Bay Area housing snaps back as "most recovered" U.S. market

By  Blanca Torres

Reporter- San Francisco Business Times

We all know the housing market is hot in the Bay Area, but you can now rest assured it is the "most recovered" housing market nationwide.

Home prices in the San Francisco metropolitan area have increased by 52 percent since hitting the most recent low during the recession, according to an analysis by the American Action Forum, a center-right policy institute.

“California was among a handful of states particularly hard hit by the boom and bust of the housing bubble, seeing home values decline by 45 percent statewide,” the think tank states in a recent report. “San Francisco notably stands as one of the most improved hard-hit markets.”

Other California metropolitan areas such as San Diego and Los Angeles are also in recovery mode with prices increasing by more than 30 percent since the low. Coastal areas in the golden state have fared much better than smaller, inland communities, the report states, exemplifying the economy’s uneven recovery.

Rising employment levels in cities such as San Francisco and San Jose, which have seen a huge increase in technology jobs, and low inventory have pushed up home prices to “nearly the same level they were at during the peak of the bubble.”

The median price for a home in the Bay Area jumped 28.7 percent to $539,750 in October compared with the same month last year, according to DataQuick, a San Diego-based real estate information service.

The highest Bay Area median price so far in 2013 was $562,000 in July. The Bay Area’s all-time peak median was $665,000 in June and July 2007, which later dropped to a low of $290,000 in March 2009.

"At different times in recent years we’ve had various peaks or troughs when it comes to sales volume, prices, foreclosure activity, cash sales, 
absentee-owner sales, various home loan options, you name it,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president. "All of these market components are now trending toward normal. We are still a ways away, but the market is slowly re-establishing equilibrium.”


Courtesy of  BizJournals.com