To that end, CNBC is launching the Real Estate Recovery Watch.

(Learn More: Interactive Recovery Watch Map, Complete Coverage)

Going local to major metropolitan markets from east to west, north to south, we will report monthly moves in home sales, prices and inventories in twenty US markets as well as quarterly results in much-watched Manhattan.

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100470576

The median price in the luxury market, however, was $4,440,150, up 7 percent from a year ago, according to Douglas Elliman. The luxury market represents the upper 10 percent of all co-op and condo sales.

“The year-end jump in sales was a function of proactive tax management by property owners. Although it wasn’t clear what form the tax hikes related to housing would take, it was assumed that 2013 would be higher than 2012,” noted Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel, which provides the Elliman report data. (Read More: Million Dollar Winter Wonderland Homes.)

Prices in Manhattan are still about 6 to 7 percent off their pre-recession highs, but low supply will likely narrow that gap in 2013. Strong demand from foreign, all-cash buyers is also boosting prices, especially in the condo market. Gains, however, may slip in the current quarter, as so much demand was pulled forward.

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100351956

“Oakland is the less expensive alternative to San Francisco,” said Sarah Bridge, president of RealFacts, a Novato company that collects information on rents at large, professionally managed apartment complexes. “It’s an urban core and offers some of the same amenities on a small scale, and is still about $800 (a month) less expensive than San Francisco. It’s a spillover from the growth occurring in San Francisco.”

The average asking rent at buildings with at least 50 units in Oakland hit $1,925 in the third quarter, up 19 percent from the same time last year, RealFacts said. That figure averages rents for units ranging from studios to three bedrooms, but the trend is just as pronounced for each size. One-bedroom apartments, for instance, were asking $1,761, a 20.1 percent increase from a year ago, RealFacts said.

San Francisco’s already sky-high rents continued climbing, with a new average asking of $2,768 at big complexes, up 7.6 percent from a year ago. San Jose saw a 9.6 percent increase to an average of $1,845, RealFacts said.

Apartment hunters on both sides of the bay are reeling from sticker shock.

Matt and Jennifer Renner are moving back to the Bay Area after a few years living in Brooklyn and Boulder, Colo. They’re seeking a two-bedroom in Oakland for about $1,900, Despite both having stable employment, good credit and excellent references, the pickings are slim.

“In the four years we’ve been gone, it’s staggering how much the rents have gone up,” Matt Renner said. “We considered looking at San Francisco, but the rental market there was crazy, comparable to Manhattan.”

Big increases in 4 years

In 2008 when they were last here, it was a different story, he said. “I was in a three-bedroom, really nice house in the Lower Haight for $3,000 a month,” Renner said. “My wife had a nice one-bedroom in a safe neighborhood in Oakland for $875 a month. Now that’s almost doubled.”

In San Francisco, what passes for good news is that the trajectory for rent hikes appears to be slowing, which might mean the market is close to saturation.

“It’s not as if San Francisco is going to experience a rent drop, but I think it’s gone as far as it can go,” Bridge said. She said she thinks San Francisco is following a pattern set by East Coast cities such as New York and Washington, which saw rapid price appreciation and now appear to have maxed out the increases.

“It’s not a demand issue; there would be more people willing to rent an apartment (in San Francisco). It’s affordability,” she said. “There aren’t that many high-paying jobs that (landlords) can just keep raising the rents to ridiculous levels.”

People who are apartment- hunting in San Francisco continue to report that it’s a blood sport.

‘Massive changes in wealth’

Bo Lu, co-founder and CEO of FutureAdvisor, which offers online financial advice, is moving his seven-person Seattle startup to San Francisco to be closer to the talent pool and the startup community.

He and his girlfriend, Marlo Struve, hired real-estate agent Wendy Willbanks, who runs an “apartment concierge” company called She Moves You, to help them look. After four intensive days of touring more than a dozen units, they signed a lease on a two-bedroom in the Castro for $3,200 a month, including parking.

“The cost was enormous in both time and money,” he said. His theory about the escalating rents takes a macroeconomic view of the tech boom.

