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Amid rising interest rates and widespread concerns about the cost of housing, one might expect the Bay Area’s real estate market to run out of steam.

Apparently, that’s not happening.

In February, the fiercest bidding on homes took place in the Bay Area, according to a new national report from Redfin, the real estate brokerage. In San Jose, 63 percent of homes sold above list price, followed by 62 percent in San Francisco and 59.1 percent in Oakland. Among all U.S. markets, those were the three highest shares of “over asking” bidding. Next in line were two markets in the state of Washington: Seattle with 49.3 percent and Tacoma with 36.3 percent.

February’s fastest-moving markets were, in order, Seattle (with about half of all homes pending sale within 12 days of being listed); Oakland (where homes typically spent 15 days on market); Denver (18 days on market); San Jose (21 days); and San Francisco (28 days).

Still, industry observers point to an underlying problem: The housing supply is low in much of the country, and that doesn’t make for a healthy market in the long term.

Nationally, the number of homes for sale declined 12.9 percent in February on a year-over-year basis. It was the third consecutive month of double-digit drops in inventory, Redfin reported.

The number of homes for sale fell year-over-year by 12 percent in Oakland, by 5.3 percent in San Francisco, and by 2.0 percent in San Jose. (Sacramento inventory practically fell off a cliff — down 25.4 percent from a year earlier.)

With “low-tier” affordable homes in particularly short supply around the nation, first-time homebuyers are struggling to get a foot in the door. That’s because, with inventory at such low levels, competition persists: Those buyers who remain in the game keep putting upward pressure on prices.

Taking all of this under consideration, Nela Richardson, Redfin’s chief economist, painted a half-rosy picture of the current market.

“The total level of home equity reached a new peak at the close of 2016, according to recent Fed data,” Richardson said. “While great for homeowners, continuously strong price growth across the U.S. since 2012 has posed significant challenges for first-time buyers, especially given such low supply in affordable price-tiers.”

But she pointed to a silver lining: “Rising prices and increased equity may tip the scales for homeowners who have been delaying their decision to move up,” she said, “which could add much-needed starter-home inventory to the market.”

Article source: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/03/16/sjm-homeprices-0317/

SAN JOSE Three of the nation’s top 10 office markets are in the Bay Area, according to a new commercial real estate report that points to strong job growth and low vacancies in San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco as key factors behind the rankings.

Technology companies are driving much of the commercial real estate surge and job growth, stated the report from Marcus and Millichap, a commercial realty firm.

Marcus Millichap ranked the San Jose metro region, defined as Santa Clara County, the No. 1 office market; the San Francisco metro area, defined as San Francisco and San Mateo counties, the No. 3 office center; and the Oakland metro, defined as the East Bay, the No. 9 market.

“The vibrant technology-driven innovative business climate in the San Jose metro continues to drive office space demand,” Marcus Millichap wrote in its report. “The vast number of Fortune 500 companies in the area are steadily taking down additional space and building or expanding new headquarters.”

Huge projects by Apple, Google, Nvidia and Palo Alto Networks are slated for completion this year and should produce an additional 4.4 million square feet of space, the realty brokerage stated. That’s the equivalent of three major regional malls the size of Valley Fair in San Jose or Sunvalley mall in Concord.

High-tech also is driving office growth and low vacancies in the San Francisco-San Mateo metro area.

“Salesforce Tower is set to remake the San Francisco skyline,” Marcus Millichap stated in the report. “A broad slate of financial services and technology startups have fueled tremendous net absorption in the San Francisco office market.”

Plus, in San Mateo County, office sites near corporate campuses could gain “considerable buyer interest” when adjacent tech companies seek expansion, the brokerage said.

For decades, the East Bay — outside of the semiconductor companies in Fremont and some software firms in the Pleasanton-San Ramon-Livermore area — has been something of an afterthought for technology. But the decision by Uber Technologies to create a second headquarters in downtown Oakland has been hailed as a game changer for the East Bay.

“The move by Uber will help solidify Oakland as a marquee tech hub, likely spurring further business expansion in the area,” the commercial realty firm said.

