SF Bay Area Bubble

[Hatfield]

Even crappy tract houses selling for $100k over asking.

http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2013/03/15/bidding-war-targets-homes-that-went-way-over-asking/

[The-Shoveler]

I basically feel the same way about the Bay area as I do CV,

Just glad I don’t feel compelled to live there.

Good luck..

[spdrun]

D/k how true this is, but rents are in a bubble as well there — interestingly, I heard that average rents dropped in SF this winter, concurrently with the pricking of the Apple stock bubble:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/09/05/blame-apple-for-3000-a-month-studio-apartments-in-san-francisco/

[bearishgurl]

Yikes, that “thing” (what looks like a nondescript PUD on a postage-stamp lot) is actually in Dublin, which is a one-hour trip by car to SF on an extremely bright sunny day (barring any usual-but-unforeseen circumstances).

L@rd, it gets up to 114 degrees there in the summer. How do I know this? Dublin is my “hometown,” back when it had a pop of <5K and shared a zip code and 2-lane "hwy" with its "sister towns," Pleasanton and San Ramon, lol ...

In SD County, this would be an exurb in the stix but alas, the "exurb in the stix" in the bay area is "Tracy," which is that ultra-distressed megalopolis 28 miles to the east of Dublin.

H@ll, what do I know? Maybe that former cow-town Tracy is not "distressed" anymore :=0

I loved looking at the pics of the $1.5M Ratcliff-designed Berkeley Craftsman beauty with the incredible views. Absolutely fabulous property!

Thanks for sharing, Hatfield!

[Hatfield]

I’ve got several friends in the bay area as well as a brother, and they all say tech is going gangbusters. It’s like the late 90s all over again, and they’re having trouble hiring good engineers. The other interesting data point: a friend was looking buying a house or condo or some sort of ski getaway in the Tahoe area, and those prices are getting stratospheric as well. It’s all bay area tech money, apparently.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=Hatfield]I’ve got several friends in the bay area as well as a brother, and they all say tech is going gangbusters. It’s like the late 90s all over again, and they’re having trouble hiring good engineers. The other interesting data point: a friend was looking buying a house or condo or some sort of ski getaway in the Tahoe area, and those prices are getting stratospheric as well. It’s all bay area tech money, apparently.[/quote]Hatfield, you may be aware that South Tahoe was on my retirement “short list.” If this is true, I won’t be able to purchase a place there for at least another year and could very well be “priced out.”

I was looking at 35-55 yo tract houses on generous lots in the middle of town on the busline. In October 2010, these houses were going for $175K to $275K. If the cash-rich “tech crowd” from SV is now interested in these houses, then they may end up being listed at far more than I want to pay.

Hopefully, this younger crowd wants condos in Stateline, NV or the more “luxurious” custom houses at the base of Heavenly or in more “exclusive” areas situated west and southwest of the CA Base.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the previously depressed SFR market in El Dorado County, CA. In any case, I won’t be ready to “retire” for another year to year and a half.

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