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/

A new item is posted each weekday. Some San Francisco websites offer an overwhelming amount of news, reports, profiles and event calendars. SFDentro seeks to present a single jewel each day, the very best of San Francisco.

The posts are deliberately short in order to be easily digested – usually only two or three paragraphs long. They always include a photo or two, and typically have links to other pages where more information can be found.

Categories include: Happenings, People, Looking Forward, Places to See and Neighborhoods.

Hill Co. is a real estate company, but the blog is not all about real estate. Instead, it’s more general in nature. It is intended to be an insider’s guide to San Francisco, appealing to City and Bay Area residents, visitors, out-of-towners and prospective homeowners alike.

“Our website provides lots of good information on the San Francisco real estate market,” said Hill Co. Vice President Eileen Mougeot. “We have market reports, homes for sales, neighborhood profiles and more. This blog rounds things out. It offers a broader view of the City than you might find elsewhere.”

Dentro is Italian for “inside,” and that’s where the name SFDentro comes from. Items are posted on the blog, and then reposted on Hill Co.’s Facebook and Twitter channels.

Article source: http://www.jagsreport.com/2011/11/13/hill-co-real-estate-launches-an-inside-san-francisco-blog/