Home Prices in Four Bay Area Counties Are Still Short of Previous Highs

Despite the healthy rate of appreciation recorded over the past several years, California’s median sales price in February was still more than 20 percent short of its 2007 peak. The median sales price for a single-family home in the nine-county Bay Area eclipsed its previous high in April of last year, when it climbed to $831,180. But not all local counties have seen home prices return to...

Real Estate Roundup: Many Bay Area Tech Workers Are Seeking Jobs Elsewhere

Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious. BAY AREA TECHIES: ARE THEY MOVING OUT? A recent survey found that about 40 percent of Bay Area residents are thinking about leaving the region over the next few years. Now comes more sobering news for the Bay Area’s tech economy: Nearly as many tech workers are looking for jobs in other part...

March Job Growth Slows, but There Is a Silver Lining

Executive Summary: Following a strong start to 2017, with an average of 217,000 jobs added in the first two months, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that March job growth slowed to 98,000. The slowdown is largely attributed to milder weather conditions in the first two months of the year, which led to more early hiring, but that is arguable considering that weather patterns varied widel...

California, Bay Area Property-Tax Rates Are Lower Than the National Average

Bay Area residents are no stranger to exorbitant housing prices and a generally high cost of living, so prospective homebuyers will be relieved to learn that the region’s property-tax rates aren’t nearly as large as they are in many other parts of the country. In an analysis of 2016 property-tax data, ATTOM Data Solutions found that U.S. single-family homeowners paid a total of $277...

What Neighborhood Attributes Add Value to a Home? You May Be Surprised.

File this under the “Wow, really?” subject heading: Researchers at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey found that being located within a mile of a surf break adds about $106,000 to a home’s value. And this: Living within a mile of a Walmart store adds 1 percent to 2 percent to a home’s value, but living near a desir...

Homeowners Boosting Curb Appeal With Unique Front Yards

The spring is the most popular time of year to undertake a home landscaping project, as winter storms fade and the weather gets warmer. And while the backyard remains the most popular location for outdoor renovation products, most homeowners who are tackling front-yard jobs want to make sure that their property stands out from the crowd. In its 2017 U.S. Landscape Trends Survey, Houzz found tha...

Bay Area Suburb Remains Hottest U.S. Housing Market as Spring Arrives

In the midst of the busiest spring real estate season on record, Bay Area and California markets are still the most sought-after in America. Realtor.com’s latest monthly analysis of the 20 hottest U.S. real estate markets — as judged by the most listing views on its website and the quickest pace of sales — says that homes sold in an average of 69 days in March, about three wee...

Real Estate Roundup: San Francisco Housing Affordability Improves in the First Quarter

Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious. ALL BAY AREA COUNTIES EXCEED MAXIMUM MORTGAGE DEBT-TO-INCOME THRESHOLD San Francisco was California’s least-affordable housing market in the fourth quarter of 2016, with just 13 percent of the county’s population able to swing a mortgage on the median-priced home. And while San Francis...

Pacific Union Moves Up the List of Largest U.S. Real Estate Brokerages

Pacific Union is pleased to share the news that we’ve again moved up the rankings of the largest residential real estate brokerages in the country, an accomplishment made possible by the diligence of our talented team of real estate professionals in both Northern and Southern California. In its annual list of the 500 largest U.S. residential real estate brokerages, noted industry publicat...