Tight Inventory Drives Bay Area Prices Up, Sales Down in September

September’s median single-family home price in the nine-county Bay Area was $852,230, up 11.5 percent year over year Bay Area home sales dropped by 14.2 percent from August and 4.2 percent year over year, and future declines are expected for areas affected by wildfires. The months’ supply of inventory fell both statewide and in the Bay Area from September of last year. Despite fewer properties...

Bay Area Unemployment Rates Fall to Lowest Levels Since May

Hiring bounced back in California in September, with 52,200 jobs created, according to the latest numbers from the state Employment Development Department. August data was revised to 7,700 job losses versus the 8,200 that was previously reported. At 1.7 percent year-over-year job growth, the state again outpaced the national rate of 1.2 percent. Nevertheless, national numbers were impacted by hurricanes in September and are likely...

Real Estate Roundup: Bay Area Housing Bubble Unlikely to Burst, Economist Says

Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious. STRONG ECONOMY SHOULD CONTINUE TO PUSH UP BAY AREA HOME PRICES Bay Area home prices are already out of reach for many residents, and that appears unlikely to change barring an unforeseen economic catastrophe. That’s according to National Association of Realtors’ Chief Economist Lawrence Yun, who spoke last week at...

Buyer Frenzy in San Francisco Intensifies for Homes Priced Between $2 Million and $3 Million

Executive Summary: While overall home sales in San Francisco slowed in September, buyer competition heated up for homes priced between $2 million and $3 million. Eighty-two percent of homes priced between $2 million and $3 million sold for more than asking price, with average premium at 19 percent. Despite the September sales decline, overall sales in 2017 are on par with the same period last...

Pacific Union Quarterly Report: Q3 2017

For the most part, home prices rose and inventory declined in the third quarter from one year earlier throughout the Bay Area and in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee region. Only our Sonoma County and Sonoma Valley regions saw supply conditions improve from the third quarter of 2016. San Francisco and the Mid-Peninsula experienced the region’s biggest annual inventory declines, with the number of homes for sale...

Moderate California, Bay Area Home Price Gains Forecast for 2018

The California Association of Realtors’ 2018 forecast calls for 4.2 percent single-family home price appreciation next year. Affordability is expected to further diminish, with only about one-quarter of California households able to afford the median-priced home by the end of 2018. The state’s unemployment rate will fall to 4.6 percent, while mortgage rates will rise to 4.3 percent. California home price appreciation should slow next...

Pacific Union Acquires Danville-Based Brokerage Empire Realty Associates

Pacific Union is pleased to announce that we have acquired Empire Realty Associates in Danville, the next step in our journey to becoming the ultimate California real estate company. Empire Realty Associates was founded in 2002 by current CEO and Chairperson Judi Keenholtz, who helped establish Pacific Union’s first presence outside of San Francisco in 1989, when the company hired her to lead its expansion...

Rising From the Ashes: How Will the Wine Country Wildfires Affect Its Housing Markets?

Executive Summary: The Wine Country wildfires are estimated to have destroyed about 2,800 homes so far, or about 5 percent of Santa Rosa’s housing stock. The current property damage approaches $4 billion. With rents and home prices already growing robustly, there will be further pressure on prices given the region’s already tight inventory. City and county building permit processes will be key to the Wine...

Real Estate Roundup: Silicon Valley Has the Nation’s Most $200,000 Earners

Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious. ONE IN FIVE BAY AREA EMPLOYEES EARNS $200,000 EACH YEAR Silicon Valley may be one of the nation’s most expensive housing markets, but it is also home to the most U.S. workers who earn $200,000-plus salaries. A Forbes analysis of Census Bureau data found that 21 percent of Santa Clara...