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East Bay median home price growth crushes San Francisco

Tue, 24 Sep 2013 01:58:31 +0000

This three-bedroom home at 330 Gravatt Dr. in Berkeley is on the market for $1.15 million.

Blanca Torres
Reporter- San Francisco Business Times

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Homes in East Bay cities are seeing dramatic price gains far greater than homes in San Francisco, according to ZipRealty, an online real estate brokerage.

Oakland’s median home price ballooned 76 percent to $432,000 in August compared with $245,500 in August of 2012. In Hayward, home prices jumped 55 percent to $387,000 in August 2013 compared with $250,000 last year.

Meanwhile, San Francisco’s median went up by 20 percent to $880,000, up from $735,000.

“Oakland and other communities in the East Bay were impacted more severely by the foreclosure crisis, which took a toll on East Bay real estate values while also setting these areas up for the dramatic recovery in prices we are now witnessing,” said Lanny Baker, president and CEO of Emeryville-based ZipRealty.

Prices are up by 36 percent across the nine-country Bay Area with a median of $585,000, so cities like Oakland and Hayward represent a deal in the region.

Nonetheless, prices can vary significantly from ZIP code to ZIP code in the same city. For example, Berkeley, where the median home price jumped by 21 percent during the past year to $737,500, has three ZIP codes where the median is above San Francisco’s median: $955,000 in 94707, $901,000 in 94708 and $1.22 million in 94705, which includes neighborhoods such as Claremont, the Claremont Hills, Elmwood and Panoramic Hill.

In Oakland, the 94610 ZIP code has the highest median home price of $743,000 and encompasses neighborhoods like Grand Lake, Adams Point, Lakeshore, Crocker Highlands and Trestle Glen.

In San Francisco, some of the fastest appreciating neighborhoods include North Beach and Telegraph Hill in the 94133 ZIP code where prices grew by 82 percent during the past year as well as the Marina, Cow Hollow and Pacific Heights in the 94123 ZIP code where prices rose by 68 percent in the past year.

A number of factors influence how much an area’s median home price goes up such as number of homes available. Cities such as Oakland, Berkeley, Hayward and San Francisco had less home inventory in 2013 than the year before.

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

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2013/09/east-bay-home-prices-san-francisco.html

Top 10 best-selling Bay Area cities with the best schools

Wed, 18 Sep 2013 01:28:55 +0000

#1. This three-bedroom home in Piedmont is offered at $2.75 million. Piedmont has a School Score of 9.5 and a median home price of $1.2 million.

Blanca Torres
Reporter- San Francisco Business Times

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For homebuyers looking for a great public school district, the East Bay is the top area to buy a home in the Bay Area. Emeryville-based ZipRealty, an online brokerage, compiled a list of the top selling cities in the Bay Area with the highest ranking public schools — eight were in the East Bay.

Click on the slideshow to see the top 10 .

“Home values and school scores are always going to be linked,” said ZipRealty President and CEO Lanny Baker. “In order to give our users the most complete picture of a home’s value, we provide a School Score, which is calculated based on test-score data as well as student/teacher ratios, for every home listing on ZipRealty.com.”

The scores range from zero to 10 with 10 being the highest.

The No. 1 city with the highest school score is Piedmont, a small rich enclave completely surrounded by Oakland where the schools scored a 9.5 and the median price dropped 27 percent to $1.2 million in August of 2013 from $1.53 during the same month last year.

The only non-East Bay cities on the list were Palo Alto and Benicia.

Overall, median home prices in the Bay Area rose 36 percent during the past year to $585,000.

Nationwide, the Bay Area real estate market ranked second after Sacramento for having the best public schools. The Bay Area is followed by Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Orlando.

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

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2013/09/bay-area-real-estate-top-school-district.html

Home prices slowing elsewhere, still spiking in Bay Area

Sun, 01 Sep 2013 12:28:29 +0000

The Golden Gate Bridge is seen in the view from a 15,000-square-foot custom built home on Belvedere Island in Marin County, California, U.S., in Dec. 2012. The builder couldn’t find a buyer for the brand-new waterfront mansion he listed in January for $45 million. He hoped one will turn up at an auction, where the starting bid was $25 million. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Blanca Torres
Reporter- San Francisco Business Times

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Home prices across the country show signs of stabilizing — except in the Bay Area where we continued to see big price spikes. Why do we always have to play the role of outlier?

Signs of stabilization depend on increases in median home price, numbers of new listings and the average number of days for-sale homes stay on the market.

In the Bay Area, our inventory of new listings increased by only 3 percent to 8,006 homes in July 2013 compared with the same month last year, while our median home price soared by 40 percent to $610,000 in July, up from $436,000 the prior year, according to Emeryville-based ZipRealty.

At the same time, nationally, inventory levels grew by an average of 12 percent and median home prices beefed up by 15.8 percent — a lot more moderate than our 40 percent hike.

Van Davis, ZipRealty’s president of brokerage operations, called the growth in the U.S. real estate market, “one of moderation with underlying strength.”

