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SAN JOSE (CBS SF) — After a slumber when the San Francisco Bay Area was in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic, real estate sales were heating up to a feverish pitch with homes in San Jose and Oakland selling in less than two weeks, according to real estate leader Redfin.

The real estate resurgence has been slowly building for several months as COVID-19 restrictions have eased, new cases have dropped and the percentage of local residents fully vaccinated has skyrocketed.

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Offices have begun to reopen to employees who have been working remotely for more than a year. Restaurants are filling up again and there is a new buzz settling over the region.

Veteran Oakland real estate agent Katy Polvorosa told the East Bay Times not only are homes selling quickly, the deals are being closed after intense bidding wars over the properties.

“I’ve lost out so many times,” Polvorosa told the paper. “It’s really not for the faint of heart right now.”

While the San Francisco real estate sales were a bit slower, other areas were enjoying the surge. Vallejo is one of those communities.

“Vallejo used to be an unknown gem. Now it’s a known gem,” said resident Jay Kobuvec.

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Once infamous for filing for bankruptcy, the city of 120,000 residents with a median income of just over $30,000 a year has emerged as a new home base for home buyers during the pandemic.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this. I can’t keep up with all of the buyers reaching out to me,” said Tim Hiemstra, owner and broker of Napa River Realty. “People are getting in and seeing it and the open space and the fact that they that they’re not restricted to being in their office in Silicon Valley, San Francisco.”

The bayside city just 15 minutes from Napa Valley currently has an average listing price of $550,000 for a home with a backyard. And that is with a massive tech expansion coming to nearby Mare Island and available ferry service to offices in San Francisco.

Fremont agent Sunil Sethi told the San Jose Mercury News he typically sees single-family homes moving in five days.

In north Fremont, for example, Sethi listed a four-bedroom home with space for in-laws and a landscaped yard for $1.88 million.

“The offers started coming in and I’m like, ‘Wow,’” he told the paper.

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The first offer came in quickly at $200,000 over asking. Other, higher offers followed. It went into contract for $2.35 million.

Article source: https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/04/23/not-for-the-faint-of-heart-san-francisco-bay-area-real-estate-market-heating-up-to-pre-pandemic-levels/

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) — With spring in full bloom, the home-buying season has kicked off strongly after a year of uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 

The San Francisco Bay Area, which includes all nine counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma, posted an increase of 35% over last year’s sales for single-family homes. 

Many who have been able to keep a job and work from home amid the pandemic are now drawing major interest in buying a home. 

One of the biggest hurdles for first-time homebuyers is figuring out how to finance their purchase. 

KRON4 spoke with Noni Ramos, chief executive officer at Housing Trust Silicon Valley, about tips for first-time buyers. 

Q: What does the current housing market look like for first-time home buyers in the SF Bay Area?

“There are many buyers out there, we’ve seen again part of the effect of the pandemic has done, it has created migration patterns,” says Ramos.

“We have folks leaving certain parts of the Bay Area creating demand in other parts of the Bay Area, so it’s driving up the cost particularly as folks look to purchase homes.”

First-time homebuyers who didn’t lose a job due to the pandemic are able to take advantage of low interest rates on mortgages. 

The San Francisco Bay Area recorded one of the biggest growth among the regions with 21.3%. 

Renters have trouble saving

For Bay Area residents who rent, housing does not come cheap. 

According to Zumper, the median rent in San Francisco for a one-bedroom apartment sits at $2,600 per month. 

In San Jose, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is currently $2,095 per month. 

“One of the major challenges for first-time homebuyers is accumulating the resources to put down a down payment and if you don’t have the down payment you can’t access a loan from a traditional, conventional lender,” says Ramos. 

A recent survey from Realtor.com revealed that 44% of would-be first-time homebuyers were holding back because they did not have enough money for a down payment. 

Q: What are some ways first-time homebuyers can compete in the current market?

“What I would suggest is being informed and reaching out in trying to get information as much as you can,” says Ramos.

