This one-bedroom home in Berkeley at 1196 Cornell Ave. is on the market for $400,000.

Blanca Torres
Reporter- San Francisco Business Times

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For all the talk in recent years about more Bay Area residents steering toward a “car-free” lifestyle, it sure is hard to find a place to live that is affordable and pedestrian-friendly once you leave San Francisco’s city limits.

Emeryville-based ZipRealty Inc. ranked the most walkable cities with the most affordable homes near San Francisco and came up with a whopping four cities: Emeryville, downtown San Jose, Albany and Berkeley.

ZipRealty used data from WalkScore.com, which ranks locations with walkability scores of 0 to 100, to come up with its list.

“One of the allures of living in San Francisco is the city’s beautiful and convenient walkability, and that appeal is well-reflected in its lofty real estate prices,” said CEO and President Lanny Baker. “According to our partner Walk Score, San Francisco is the second-most walkable large city in the United States, behind New York City. In the local study we conducted, the most walkable and affordable communities were quite surprising alternatives to the high average price in San Francisco, which currently exceed $1 million.”

Here is a breakdown of the four cities with median home price and Walk Score:

1. Emeryville: $388,888 / 80.
2. Downtown San Jose: $508,450 / 74.
3. Albany: $622,500 / 86.
4. Berkeley: $786,256 / 95.

This list points out some interesting dynamics about Bay Area real estate. It appears living in a city where you can get around without a car will cost you a premium. San Francisco by nature is a dense, walkable city with amenities around the corner in most neighborhoods. In contrast, cities around San Francisco developed with the more suburban model of separating residential and commercial areas, making residents dependent on cars.

Emeryville is a compact, 1 square-mile sized city that has undergone a major transformation during the past few decades from an industrial wasteland to a city with thriving commercial and retail districts. Most of the housing there is either apartments or condos, as is the case with most of the homes for sale that fit ZipRealty’s criteria for affordable and walkable.

Having alternatives to driving is not just better for the environment and buyer’s pocketbooks, but has other benefits, said Josh Herst, CEO of Walk Score.

“The trend in urban areas is moving toward less dependency on cars and a greater commitment to live more sustainably,” Herst said. “People in walkable neighborhoods weigh six to 10 pounds less than those who don’t. Walk Score has also done extensive research showing that walkable places make people happier and healthier. Finally, short commutes reduce stress levels and give people more free time to be involved in their communities.”

Blanca Torres covers East Bay real estate for the San Francisco Business Times.

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2013/08/top-bay-area-cities-where-you-can-buy.html?page=all

Clyde Berg, the South Bay real estate mogul, is facing charges of violently sexually abusing his wife, the Mercury News reports.

Berg, 74, is accused, among other things, of chaining his wife, Ellena Berg, 37, to a bed for two days and abusing her with a golf putter.

Berg denies the charges, saying he’s the victim of an elaborate scam to get around the terms of a prenuptial agreement.

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/morning_call/2013/08/bay-area-real-estate-mogul-accused.html

Clyde Berg, the South Bay real estate mogul, is facing charges of violently sexually abusing his wife, the Mercury News reports.

Berg, 74, is accused, among other things, of chaining his wife, Ellena Berg, 37, to a bed for two days and abusing her with a golf putter.

Berg denies the charges, saying he’s the victim of an elaborate scam to get around the terms of a prenuptial agreement.

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/morning_call/2013/08/bay-area-real-estate-mogul-accused.html

A new report out Tuesday shows the real estate market in the Bay Area is hot.

San Francisco home prices have surged nearly 25 percent in the past year; the biggest increase in seven years. That’s more than double the nationwide average of major cities.

According to the SP/Case-Shiller index that ranks metropolitan cities, Las Vegas reported the next biggest jump at 23 percent, followed by Phoenix at nearly 21 percent.

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Article source: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=9190210

April 22 (Bloomberg) — Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman discusses the madness in Bay Area real estate with Emily Chang on Bloomberg Television’s “Bloomberg West.” (Source: Bloomberg)

The recent tech boom in the Bay Area has also meant a boom in the real estate market, with a mad dash to buy homes.

Bloomberg TV talks with Redfin CEO about the area’s real estate market.

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/morning_call/2013/04/how-crazed-is-the-bay-areas-real.html

Charlie Malet of Shorenstein, which won the Real Estate Deal of the Year in 2011 for its lease with Twitter, stands outside Market Square.

Emily Fancher
Senior Editor- San Francisco Business Times

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Which Bay Area real estate deals and projects caught your eye in 2012? Any memorable, bold office purchases? How about a huge, complex lease transaction or a beautifully designed medical research building?

