The area median home price shoot up by 43 percent to $620,000 in the Bay Area during the past year, according to ZipRealty.

Blanca Torres
Reporter- San Francisco Business Times

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The Bay Area housing market is on fire — and we’re about to get burned.

The median home price in the Bay Area ballooned by 43 percent during the past year to $620,000 in June, up from $435,000 a year ago, according to ZipRealty, the Emeryville-based online brokerage.

The Bay Area leads the nation in year-over-year growth, followed by Sacramento with 41 percent, Los Angeles with 31 percent, Las Vegas with 30 percent and San Diego with 25 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of homes on the market in the Bay Area has dropped by 32 percent to 7,961 from 11,662 a year ago.

The fire burns brighter in particular parts of the Bay Area (like San Francisco, where the median price hit $1 million in April).

Still, that type of growth is phenomenal — and likely unsustainable. So, how long before prices level off?

The drop in inventory indicates that we’re in a supply constrained market, which could entice more sellers to put their homes on the market.

“After months of runaway prices and a near-desperate inventory situation, the Bay Area housing market is starting to replenish itself,” said ZipRealty CEO and President Lanny Baker. “Home owners across the region now see increased values, tight bid/offer spreads and lightning fast sales, and they’re reacting by putting more homes, and particularly more attractive homes, on the market once again. It’s a welcomed break in the trend even if it ultimately means prices start to cool off a bit too.”

But, what do rising home prices really mean?

I asked economist Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics, who is best known for rightly predicting the 2008 mortgage crisis (even though no one agreed with him).

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

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2013/07/bay-area-housing-prices-jump-43.html

What’s the best part about selling real estate in San Francisco? It’s so interesting to see what people have done inside their homes.

Funniest anecdote from life as a broker During busy open house events, as much as I try to keep the home as perfect as it can be, someone always seems to get away with leaving surprises in the bathrooms for the Realtor to clean up.

What’s the most rewarding part? Handing over keys to a buyer and helping sellers cash out of properties. Happy clients.

People in your industry are always so good looking. What are some of your secret grooming tips? Try it all until you find your groove.

Danielle Lazier of SFHotlist and Zephyr Real Estate

Best advice for buyers/renters? I focus on sales so I’ll speak to the home buyers… Don’t try to time the market. In every market, it is both a good time and a bad time to buy a home. It depends on your individual situation. We’re lucky in SF. Demand is high and supply is low. If you have “stable-enough” employment, money for a down payment, and can imagine being here for 3-5+ years, buy the best home you can afford (and will be happy living in) and let the San Francisco market do the rest.

Have you always been in the real estate industry or did you have a different career before entering brokerdom? I spent the first couple of years after college figuring out what I wanted to do so there were jobs, classes and lots of soul-searching but another career, no. Real estate is my calling.

What’s the hardest thing about (what) you do? Being (and staying) a top broker and doing right by your clients is not easy. You have to give it your all and you sometimes sacrifice your personal life to be there for your clients and yet, many people don’t know all of what we do. We must be a real estate agent, counselor, therapist, financial advisor, knowledgeable tour guide and we’re only paid for being an agent.

What’s the most rewarding part? It sounds hokey, but I love to see my clients happy in their home. Experience shows that when you are living in the “right” home, many other things in life begin to fall into place?.love, promotions, babies, life experiences and so forth. It feels really good to know that I helped someone move forward in the direction of their goals and dreams.

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Article source: http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2012/08/20/real_estate_hotties_ken_fox_vs_danielle_lazier.php