“We have different webinars, different sessions that we offer and so you can always come to our Housing Trust Silicon Valley website and we will list all of the different homebuyer webinars that we have available,” Ramos added.

“We actually have one coming up on May 6, this being co-hosted by our San Jose councilmember Magdalena Carrasco.”

Empower Homebuyers is a down payment assistance loan for first-time homebuyers in Santa Clara County. 

How it works:

If a homebuyer has at least 3% of a home’s purchase price saved up, an Empower loan can provide 17% of the price — enabling a down payment of 20% on a home with a sale price of up to $800,000. 

To learn more, click here. 

Other tips

• Start your search online. 
• Attend a first-time homebuyers seminar. 
• Contact a bank you are familiar with and ask about their community development loan program. (Some banks have a small group of loan officers that have the ability to offer incentives to homebuyers).
• Find a local Department of Housing and Urban Development-sponsored not for-profit agency. (A HUD-certified homeownership counselor should be familiar with your local programs and guidelines).
• Ask family and friends for a referral to lenders/real estate agents to consult.

The San Francisco Bay Area has seen home prices continue to climb due to strong demand and low supply. 

Ramos tells KRON4 News that even before the pandemic, there were not enough homes to go around.

Q: What’s the future outlook for the market? Where do we see things go from here, and will it get easier for first-time buyers?

“The inventory is tough to know what’s going to happen with the inventory if we continue to see the type of demand that we have seen for inventory of housing,” says Ramos. 

“It can continue to be challenging for potential home owners to identify properties, so production of new housing is also key.”

If you are looking to become a first-time homebuyer, visit Housing Trust Silicon Valley to get started.

Article source: https://www.kron4.com/news/real-estate/first-time-homebuyers-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-bay-area-housing-market/

Buying a Bay Area home has almost become a million-dollar pursuit for the typical family.

Led by a suburban land rush in the East Bay and San Mateo County, the median price of a single family home in the nine-county region surged to $935,000 in February, a 16% increase from last year. The trend continues to push the country’s most expensive real estate market to peak price levels seen a few years ago, with double-digit percentage gains in six of nine counties.

Tight inventory and high demand for traditional suburban neighborhoods drove up median prices for an existing home in Contra Costa County 25% to $737,000, and up nearly 13% to $1.6 million in San Mateo, according to data from DQNews and CoreLogic. Alameda County home prices swelled 17% to $935,000, while Santa Clara County grew 4% to $1.29 million.

Only in San Francisco — where rents have plummeted and the condo market has sunk — have home prices stayed relatively flat, growing less than one percent to $1.47 million.

Bay Area agents say the single family home market this year has been filled with bidding wars, as-is and all-cash offers, and bargain hunters snapping up properties in outer-suburban cities like Manteca, Morgan Hill and Gilroy. Buyers are looking for extra room for home offices, and more outside space for family activities.

CoreLogic economist Selma Hepp said home prices have been particularly strong in pockets of the Bay Area farther away from costly Peninsula cities near major tech employers. In Contra Costa and Alameda, she said, “you have more space, but it’s more affordable.”

Home prices have steamed forward during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the relatively few homes on the market being pursued by first-time buyers and families looking for a bigger house and yard. Record-low interest rates during the pandemic have also allowed families to take on bigger mortgages and monthly payments.

A national study by Redfin found 39% of homes sold over their list price in February and March, and 76% of Bay Area homes listed on the site faced a bidding war in February. The Bay Area was the fifth most competitive market in the country, behind Salt Lake City, San Diego, Phoenix and Denver.

The migration to the suburbs after a year of remote work and home confinement has picked up speed. The traditional spring home-buying season started this winter. Home sales in February grew by more than one-third from the previous year, led by surges in the counties of Santa Clara (up 46%), Alameda (up 45%),  Contra Costa (up 36%) and San Mateo (up 27%).

Agents say the frenzy picked up at the beginning of the year. “The market is super hot,” said San Jose agent Gustavo Gonzalez. “There’s way more buyers than inventory.”

