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Bay Area home sales continued to set the pace for all of California in May, posting solid sales growth and home prices that rose on a yearly basis at more than twice the rate of any other region. The latest figures from the California Association of Realtors also show that the Bay Area, with more buyers than sellers, was the only region in the Golden State where homes sold at a premium, with final sales prices an average of 7.3 percent above asking prices. Statewide, single-family home sales in May were down 1.1 percent from April but up ...

July 9, 2015 A college degree is almost a must-have for millennials who hope to eventually own a home in major Golden State coastal urban centers, but even with a diploma, young Bay Area buyers can expect to save for more than 15 years to meet the traditional down payment amount. In a new study, Trulia examines how student loans affect millennials’ abilities to amass a 20 percent down payment and the length of time needed to do so. The company found that student debt does indeed temporarily impede the ability to save for a down payment ...

Demand for homes in California showed no sign of cooling as summer officially began, with three Bay Area cities named among the nation’s five most booming real estate markets. In a new report, Realtor.com ranks the hottest U.S. real estate markets in June based on the number of online listing views compared with the number of online listings. The study also factors in the median number of days a property spent on the market in order to analyze buyer demand. Golden State metro areas claimed eight spots on Realtor.com’s list of the 20 ...

June 19, 2015 by Pacific Union • Posted in Industry Surveys & Studies Neighborhood safety is the most important factor in choosing a new home, according to a new survey of California homebuyers. Other top concerns include walkability and quality of schools . The survey of more than 1,200 recent buyers, conducted February through April by the California Association of Realtors, found that safety earned a rating of 8.5 on a scale of one to 10, where 10 is most important, for factors affecting the choice of neighborhood where a home ...

Every great house tells a story. The greatest are those that express history, lifestyle, location, and joie de vivre from the very first moment.  Less than a 15 minute stroll from downtown, this rare offering is such a home. Dazzling new remodeling merges with architectural heritage to yield this “Modern Storybook.” Originally built in 1915, the design overflows with a quintessential San Francisco-style nostalgia complete with columned front porch, 9 foot coved ceilings, and elaborate woodwork. The current owners have just completed a ...

Buying a home is often the most expensive purchase a person will make in their lifetime, so it’s obvious why many consider it one of the most challenging decisions they’ve ever faced. Even deciding how much of a down payment to make can leave buyers hung up, as this may be the single largest transaction in the whole buying process. So what’s the right amount to put down? For some, the answer is as simple as whatever you can afford, but if you have the funds, making a larger down payment could pay off greatly in the end, and here’s why: 1. ...

For quite a while it seemed that the most remarkable trend in U.S. housing demographics was the homeward migration of the millennial generation – young people who tried to live on their own after four years of college but moved back in with their parents when they couldn’t find jobs. That was during the Great Recession. Today, it’s a different generation that’s getting all the attention: baby boomers. And this time the roles are reversed. Analysts say millennial homeowners are increasingly making plans to accommodate their aging parents ...

After two months of declines, unemployment rates for the most part held steady across the Bay Area as the fourth quarter began, mirroring California’s flat job growth. According to the California Employment Development Department’s most recent unemployment report, jobless claims across the state were unchanged from September to October, remaining at 7.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis. The U.S. unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent in October, its fifth consecutive monthly decline. Job growth was equally static throughout most ...

November 20, 2014 by Pacific Union • Posted in Home Sales Volume & Inventory Conditions Home sales were flat across the Golden State in October, but here in the Bay Area, we saw a solid uptick in activity, according to a new report. The California Association of Realtors’ most recent home sales and price report says that single-family home sales increased 8.6 percent from September to October in the nine-county Bay Area. During that same time period, sales volume was unchanged in California. In a statement accompanying the report, ...

Homebuyers across the Bay Area were in the game as the usually brisk fall real estate season began, propelling September sales-volume numbers to the highest level since 2009. According to a new report from CoreLogic DataQuick, Bay Area buyers scooped up a total of 7,443 single-family homes and condominiums across the nine-county region in September, a year-over-year gain of 4.2 percent. It was the busiest September for our local real estate markets in five years, when 7,879 properties changed hands.The company says that both overflow ...

The quaint Burlingame Terrace neighborhood is transforming right before our eyes from “Up and Comer” to “Prime Time.” This timeless enclave, tucked within a 10 minute walk of Burlingame Avenue and McKinley Elementary, posted its highest sale of all time this summer on Acacia Avenue (pictured) at $2,200,000. While historically viewed as more modest than Burlingame’s luxury hotspots of the Easton Addition and Burlingame Park, Burlingame Terrace has irresistible convenience and charm that will now regularly propel it over the two million dollar ...

Fuel-powered devices can provide wonderful benefits to families when used properly. But they also underscore an important necessity in the home: the need for a carbon monoxide alarm. Carbon monoxide poisoning can result from faulty furnaces or other heating appliances, portable generators, water heaters, clothes dryers, or cars left running in garages. At its worst, carbon monoxide can cause severe side effects or even death. Young children are especially vulnerable to the effects of carbon monoxide because of their smaller bodies....