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

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U.S. home prices jumped 10.9 percent in March compared with a year ago, the most since April 2006.

A growing number of buyers are bidding on a tight supply of homes, driving prices higher and helping the housing market recover. The Standard Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday also showed that all 20 cities measured by the report posted year-over-year gains for the third straight month. And prices rose in 15 cities in March from February. That’s up from only 11 in the previous month.

The monthly figures aren’t seasonally adjusted and may reflect the beginning of the spring buying season.

Prices rose in Phoenix by 22.5 percent over the past 12 months, the biggest gain among cities. It was followed by San Francisco (22.2 percent) and Las Vegas (20.6 percent). New York City had the smallest year-over-year increase at 2.6 percent, followed by Cleveland at 4.8 percent.

“Rising home prices may begin to alleviate a lack of housing inventory … by encouraging more homeowners to put their properties on the market,” said Maninder Sibia, an economist with Economic Advisory Service, in a note to clients.

“The housing market is clearly improving.” The index covers roughly half of U.S. homes. It measures prices compared with those in January 2000 and creates a three-month moving average. The March figures are the latest available.

The U.S. housing market is steadily recovering, buoyed by solid job gains and near-record low mortgage rates.

Sales of new homes rose in April to nearly a five-year high. And sales of previously occupied homes ticked up in April to the highest level in three and a half years. Despite the gains, a limited number of homeowners are putting their houses on the market. That’s helped lift home prices. And it’s made builders more willing to ramp up construction. Applications for building permits rose in April to the highest level in nearly five years.

The supply of available homes jumped in April, but was still 14 percent below its level a year earlier. Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow, a real estate data provider, said that the increase in the Case-Shiller index has been skewed higher by cities such as Phoenix and San Francisco.

Fewer homes are available in those areas because many homeowners still owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.

That makes it difficult to sell. Still, even excluding those markets, home prices are rising steadily nationwide, Humphries said. The increases are “certainly confirmation that the housing market is experiencing a brisk recovery,” he added.

The housing recovery is creating more construction jobs and bolstering the economy in other ways. Higher home prices make homeowners feel wealthier and encourages them to spend more.

Rising prices also encourage more would-be buyers to purchase homes, before prices rise further.

They also enable more homeowners to sell homes, by reducing the number of people who owe more on their mortgages than the homes are worth. Prices have been increasing steadily since last summer.

Still, they are about 29 percent below the peak reached in July 2006. Banks have raised their credit standards since the housing bubble burst and are demanding larger down payments. That’s made it particularly hard for potential first-time buyers to get a mortgage.

Copyright Associated Press

Article source: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Bay-Area-Housing-Prices-Take-Big-Jump-209268641.html

“Markets with increasing foreclosure activity in 2012 took the first step in finally purging delayed distress left over from the bursting housing bubble,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “Meanwhile, the underlying fundamentals in many of those markets are slowly improving, making it an opportune time to absorb additional foreclosure inventory this year — and that is particularly good news for buyers and investors hungry for more inventory to purchase in those markets.”

(Read More: Link Between Credit and Mortgages: Not What You Think)

RealtyTrac ranked the top markets for investors to set their sights in 2013, based on months’ supply of foreclosure inventory, percentage of foreclosure sales, the foreclosure discount and the percentage increase in foreclosure activity in 2012. Five of the top ten are in Florida, including Palm Bay, Tampa, Jacksonville and Orlando. Florida requires a judge in the foreclosure process and therefore has an extremely large backlog.

(Read More: Feds’ ‘Fixer-Upper’ Loan Helps Tidy Up Foreclosures)

New York, another judicial state, fills 4 of the top ten spots, with Rochester, Albany and the New York City area leading. Chicago rounds out the roster.

The worst markets to look for foreclosures are largely out West, where the foreclosure crisis hit first and where investors have already bought so many properties that they are now fighting for what is left. Low supplies have led to bidding wars in cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Jose, CA and even Portland, OR.

(Read More: Best US Housing Markets for Buyers and Sellers)

It is truly a tale of east versus west, just as it was at the start of the foreclosure crisis with the west faring far worse than the rest of the nation. Now it is just the opposite, as demand for distressed properties continues to increase and supply determines the best bargain destinations.

(Read More: Facing Foreclosure? Don’t Just Sit There—Act Now)

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100423428

We’ve written numerous times about how crazy expensive buying a home in the Bay Area is for the average folk.  Out comes another survey, this one by the National Association of Home Builders/ Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index, that confirms what we already know about Bay Area real estate.  As AOL Real Estate reports, this survey looks at a metropolitan area’s median home price and median income and then determines what percentage of the homes an average homebuyer can afford.

The San Francisco metro area ranks 2nd in the nation in housing affordability

Based on these statistics, the San Francisco metro area was the second least affordable area to buy.  With a median home price of $659,000 and median income of $103,000, only 31.4% of homes are affordable to the average Bay Area resident.  This wasn’t too far off from New York City, which was the least affordable place to buy, where the average New Yorker could afford to buy only 28.5% of homes there.

Heading south along the bay, San Jose was ranked the sixth least affordable place to buy.  The median home price there was $530,000.  Median incomes in the San Jose metro area were $105,000 and based on these two numbers, about 46.2% of homes are affordable to the average homebuyer.  Better, but still not great.

San Jose is 6th in the country in housing affordability

Interestingly, the article also points out that San Francisco and San Jose were two of only a handful of metro areas where the median income was in the six figures – all thanks they say to the once again booming tech industry.

In all, California heads the list as the least affordable state.  In addition to San Francisco and San Jose, the metro areas of Los Angeles, Santa Ana and San Diego made the list.  To look at the other areas that made the list, click here.

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2012/12/07/san-francisco-2nd-san-jose-6th-least-affordable-places-to-buy-in-the-country/

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Article source: http://www.globest.com/news/12_481/sanfrancisco/multifamily/CIM-Group-Closes-on-Apartment-Portfolio-Sale-326903.html