Bay Area real estate: condemned home sells for $1.2 million

FREMONT, Calif. -- New statistics from the housing website Zillow show last year American homes sold faster than ever before, with the fastest sales of all in the Bay Area.

Residents here often do not even need a low price or nice home to close a deal fast. A good example is a condemned house in Fremont's Mission-San Jose neighborhood that just sold for $1.2 million.

It was an all-cash offer that came in a quarter million dollars over the asking price.

Yvonne Yen has lived in the neighborhood for 12 years and could not believe the high price. You might think she would be happy about it -- but no.

Yen is concerned many young people cannot afford a home in the Bay Area. She wants to move because her property tax is so high, but she says everything in the Bay Area is so expensive, there are no good alternatives.

A sky-high price for a tear-down is the new normal, according to Fremont realtor Madeline Dutra.

"People who want to build nice new homes are buying these older homes, condemned homes, homes that are in need of a lot of work to build their dream home."

Zillow reports last year the San Jose metropolitan area was the fastest selling market in the country, with homes selling on average in just 41 days. In the San Francisco metropolitan area, it was 43 days.

Zillow economist Aaron Terrazas thinks the "little bit of that easier market condition in San Francisco" is due to all the new buildings going up, including many condos that are adding to housing stock.

According to Zillow, the number of homes on the market throughout the Bay Area has been going down for the past three years.

David Stark, with the Bay East Association of Realtors, believes that trend is what probably turned the Fremont fixer upper into a real find. It may need work, but the lot has a great location.

"It's close to jobs. There's all kinds of lifestyle amenities here in Fremont. The schools are fantastic," said Stark.

Zillow says the number of homes for sale in the San Jose metropolitan area was down almost 27 percent last year from the year before.