Bay Area Cities Rank Among the Nation’s Best Small and Midsize U.S. Places to Live in 2018

Santa Clara and Hayward rank among the top 10 most livable medium-sized American cities this year. Hayward’s median home value has shot up by 95 percent over the past five years. A separate analysis ranks Los Altos as the country’s seventh-best small U.S. city to call home. A street scene in the city of Santa Clara. Despite the Bay Area’s top-dollar cost of living, the...

Down Payments Rise, First-Time Homebuyer Activity Falls in 2018

First-time homebuyers have accounted for 33 percent of transactions in 2018, down slightly from last year. U.S. homebuyers are making median down payments of 13 percent, up from 10 percent in 2017. Like last year, 95 percent of Americans started their home hunt online and 87 percent used a real estate professional during the purchase process. U.S. homebuyers are dropping the largest down payments in...

Bay Area Housing Markets Got Spooked in September

Executive Summary: Bay Area home sales declined by 20 percent year over year in September, with all counties posting drops, led by Sonoma and Contra Costa. In 2018, the region’s housing market activity is trending 4 percent lower year to date. Santa Clara County posted sales declines across all price ranges. Bay Area inventory increased by 14 percent year over year in September — about...

Video: September Bay Area Home Sales Report

Check out this short animation, which offers highlights from September’s Bay Area home sales report. To read the full analysis by Pacific Union Chief Economist Selma Hepp, click here.  

Real Estate Roundup: Most Americans Like Their Neighbors

Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious. THREE-QUARTERS OF HOMEOWNERS SAY THEY HAVE GOOD NEIGHBORS Here is some promising news for anyone who is planning a move: There’s a better-than-average change that you’ll like your new neighbors. Realtor.com’s 2018 Good Neighbors Report found that 77 percent of Americans think that they have good neighbors, compared with just...

San Jose, San Francisco Home Price Gains Accelerate in the Third Quarter

Home prices in San Jose and San Francisco were up by a respective 16.9 percent and 11.6 percent year over year in the third quarter, ranking them among the 51 percent of U.S. housing markets where price growth is accelerating. Los Angeles, Santa Rosa, and Vallejo saw home price growth cool from the same period last year. Home prices in San Jose are nearly 60...

Americans’ Credit Scores Improve as They Age

Millennials have the lowest average credit score of any age group (634) while members of the silent generation have the highest (734). Homebuyers with fair credit scores will pay nearly $30,000 more over the life of a mortgage than those with very good ratings. Older Americans have better credit scores in part because of lower child-care costs and student debt, and many may not have...

The Bay Area’s 10 Fastest-Paced Housing Markets: Q3 2018

A home in Moraga, where homes sold in an average of 14 days in the third quarter. Although inventory rose on a year-over-year basis in September in all nine Bay Area counties according to the latest home sales report from the California Association of Realtors, buyer competition is still fierce in some of the region’s most desirable communities. And in these real estate markets, buyers...

California Housing Inventory Near a 3-Year High in September

California had a 4.2-month supply of inventory in September, the highest level recorded in 31 months. Statewide, home sales declined by 12.4 percent from September 2017 while dropping by 16.4 percent in the nine-county Bay Area. The Bay Area’s median sales price was $930,000 in September, an annual gain of 9.8 percent after 14 straight months of double-digit-percent annual appreciation. Although the Golden State’s tight...