“Many startups like mine are replacing humans with computers,” he said. “Whenever you take an industry that used to employ tens of thousands and instead employ a few hundred engineers, you end up with massive changes in wealth. Engineers are being paid a lot, so they are bidding up these insane prices.”

Willbanks, who sees plenty of units in her capacity as an apartment scout, said the rent increases are astounding.

“It’s just insane; $3,000 a month is a mortgage payment,” she said. “Some of the square footages (for that) are horrendous. These places are 600 to 900 square feet, and they’re charging three grand a month.”

Target for investors

The escalating rents make Bay Area cities increasingly attractive targets for large-scale real estate investors.

Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate subsidiary of a major institutional fund manager in Quebec, has spent more than $600 million in the past year buying apartment complexes from Cupertino to San Jose, totaling 2,300 units. It plans to build a high-end, 648-apartment complex in San Jose in partnership with Shea Properties, breaking ground in the spring with occupancy in about 2 1/2 years.

“We like the dynamic of the employment base. We like the fact that there are natural barriers to entry in the area,” said Sylvain Fortier, president of the residential division. “We like the combination of more tenants in an environment where new supply may not meet demand. We are seeing market increases on rents that are (already) fairly substantial. That will not continue forever, obviously.”

Managing expectations

Lu, the Seattle entrepreneur who is moving his company here, said he knows his employees will confront similar challenges when they house-hunt.

“When I get back, I will tell my team to manage their expectations,” he said. “In Seattle you can get a 700- or 800-square-foot place with parking in a nice neighborhood with a view of the water for $1,000 a month. They should budget time, be patient and expect prices that we’ve never seen before, even though we live in a metropolitan area. This is an order of magnitude beyond what I’ve ever seen.”

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: csaid@sfchronicle.com

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Apartment-rents-rise-in-Oakland-San-Francisco-3961019.php

“Oakland is the less expensive alternative to San Francisco,” said Sarah Bridge, president of RealFacts, a Novato company that collects information on rents at large, professionally managed apartment complexes. “It’s an urban core and offers some of the same amenities on a small scale, and is still about $800 (a month) less expensive than San Francisco. It’s a spillover from the growth occurring in San Francisco.”

The average asking rent at buildings with at least 50 units in Oakland hit $1,925 in the third quarter, up 19 percent from the same time last year, RealFacts said. That figure averages rents for units ranging from studios to three bedrooms, but the trend is just as pronounced for each size. One-bedroom apartments, for instance, were asking $1,761, a 20.1 percent increase from a year ago, RealFacts said.

San Francisco’s already sky-high rents continued climbing, with a new average asking of $2,768 at big complexes, up 7.6 percent from a year ago. San Jose saw a 9.6 percent increase to an average of $1,845, RealFacts said.

Apartment hunters on both sides of the bay are reeling from sticker shock.

Matt and Jennifer Renner are moving back to the Bay Area after a few years living in Brooklyn and Boulder, Colo. They’re seeking a two-bedroom in Oakland for about $1,900, Despite both having stable employment, good credit and excellent references, the pickings are slim.

“In the four years we’ve been gone, it’s staggering how much the rents have gone up,” Matt Renner said. “We considered looking at San Francisco, but the rental market there was crazy, comparable to Manhattan.”

Big increases in 4 years

In 2008 when they were last here, it was a different story, he said. “I was in a three-bedroom, really nice house in the Lower Haight for $3,000 a month,” Renner said. “My wife had a nice one-bedroom in a safe neighborhood in Oakland for $875 a month. Now that’s almost doubled.”

In San Francisco, what passes for good news is that the trajectory for rent hikes appears to be slowing, which might mean the market is close to saturation.

“It’s not as if San Francisco is going to experience a rent drop, but I think it’s gone as far as it can go,” Bridge said. She said she thinks San Francisco is following a pattern set by East Coast cities such as New York and Washington, which saw rapid price appreciation and now appear to have maxed out the increases.

“It’s not a demand issue; there would be more people willing to rent an apartment (in San Francisco). It’s affordability,” she said. “There aren’t that many high-paying jobs that (landlords) can just keep raising the rents to ridiculous levels.”

People who are apartment- hunting in San Francisco continue to report that it’s a blood sport.