One property in East San Jose drew two unsolicited offers before it came on to the market, he said. There are simply not enough homes to meet demand, he said.

Even tech professionals are struggling to find homes, despite healthy savings accounts and incomes. “The techies are competing against each other,” Gonzalez said.

Doug Goss of Keller Williams in Los Gatos said to be competitive, buyers are waiving contingencies and quickly making offers. One single family home with valley views in North San Jose drew 22 offers, he said.

“It’s crazy,” he said. “There’s still very, very strong demand.”

Will Doerlich, broker and agent in San Ramon, has seen luxury homes — those that  sell for twice a county’s median home value — take off in recent months.  “People have an appreciation for how important home is right now,” he said. They’ve been willing to pay a premium in the East Bay to secure large properties loaded with amenities.

Peninsula homeowners have been looking to trade up for bigger homes in the East Bay, he said.

Doerlich said buyers are getting more fatigued and willing to quickly exceed the list price to win a property. Many have lost multiple bids, and are anxious to end the search, he said. “In this market,” he said, “you can’t count out the human factor.”

The strong stock market and remote-friendly professional tech jobs have benefited many Bay Area professionals, Hepp said. But she expects the recent increase in interest rates could slow the market from its late-winter peak.

“It’s going to take a little bite out of the competition,” she said. “I do think we’ll see some slowing.”

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Article source: https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/04/05/bay-area-home-prices-soar-on-suburban-land-rush

Note: Our market forecast includes both San Francisco data and data from its surroundings, including Oakland and Hayward.

Also known as “The Golden Gate City,” San Francisco is considered by many to be the cultural and industrial hub of Northern California. Although the city covers only 46.9 square miles, it’s home to nearly 882,000 residents, making it the 16th largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States.

However, in addition to the city’s picturesque location and unique culture, San Francisco County is also known for having one of the highest per-capita incomes in the United States, which makes it a very lucrative area for investors.

The state of the market

Like most other major cities, the real estate market in San Francisco has been greatly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. With that in mind, we’ve created an overview of the major trends that you should be aware of if investing in the Bay Area.

Rental vacancies are up

The percentage of rental vacancies in San Francisco currently sits at 8.5%. a 5.5% increase year over year. This increase in vacancies can be linked to a high number of coronavirus cases, as well as a jump in the number of companies that have shifted to remote work as a result of the pandemic.

However, as the vaccine rollout continues to escalate, it’s looking like this will be a short-term issue. As more companies begin to require workers to return to the office, the percentage of rental vacancies should subside. That said, in the meantime, landlords may need to offer open units at a lower price point to fill some of their inventory. For its part, the median rent price is also down 8.1% year over year.

The housing supply is holding its own

While San Francisco currently only has a 2.1-month housing supply, it’s actually doing better than the rest of the nation, which reported a mere 1.6-month supply in January 2021. In addition, there were 410 new single-family detached housing permits issued in February 2021, nearly 100 more permits than forecasted, which should also continue to help ease the low inventory burden.

The unemployment rate is making a comeback

As of January 2021, the unemployment rate in San Francisco is 6.7%, which is just above the national average of 6.3%. While that number is still higher than normal, it’s important to note it has been on a downward trend since it hit a high of 13.2% at the height of the pandemic. For investors, this decline is an indication that the rental vacancy issues they’re facing are likely to be a short-term problem. As more renters begin to secure jobs in the Bay Area, they will once again need to sign leases.

San Francisco housing demand indicators

All data and charts supplied by Housing Tides by EnergyLogic

Housing demand in San Francisco has experienced some ups and downs amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Unemployment trends

As a rule of thumb, San Francisco’s unemployment rate is typically lower than the national average and, though joblessness did spike in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, that statement still holds true. Despite the region’s tourism industry taking a major hit during the pandemic, its position as one of the nation’s top technological hubs has kept it better insulated than other metros.

Article source: https://www.fool.com/millionacres/market/california/san-francisco/

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Article source: https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/sf-bay-area-housing-where-to-live/