Sellers in some of California’s biggest cities are slashing the price of their homes listed for sale on Zillow, according to the latest data on the real estate marketplace’s app

Read more: How to Sell Your Home

One site shows 15 per cent of all properties listed in the state had price reductions, aimed at attracting hesitant buyers.

As of Thursday morning, there were a total of 83,093 properties—including single- and multi-family homes, townhomes, apartments, condos and lots—in California listed by agents on Zillow, and 3,822 listed by owners and others. Of these, 13,311 listed by agents and 319 listed by owners had a price reduction—roughly 15 percent of all homes for sale in the Golden State.

But the rate of properties for sale with a price reduction was even higher in some of California’s major cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, San Diego and Sacramento.

In Los Angeles, one of the most expensive housing markets in the entire country, there were a total of 6,039 properties listed for sale on Zillow, 971 of which had a price reduction. That’s about 16 percent of all homes for sale in the metropolis.

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In another very expensive city, San Francisco, there were 1,358 homes listed for sale on Zillow as of Thursday morning, 216 of which had a price reduction—nearly 16 percent of the total.

In Oakland, a city which has seen an increase of violent crime and other felonies in 2023, there were 888 properties for sale on Zillow, 158 of which had a price reduction—about 18 percent of the total. In San Diego, the percentage of homes for sale with a price reduction was 19 percent, for 286 out of 1,494 listed on Zillow.

In Sacramento, 21 percent of all homes listed for sale on Zillow had a price reduction as of Thursday, for a total of 183 out of 859.

These are the top five cities in California with the largest number of homes for sale and the number of homes with a price reduction. But not all these cities’ housing markets are facing the same situation. In some of these cities, house prices are dropping year-over-year; in others, they’re climbing.

In Los Angeles, the median sale price of a home, according to Redfin, was $970,000 in March, down 1.5 percent from a year earlier. In Oakland, it was $840,000, down 7.7 percent from March 2023.

In San Francisco, the median sale price of a home was $1,415,000 in March, up 4.8 percent year-over-year. In San Diego, it was $931,000, up 6.5 percent from March 2023, while in Sacramento it was $502,500, up 10.2 percent compared to a year earlier.

Read more: Find the Lowest Rates From Top Mortgage Lenders

At the state level, prices are increasing, mainly due to a historic shortage of homes. According to Redfin, the median sale price in California was $816,800 in March, up 10.1 percent from a year earlier.

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – As of July 1, it will be illegal for any restaurant in the Golden State to add special surcharges to diners’ checks, which has become a favorite method that restaurants use to lower costs and enhance employee incomes. 

Except for taxes, the surcharge disclosure law applies to all imposed add-on fees such as service fees, dining-in charges, delivery charges, credit card processing fees, and even imposed tips. But this is not crystal clear.

Attorney General Rob Bonta, who had previously said restaurants would be allowed to make surcharges, says they must be disclosed in advertising, which, presumably includes menus. 

However, the California Restaurant Association, is ready to fight back, saying that the written law only applies to advertisements because courts have ruled that “advertisements” for goods and services do not include menus.

In Walnut Creek, many people dining out had essentially the same opinion. “Yeah, it needs to be in the price of the food. It might help somebody decide on a menu item,” said Susan Bomba,

If this bundling happens, don’t expect the price of dining to decline. In fact, expect them to rise sharply. 

“Seeing the fee, we know about it and, I guess, if you eat somewhere long enough and you see those prices raised, you know that’s where those fees went,” said Dana Barry.

In fact, many folks think tipping, fees and surcharges are way out of control now. 

“I absolutely agree with that. Like I said, I’ve been to restaurants before and put a nice tip down and then realized later, the tip was included or something else,” said Bob Kennedy. 

“They shouldn’t be tipping on those fees,” said Dana Barry. “Now, for a carry-out, you’re expected to tip. That was never the case. I didn’t mind it during Covid, but now we’re back to something normal, we’re still expected to tip for carry-out food,” said Bomba.

Restaurant owners say they need clarity and specific answers soon, given that these rules take effect in just 60 days.
 

One of the filming locations for Meghan Markle’s highly-anticipated cooking show is reportedly a cannabis farm marred by controversy.

The Duchess of Sussex, 42, has been shooting the Netflix series in two California locations: a $5 million home in Montecito belonging to Tom and Sherrie Cipolla and a farm owned by the cannabis-supplying Van Wingerden family in the nearby seaside city of Carpinteria, the Daily Mail reported.

The Van Wingerdens are the area’s largest vendors of legally produced cannabis, according to the website.

Markle’s film location, dubbed Farmlane, is owned by David and Cindy Van Wingerden, who turned their flower farm into a marijuana mecca in 2015. They now sell cannabis flowers and pre-rolled cannabis joints.

But the Van Wingerden family’s operation and other cannabis farms have had the neighborhood up in arms over the pungent weed fragrance contaminating the air.

Local Carpinteria residents filed 2,340 odor complaints from mid-2018 to 2022, according to the website.

In September, homeowners in the area filed a class-action lawsuit against two weed farms, unrelated to the Van Wingerden’s business, with claims that their property values had been severely damaged due to the “sewer-like” smells.

“The neighborhood surrounding their property has a thick, heavy, strong stench of cannabis on a near daily basis,” the lawsuit states.

Angry citizens said their homes and clothes reeked of marijuana and that some people were experiencing breathing problems, headaches and nausea.

Page Six confirmed in March that the former “Suits” actress would collaborate on a Martha Stewart-esque show tying into her newly launched lifestyle brand, Montecito Riviera Orchard.

The wife of Prince Harry has already debuted the first product of her cookware and home needs company with a jar of strawberry jam sent to her closest high-powered friends.

An insider told Page Six Style at the time that the business would focus on home, garden, food and general lifestyle wares.

“She’s been working on this for over a year, and it’s all the things that are close to her heart — all the things she’s passionate about,” an industry source said.

A trademark application obtained by Page Six Style revealed that the company would sell cookbooks, an assortment of edible treats like jellies and spreads and tableware staples like cutlery, table linens, drinkware and more.