The San Francisco Business Times is asking the real estate community to nominate the biggest, best and most complex deals and projects of 2012 for our annual Real Estate Deals of the Year Awards. Projects and deals throughout the Bay Area are eligible to win.

The categories include housing, office, retail, RD, health, renovation, hotel, restaurant, public/cultural, infrastructure and industrial. The paper will feature the winners in a special publication to be published March 22, 2013, and at an awards gala in March.

Click here to fill out a nomination for the 2012 Real Estate Deals of the Year.

Click here to fill out a nomination for Real Estate Dealmaker of 2012.

The deadline for submitting entries for this year’s competition is 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 4, 2013.

Questions? Feel free to email me at efancher@bizjournals.com.

Emily Fancher is a senior editor at the San Francisco Business Times.

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Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2012/11/real-estate-deals-of-the-year.html

The fall in the U.S. housing market in recent years is attracting a new wave of foreign buyers, who are making a dent in the Bay Area and national real estate markets, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Foreign buyers spent $82.5 billion on homes in the U.S. during the 12 months ending in March, an increase of $66.4 billion a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors.

As for the Bay Area, about 6 percent of all property searches by prospective buyers are from abroad, according to the real estate site Trulia.com, with San Francisco being the most-popular search location.

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Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/morning_call/2012/09/foreign-buyers-shopping-for-bay-area.html

Bay Area home sales are continuing to rise, with the median sale price the highest it has been in nearly four years, according to a real estate report released Friday.

In the nine-county Bay Area, 8,461 homes were sold last month — a 22.9 percent increase from the same time last year, according to a report by the real estate information service DataQuick.

The average figure for July, based on data recorded since 1988, is 9,371 home sales.

The median price for a new home or condo was $421,000, which is a 1% increase from $417,000 in June and a 12.6% jump from July 2011.

July’s median price was the highest recorded since it was $447,000 in August 2008.

The increase appears to be connected to a higher share of sales in the mid-to-upper price ranges, according to DataQuick.

Median sale prices in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Solano, Marin, Napa, San Mateo and Sonoma counties all increased in the past year with Napa County seeing the biggest price increase at a 32.6% jump.

Median prices in that county were at $281,000 in July 2011 and reached $372,500 this July, according to DataQuick.

The highest home prices in the region this summer are in San Francisco with $714,000 listed as the median cost, while the lowest can be found in Solano County at $188,000.

Sasha Lekach, Bay City News

— Bay City News Service

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In the nine-county Bay Area, 8,461 homes were sold last month — a 22.9 percent increase from the same time last year, according to a report released Wednesday by the real estate information service DataQuick.

The average figure for July, based on data recorded since 1988, is 9,371 home sales.

The median price for a new home or condo was $421,000, which is a 1 percent increase from $417,000 in June and a 12.6 percent jump from July 2011.

July’s median price was the highest recorded since it was $447,000 in August 2008.

The increase appears to be connected to a higher share of sales in the mid-to-upper price ranges, according to DataQuick.

Median sale prices in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Solano, Marin, Napa, San Mateo and Sonoma counties all increased in the past year with Napa County seeing the biggest price increase at a 32.6 percent jump.

Median prices in that county were at $281,000 in July 2011 and reached $372,500 this July, according to DataQuick.

The highest home prices in the region this summer are in San Francisco with $714,000 listed as the median cost, while the lowest can be found in Solano County at $188,000.

—By Bay City News Service

Article source: http://losgatos.patch.com/articles/bay-area-real-estate-prices-highest-in-nearly-4-years

Bay Area home sales are continuing to rise, with the median sale price the highest it has been in nearly four years, according to a real estate report released Wednesday, Aug. 15.

In the nine-county Bay Area, 8,461 homes were sold last month — a 22.9 percent increase from the same time last year, according to a report by the real estate information service DataQuick.

The average figure for July, based on data recorded since 1988, is 9,371 home sales. The median price for a new home or condo was $421,000, which is a 1 percent increase from $417,000 in June and a 12.6 percent jump from July 2011. July’s median price was the highest recorded since it was $447,000 in August 2008.

The increase appears to be connected to a higher share of sales in the mid-to-upper price ranges, according to DataQuick. Median sale prices in Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties all increased in the past year, with Napa County seeing the biggest price increase at a 32.6 percent jump. Median prices in that county were at $281,000 in July 2011 and reached $372,500 this July, according to DataQuick.

The highest home prices in the region this summer are in San Francisco with $714,000 listed as the median cost, while the lowest can be found in Solano County at $188,000.

— Bay City News Service

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Article source: http://mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=5969