Oakland jumped four spots in the rankings from No. 13 to No. 9, San Jose rose one spot from No. 2 to No. 1, while San Francisco dropped three spots from No. 1 to No. 3. Another tech-dominated region, Seattle, moved into the No. 2 spot.

Santa Clara County employers are expected to add 30,000 jobs during 2017, the brokerage predicted, compared with official state labor reports of a gain of 31,100 jobs in 2016. The East Bay will add 35,000 jobs this year, compared with 34,300 in 2016. Projections for the San Francisco-San Mateo area weren’t available.

Office vacancies are expected to shrink in Oakland and increase in both San Francisco and San Jose. The vacancy rate is expected to be 11.1 percent in the East Bay, 11.3 percent in Santa Clara County and 10.5 percent in the San Francisco-San Mateo area, the brokerage reported.

One of the veteran commercial realty brokers in the Bay Area, Philip Mahoney, vice chairman of Newmark Cornish Carey, believes San Jose’s No. 1 ranking is fully justified and sees plenty of strength ahead, even though supply has begun to outstrip demand.

“Long-term, I continue to be bullish about the Santa Clara County office market,” Mahoney said. “Short-term, we are hitting a bit of a pause.”

Article source: http://www.record-bee.com/general-news/20170317/san-jose-oakland-san-francisco-are-top-office-markets

Amid rising interest rates and widespread concerns about the cost of housing, one might expect the Bay Area’s real estate market to run out of steam.

Apparently, that’s not happening.

In February, the fiercest bidding on homes took place in the Bay Area, according to a new national report from Redfin, the real estate brokerage. In San Jose, 63 percent of homes sold above list price, followed by 62 percent in San Francisco and 59.1 percent in Oakland. Among all U.S. markets, those were the three highest shares of “over asking” bidding. Next in line were two markets in the state of Washington: Seattle with 49.3 percent and Tacoma with 36.3 percent.

February’s fastest-moving markets were, in order, Seattle (with about half of all homes pending sale within 12 days of being listed); Oakland (where homes typically spent 15 days on market); Denver (18 days on market); San Jose (21 days); and San Francisco (28 days).

Still, industry observers point to an underlying problem: The housing supply is low in much of the country, and that doesn’t make for a healthy market in the long term.

Nationally, the number of homes for sale declined 12.9 percent in February on a year-over-year basis. It was the third consecutive month of double-digit drops in inventory, Redfin reported.

The number of homes for sale fell year-over-year by 12 percent in Oakland, by 5.3 percent in San Francisco, and by 2.0 percent in San Jose. (Sacramento inventory practically fell off a cliff — down 25.4 percent from a year earlier.)

With “low-tier” affordable homes in particularly short supply around the nation, first-time homebuyers are struggling to get a foot in the door. That’s because, with inventory at such low levels, competition persists: Those buyers who remain in the game keep putting upward pressure on prices.

Taking all of this under consideration, Nela Richardson, Redfin’s chief economist, painted a half-rosy picture of the current market.

“The total level of home equity reached a new peak at the close of 2016, according to recent Fed data,” Richardson said. “While great for homeowners, continuously strong price growth across the U.S. since 2012 has posed significant challenges for first-time buyers, especially given such low supply in affordable price-tiers.”

But she pointed to a silver lining: “Rising prices and increased equity may tip the scales for homeowners who have been delaying their decision to move up,” she said, “which could add much-needed starter-home inventory to the market.”

Article source: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/03/16/sjm-homeprices-0317/

Amid rising interest rates and widespread concerns about the cost of housing, one might expect the Bay Area’s real estate market to run out of steam.

Apparently, that’s not happening.

In February, the fiercest bidding on homes took place in the Bay Area, according to a new national report from Redfin, the real estate brokerage. In San Jose, 63 percent of homes sold above list price, followed by 62 percent in San Francisco and 59.1 percent in Oakland. Among all U.S. markets, those were the three highest shares of “over asking” bidding. Next in line were two markets in the state of Washington: Seattle with 49.3 percent and Tacoma with 36.3 percent.

