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Article source: http://www.examiner.com/article/how-do-ipos-affect-san-francisco-real-estate

Rental price growth in our market was the highest in the nation for 2011, as much 12.2 percent on average according to a new report.

Researchers at RealFacts, a company that analyzes rental data, also found that occupancy in cities like San Francisco rose only 1.3 percent over the last four years. There’s just nothing available.

Real estate experts agree: “We’ve reached a point where there’s nothing out there,” said Craig Berendt, a broker with Berendt Properties in San Francico. “People are knocking down my door to get an apartment.”

When something good does hit the market in trendy neighborhoods, young professionals come from everywhere and line up for a chance to start a bidding war. And it’s not just Hayes Valley or the Mission — San Jose actually led the pack, with highest rental price increases in the U.S. last year.

For decades, the tech industry has been widely credited with driving-up commercial and rental real estate in the Bay Area, bringing young, high-earning and uncompromising professionals into market that are willing to spend way too much to get what they want. And with Facebook gearing up for one of the biggest tech IPOs in history, we don’t see this situation getting any better for the middle class in 2012.

“I see our middle class really starting to dissipate,” Berendt said. “Obviously we don’t want that. We want a well-balanced class system, but the rents are just going through the roof.”

Article source: http://sfbay.ca/2012/01/19/bay-area-rent-hikes-highest-in-u-s/

The overall index showed a 3.4% drop from October 2010 to October 2011.  In San Francisco, the news was worse.  Home values overall here went down by 4.7% during the same period.  For the 1 month period from September to October, San Francisco saw values fall by 0.7%.  Nationally, the decrease was 0.6%.  But, as we all know, real estate is all about location, location, location.  In locales where the median price is higher, homes aren’t getting hammered as hard.

While the overall figures looks dismal, our friends at SocketSite dug further into the Bay Area numbers and uncovered some variations within the market.  Higher priced homes are faring better in this real estate downturn.  Homes in the $600,000+ range showed a 1 month increase and the yearly figure, which was still down, is not nearly as bad as lower priced homes.

The bottom third (under $319,767 at the time of acquisition) fell 0.9% from September to October (down 9.1% YOY); the middle third was unchanged from September to October (down 8.1% YOY); and the top third (over $599,697 at the time of acquisition) rose 0.3% from September to October, down 1.6% year-over-year (versus down 3.1% in September).

The recent stats follow the overall trend of single family homes in San Francisco.  The homes in the top third have dropped 25% from their peak values while the bottom third and middle third of the market has seen price decreases of 60% and 41%.  And as Anna Marie Hibble wrote, the rise of Bay Area IPOs may just continue to put more zing in real estate, especially in the higher end of the market.

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2011/12/28/in-sf-higher-priced-homes-fared-better/

Meanwhile, sellers in the know are waiting to list. “It seems foolish to put [my house] on the market when there are a thousand people down the street who are about to make a million dollars,” said SF homeowner Adam Holm, whose Potrero Hill home is easy walking distance to Zynga’s headquarters.
· IPOs Stoke San Francisco Housing Market [Reuters]

Article source: http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2011/11/29/yet_again_local_ipos_make_sf_real_estate_dearer_still.php

Article source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/27/realestate-sanfrancisco-idUSN1E7AQ04T20111127