‘Massive changes in wealth’

Bo Lu, co-founder and CEO of FutureAdvisor, which offers online financial advice, is moving his seven-person Seattle startup to San Francisco to be closer to the talent pool and the startup community.

He and his girlfriend, Marlo Struve, hired real-estate agent Wendy Willbanks, who runs an “apartment concierge” company called She Moves You, to help them look. After four intensive days of touring more than a dozen units, they signed a lease on a two-bedroom in the Castro for $3,200 a month, including parking.

“The cost was enormous in both time and money,” he said. His theory about the escalating rents takes a macroeconomic view of the tech boom.

“Many startups like mine are replacing humans with computers,” he said. “Whenever you take an industry that used to employ tens of thousands and instead employ a few hundred engineers, you end up with massive changes in wealth. Engineers are being paid a lot, so they are bidding up these insane prices.”

Willbanks, who sees plenty of units in her capacity as an apartment scout, said the rent increases are astounding.

“It’s just insane; $3,000 a month is a mortgage payment,” she said. “Some of the square footages (for that) are horrendous. These places are 600 to 900 square feet, and they’re charging three grand a month.”

Target for investors

The escalating rents make Bay Area cities increasingly attractive targets for large-scale real estate investors.

Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate subsidiary of a major institutional fund manager in Quebec, has spent more than $600 million in the past year buying apartment complexes from Cupertino to San Jose, totaling 2,300 units. It plans to build a high-end, 648-apartment complex in San Jose in partnership with Shea Properties, breaking ground in the spring with occupancy in about 2 1/2 years.

“We like the dynamic of the employment base. We like the fact that there are natural barriers to entry in the area,” said Sylvain Fortier, president of the residential division. “We like the combination of more tenants in an environment where new supply may not meet demand. We are seeing market increases on rents that are (already) fairly substantial. That will not continue forever, obviously.”

Managing expectations

Lu, the Seattle entrepreneur who is moving his company here, said he knows his employees will confront similar challenges when they house-hunt.

“When I get back, I will tell my team to manage their expectations,” he said. “In Seattle you can get a 700- or 800-square-foot place with parking in a nice neighborhood with a view of the water for $1,000 a month. They should budget time, be patient and expect prices that we’ve never seen before, even though we live in a metropolitan area. This is an order of magnitude beyond what I’ve ever seen.”

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: csaid@sfchronicle.com

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/Rents-rise-in-S-F-Oakland-San-Jose-3961019.php

Rents going up…and up! Data via ApartmentList.com

In terms of where to find the highest demand, Apartment List doesn’t have data on every city on the Peninsula, but reports that Mountain View jumped 45%, San Mateo jumped 54% and Sunnyvale jumped 40%.Over the last 12 months, the cities rank in this order (aggregate rise = 10%)

Clearly, the recent tech boom has a lot to do with this rent spike. The high salaries of this industry creates a competitive rental market, whereby landlords can ask higher rents. Tenants may end up offering even more than that rent, in order to stand out from the dozens of other people applying for an apartment.

John Kobs, CEO of Apartment List points out that another big factor is inventory of homes for sale. “For the past two years the available inventory of for sale homes in the Bay Area has been at an all-time low.” As a result, many people who want to buy are forced to become renters instead, unable to find a home for sale. And logically, “these people who are able to buy have higher income on average than renters, and are therefore able (and willing to) pay more rent. The supply side of for sale housing is a key driver in the increase in rents.”

Local Experiences

Many of us have friends looking for apartments now reporting back with horror stories– or maybe we have those horror stories ourselves: incredibly high rents, hundreds of people looking at available units, desperate applicants offering everything from home baked cookies to cold, hard cash to sweeten their chances. But can it all continue? Readers, is there any end in sight for rising rents in the Bay Area?

Anna Marie Erwert writes from both the renter and new buyer perspective, having (finally) achieved both statuses. She focuses on national real estate trends, specializing in the San Francisco Bay Area and Pacific Northwest. Follow Anna on Twitter: @AnnaMarieErwert.

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2012/08/16/peninsula-rents-going-the-way-of-sf-and-manhattan/