not all-cash, although the downpayment was significant. It's not impossible.

Although we ended up competing against many bids for our house, our impression from actively watching the housing market here was that quite a few houses did not have more than one offer. These tended to be homes that were overpriced at listing, or where a nearby, slightly nicer home was also on the market.

Just offer below asking on the overpriced homes. (Of course, not all sellers are reasonable enough to lower their expectations ...) And, when there is a better home a block away, see it for what it is: just an accident of timing that shouldn't make you like the house less.

Good luck to everyone out there looking!

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