Home Prices Continue to Rise - San Francisco housing market recovery is underway
Luxury homes in popular Pacific Heights, Marina, and Cow Hollow neighborhoods are moving with many homes receiving multiple offers or selling over the asking price.
It appears that the basic economics of demand and supply are causing San Francisco prices of single family homes and condominiums to rise. Employment prospects continue to improve, with San Francisco Unemployment down to 8.8% in March 2011, after being well over 10% during the height of the Great Recession. This is still well below California’s average 12% unemployment and the 14.7% high California reached in 1940 during the country’s Great Depression. Some areas in California have unemployment rates over 25%. Technology jobs seem to account for most of San Francisco’s job growth, as companies like Zynga and Twitter increasing their local workforces.
As the economy improves and company profits rise, employees may be less concerned about layoffs. A rising stock market that raises savings, may also be giving buyers a feeling of increased security.
After record office space downsizing by large corporate tenants, the San Francisco office market is rebounding with the expansion of technology companies. Planned expansions at Twitter and Zynga, as well as new start-ups are helping improve the city’s employment. There are predictions that the technology sector could expand to the peak levels we saw during the 2000 Internet Bubble.
Couple increasing demand with lower supply and you get upwards pressure on prices. Supply is down by almost 50%, with single family home inventory down from highs of over 4 months to 2.3 months in March 2011.
Comments(0)