February’s fastest-moving markets were, in order, Seattle (with about half of all homes pending sale within 12 days of being listed); Oakland (where homes typically spent 15 days on market); Denver (18 days on market); San Jose (21 days); and San Francisco (28 days).

Still, industry observers point to an underlying problem: The housing supply is low in much of the country, and that doesn’t make for a healthy market in the long term.

Nationally, the number of homes for sale declined 12.9 percent in February on a year-over-year basis. It was the third consecutive month of double-digit drops in inventory, Redfin reported.

The number of homes for sale fell year-over-year by 12 percent in Oakland, by 5.3 percent in San Francisco, and by 2.0 percent in San Jose. (Sacramento inventory practically fell off a cliff — down 25.4 percent from a year earlier.)

With “low-tier” affordable homes in particularly short supply around the nation, first-time homebuyers are struggling to get a foot in the door. That’s because, with inventory at such low levels, competition persists: Those buyers who remain in the game keep putting upward pressure on prices.

Taking all of this under consideration, Nela Richardson, Redfin’s chief economist, painted a half-rosy picture of the current market.

“The total level of home equity reached a new peak at the close of 2016, according to recent Fed data,” Richardson said. “While great for homeowners, continuously strong price growth across the U.S. since 2012 has posed significant challenges for first-time buyers, especially given such low supply in affordable price-tiers.”

But she pointed to a silver lining: “Rising prices and increased equity may tip the scales for homeowners who have been delaying their decision to move up,” she said, “which could add much-needed starter-home inventory to the market.”

Article source: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/03/16/sjm-homeprices-0317/

TRUCKEE, Calif. — Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty recently hosted its second annual Lake Tahoe Winter Social and Celebrity Pro Am ski race at Northstar California.

The event, which occurred prior to last weekend’s World Cup races at Squaw Valley, brought together Sotheby’s agents from across the country for networking, panel discussions and fun on the slopes with World Cup and Olympic Legends Tamara McKinney, Kristen Clark Rickenbach and speed skier Jeff Hamilton.

Agents gathered for a sold-out conference at the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe where Fran Santangelo, Sotheby’s International Realty’s VP of Global Operations, unveiled some of the brand’s exclusive 2017 marketing partnerships with media giants including New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Juwai.com, Mansion Global, Apple News and Apple TV.

“These media relationships are unique to Sotheby’s International Realty and we’re proud that we can share measurable results from this high traffic exposure directly with our sellers,” says Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty’s President, Peter Strand.

Highlights of the day included panel discussions with some of the top producing Realtors from the San Francisco Bay area, as well as agents from similar ski resort markets like Vail, Park City, Aspen and Jackson Hole.

On day two, the scheduled Pro Am ski race was snowed out; however, that didn’t stop this group from hitting the slopes of Northstar to enjoy some powder turns during one of Tahoe’s most epic winters on record.

Sierra Sotheby’s agents including McKinney and Broker Jeff Hamilton served as mountain guides for guests and their clients visiting from the San Francisco Bay Area, and others who came from as far away as Big Sky, Sun Valley, San Diego and Belize.

Throughout the three-day event, Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty hosted private tours of some the area’s most significant lakefront and slopeside homes, offering agents from Lake Tahoe’s top feeder markets an insider’s look at the Lake Tahoe lifestyle and exclusive luxury real estate offerings.

“Sotheby’s International Realty’s worldwide network and strong connection to Bay Area feeder markets is what truly sets us apart in the Lake Tahoe luxury real estate market,” said Peter Strand. “This event is an example of our proactive approach to connecting dedicated agents and their qualified buyers with our sophisticated sellers. Our clients both expect and deserve this level of commitment.”

For more about this event, search #skine2017 or visit tahoerealestatediary.com.

This article was provided by Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty. Visit http://www.sierrasothebysrealty.com to learn more.

Article source: http://www.sierrasun.com/real-estate/tahoe-real-estate-sierra-sothebys-hosts-celebs-for-pro-am-race-at-northstar/