Employment and Housing Market in the Bay Area on the Up!
What it says about the market of the future
While I’m always on the look-out for news about today’s market conditions, I’m specifically interested in areas surrounding Sonoma County where I certify “affordable, turn-key, move-in-ready” homes for sale.
This morning’s discovery was the best news I’ve heard all month! The article from Forbes is titled “Bay Area Employment Reaches 3-Year High; Home Prices Soar” by Eric Savitz. The title should give you a pretty good indication as to why I am feeling a bit more hopeful about today’s market and economy.
The San Jose Mercury News reports that on Friday, the California Employments Development Department noted the Bay Area added 15,400 jobs in February alone. This number boosted employment in this
region to the highest it’s been in three years – good news for everyone in the Bay Area who should feel the impact of this increase.
In the past two years employment has gone up by 105,000 jobs, 60 thousand of which were added in the past twelve months. What does this say about the market and economy we live in? What with the Bay Area unemployment rates 
moving to 8.7% from 8.9% the previous month, the housing market is starting to strengthen as families become more able to qualify for home loans!
This is borne out by the fact that “bidding wars” are breaking out all over the local housing market. Competition is getting tougher as people are buying up Real Estate like crazy. One “bidding war” success story is of a Palo Alto ranch-style home that was listed at $1.2 million which is fairly modest for a home in that area. This home attracted 38 offers and eventually sold for 3X that amount! This sure can vary by home, area and listing price but I sure have noticed it more when submitting offers and accepting offers for my clients.
I’ve gotten quite crafty when submitting offers to make them as strong as possible, including loan contingency removals if my Buyer has a Hard Money Loan or comes in with cash, shorter closing date if possible, sooner inspections gotten, etc. I may add that these actions have gotten an offer I made accepted more than once over others – so try it if possible!
According to Savitz, the market is likely heating up in other parts of the 
Bay Area as well such as Contra Costa County. Pending single family home sales are up 62% from this time last year and the inventory is down 32%. This tells us that people everywhere are buying NOW due to good prices and rock-bottom interest rates. Inventory is being bought up fast!
Now would be the perfect time to think about investing in property and buying your own home. No more landlords, rents due or maintenance forms to fill out. The time is NOW to buy in Real Estate so don’t miss out on some of the awesome deals.
For the entire article click this link.
Lynn Tardibuono – Flipper Chick- Real Estate Agent and Co-Owner of Sun Pacific Mortgage and Real Estate. Serving Sonoma County since 1988. Her number is (707)523-2099 and you can also visit the website at http://www.sunpacmortgage.com
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