Which Bay Area Home Remodeling Projects Will Turn the Biggest Profits in 2018?

The average home improvement job on the West Coast is expected to recoup 63.9 percent of its cost this year. Eighteen of 21 tracked renovation projects in the San Jose metropolitan area are forecast to offer a return on investment of 100 percent or higher. In San Jose and Santa Rosa, manufactured stone veneer is the most profitable home upgrade, while a new, upscale garage door offers the b...

Pacific Union Quarterly Report: Q4 2017

All Northern California regions in which Pacific Union operates posted annual median sales price growth in the fourth quarter of 2017. Our Silicon Valley region saw the highest appreciation, at 23 percent, while Contra Costa County, the East Bay, Marin County, San Francisco single-family homes, Sonoma County, and Lake Tahoe condominiums put up double-digit percent year-over-year price gains....

Video: Bitcoin and the Housing Market

Check out this short video on the potential impacts of Bitcoin on the real estate market. To read the full analysis by Pacific Union Chief Economist Selma Hepp, click here.

Real Estate Roundup: Bay Area Cities Are Among Top U.S. Spots for Coffee Drinkers

Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious. OAKLAND NAMED NO. 3 BEST AMERICAN CITY FOR COFFEE LOVERS When it comes to getting a daily coffee fix, the West Coast is king, with three Bay Area cities counting among the top 10 American cities for java junkies. That’s according to a study by SmartAsset, which ranked the best 25 U.S. cities for...

Would You Sell Your Home for Bitcoins?

Executive Summary: Recent financial-market hype around cryptocurrencies is partly driven by the value of promising innovations stemming from blockchain technology, not necessarily from future value of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency mining requires enormous amounts of computing power and energy, leading to controversies around environmental impacts, especially as Bitcoin...

San Francisco Homeowners Spend Big on Kitchen Remodels

The average U.S. major large kitchen remodeling job costs $42,000. In San Francisco, renovating a large kitchen costs $70,000, the highest in the country. About nine in 10 homeowners who remodel their kitchens replace countertops and appliances, and nearly as many go for a style change. Last fall, a survey found that San Francisco homeowners spend the most money in the U.S. when remodeling...

Where Are Bay Area Homes Selling the Fastest?

Conventional wisdom holds that real estate activity slows around the holidays, but the Bay Area’s exceptionally tight inventory conditions may have motivated buyers to pound the pavement harder than usual in the final month of 2017. According to December MLS data, single-family homes in the Bay Area regions in which Pacific Union operates sold in an average of 46 days, nine days faster...

California’s Luxury Home Market Was Red-Hot in 2017

The median price for a U.S. home grew at a faster rate than prices in the luxury segment last year. Marin County was one of 12 U.S. luxury housing markets to post double-digit percent annual appreciation. San Mateo, Marin, San Francisco, and Santa Clara counties are among the nation’s 10 most expensive luxury residential real estate markets. Although demand for luxury homes slowed a...

Real Estate Roundup: Peace of Mind Is the Biggest Benefit of Smart-Home Technologies

Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious. SMART-HOME GIFTS HELP AMERICANS TUNE IN TO THE LATEST TECHNOLOGIES Homeowners frequently adopt smart-home devices after receiving them as gifts, and an overwhelming majority say that it enhances their sense of well-being. Those are two key findings from a new survey by Scripps Networks Interactive, in...