“The increase in listings coupled with moderating price growth and sales volumes provide significant evidence that the real estate market is beginning to become more balanced,” Davis said.

More inventory on the market keeps prices from ballooning, but clearly that isn’t happening in the Bay Area.

In fact, our total inventory of available homes dropped by 21 percent to 8,275 in July 2013, compared with 10,466 in July 2012.

Places where new listings are climbing at impressive rates include Denver with 34 percent growth, Portland, Ore. with 24 percent, Orange County with 22 percent and Seattle and San Diego both with 21 percent.

“Several metros on the West Coast, which have had the greatest supply imbalances, are now seeing the biggest increases in listings,” Davis said. Did you notice San Francisco is a glaring omission on that list?

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/housing-market-stabilizing-everywhere.html

San Francisco median home price hits plateau?

Fri, 30 Aug 2013 06:19:28 +0000

Top Bay Area cities where you can buy a home and go car-free

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 17:23:26 +0000

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:

Emeryville: $388,888 / 80.
Downtown San Jose: $508,450 / 74.
Albany: $622,500 / 86.
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

Local Home Prices among Highest in Bay Area

Sat, 20 Jul 2013 15:27:52 +0000

Written by Jim Welte and Jacob Bourne:

San Mateo County saw a $135,000 jump in median home price in just one year, according to numbers released Thursday by DataQuick.

Article source: http://southsanfrancisco.patch.com/groups/real-estate/p/local-home-prices-among-highest-in-bay-area

Bay Area housing prices jump 43 percent, but don’t celebrate

Wed, 10 Jul 2013 20:49:24 +0000

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

Chinese investors buying up San Francisco real estate

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 01:51:05 +0000

Last month, California’s median home price experienced its biggest gain in more than 33 years, according to the California Association of Realtors. But it didn’t put off wealthy Chinese who have been pouring money into Golden State real estate.

The San Francisco Bay Area is seeing a tremendous surge in real estate investment from China. According to the San Francisco-based Asia Society, California is on track this year to receive record investments in both commercial and residential real estate.

The society recently held a panel discussion on “Courting the Chinese Buyer: The New California Real Estate Boom”. The experts there agreed that Chinese investment in Bay area properties would continue to be strong.

Yat-Pang Au, founder and CEO of Veritas Investments Inc, one of the largest owners and operators of apartments in San Francisco, said that one of the reasons it made sense to invest in San Francisco was that it is a true cosmopolitan city recognized throughout the world, but still one of the cheapest. Au called it “a natural fit” for a Chinese investor.

“We have good schools, a safe environment, clean air,” Au said. “It is a relatively safe investment in real estate.”

According to the National Association of Realtors, buyers from China are now the second-largest group of foreign investors in US residential real estate (after Canadians), spending $9 billion in the year ending March 2012.

While Chinese individual investors are focusing on residential real estate, Chinese enterprises are making an even harder push into the commercial market.

Chinese developer Zarsion Holdings Group inked a deal to build a $1.5 billion waterfront development in Oakland, California, during Governor Brown’s trade mission to China in April. There is also a joint venture underway between China Vanke Co Ltd and US firm Tishman Speyer Properties to develop luxury apartments in San Francisco.

Wilson Chen, president of Portland-based American Pacific International Capital, thinks that China’s slowing economy will not slow down Chinese investment overseas; on the contrary, he believes there will be more people looking to diversify their portfolios with investments outside of China.

Chen said that inflation in China was huge and in the international currency market, the US dollar was weak against the Chinese yuan. “When Chinese investors come to the US to invest, they pretty much grab the money off the printing machine and come over here to buy cheaper stuff,” he said.

Chinese investment in the US hit an all-time record in 2012 of $6.5 billion and will likely surpass that level in 2013, according to the research firm Rhodium Group.

Leonard Rosenberg, head of the Palo Alto-based law firm Mayer Brown, said investment growth in China goes beyond market forces.

“I think there are policies in place to encourage Chinese investment, particularly the state enterprises,” Rosenberg said, noting that Chinese insurance laws were modified to allow state-owned insurance companies to invest in real property assets.

Rosenberg also mentioned a recent Bloomberg report about China’s official overseer of foreign-currency reserves talking about potentially investing in US real estate.

“It makes sense that they will want to move into real estate in general,” he said. “US real estate is very transparent and a low barrier entry sort of industry.”

The experts suggest being aware of the cultural gap between US and Chinese investors. Because the Chinese are usually thinking differently in terms of what their US partner can offer.

“There are some gaps that cannot be bridged,” Chen said, “primarily on the financial structure side, but also some on the legal structure side that they don’t understand.”

As an example he mentioned that China has no property tax, so when Chinese people come to the US to buy property, they say, Ok, that’s cheap, then buy it, without realizing what they’re getting into.

Yuwei12@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 06/21/2013 page10)

Article source: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2013-06/21/content_16643650.htm

Chinese investors buying up San Francisco real estate

Fri, 21 Jun 2013 07:50:36 +0000