Bay Area rents surge 9.4% in 2007

Average asking rents for apartments in the nine-county Bay Area reached $1,562 during the fourth quarter, up 9.4 percent from a year ago, according to a report released Thursday by Novato research firm RealFacts. Rents are up 16.3 percent from 2004.

Rent vs buy house in Bay Area

Forbes published the list of most expensive cities for renters in 2007

1. New York
2. San Francisco
3. Boston
4. San Jose
5. Los Angeles

In the numbers for Bay Area rent market:

San Francisco, Calif. $1,904

Very few residents here can afford the city's $800,000 median home-sale price. The result is an extremely tight rental market, which is expected to see the largest year-over-year jump, with rents expected to grow 8.6%. It's very difficult to add new inventory due to limited space, cost of business and developers' reluctance to dive into the fervently rent-controlled market.

San Jose, Calif. $1,612

The city to San Francisco's south suffers from many of the same ailments; there are, however, fewer barriers to expansion. San Jose rents are expected to climb 5.5% this year thanks to a low vacancy rate second only to New York City. Investor-cap rates are high, which, not surprisingly, means that construction in the rental market will surge 29%, relaxing some price pressure.

That's good news for Bay Area landlords, but bad for renters.

Related reading cleaning out the garage

Fixer upper house in Gilroy

From today's San Jose Mercury News

Bill and Beth Scozzola bought a three-bedroom house in Gilroy at an auction in July, redid everything from the floors to the plumbing to the kitchen sink, then put it on the market in September for $599,950. They've had no offers. So this week they parked a brand new, $18,300 Honda Civic in front, and plan to give it to whoever buys their property.

"Everybody's sitting on the fence," waiting for home prices to drop more, said Bill Scozzola, who has been rehabbing and flipping homes like the one on 7289 Dowdy Street in Girloy for nearly 10 years. "To me they're missing out on good opportunities. I'm willing to wheel and deal on this."

There are missing data in the article: The house is fifty eight years old, Scozzola family bought the house just for $378,000 last summer (data from Trulia). He wants to sell it for $599,950 in six months. What are the improvements completed to make it worth this much?

Enclave Santa Clara transactions

Real estate transactions in Enclave Santa Clara:

451 Norwood Circle
$1,179,000, 4 bdrms, 2398 sq. ft.

488 Norwood Circle
$1,157,500, 4 bdrms, 2104 sq. ft.

483 Norwood Circle
$1,232,500, 4 bdrms, 2104 sq. ft.

487 Norwood Circle
$1,199,000, 4 bdrms, 2104 sq. ft.

Stone Crest Sunnyvale

Looking to buy a home within Cupertino and Fremont Union High school districts? Turn to Stone Crest Sunnyvale condo conversion project by the Alliance Development Group. Stone Crest Sunnyvale condos is located in a quiet residential neighborhood near Sunken Garden Golf Course, Panama Park, Cupertino Village Shopping Center and Cupertino Square (former Vallco Fashion Park). The Carlisle Townhome apartments were built around 1965 and comprised of eight buildings with sixty, two-story condos approximately 1,164 SF with two bedrooms. The apartment conversion project started around two years ago and nearly 50% of remodeled condos sold out already.

Schools Information (API scores were taken from 2007 California Academic Performance Index)

Stone Crest condos belongs to the following schools attendance area -
Stocklmeir Elementary School - API 945, distance 0.77 miles
Cupertino Middle School - API 899, distance 2.49 miles
Fremont high school - API 709, distance 1.88 miles.

Recent Transactions & HOA

HOA for Stone Crest condos set to $275 per month.
856 Carlisle Way #104 - $645,000
856 Carlisle Way #124 - $625,000
857 Carlisle Way #105 - $647,000
857 Carlisle Way #124 - $635,500
857 Carlisle Way #127 - $619500

Pruneridge Villas Santa Clara

Not sure if there was an official groundbreaking ceremony for new Santa Clara’s eight townhouses by Rockwell Homes, on the lot previously occupied by Biryani Junction and BBQ restaurant located between Oakridge apartment complex and Chevron gas station and service center. Not long ago the 2,000 SF building at 3625 Pruneridge Avenue, Santa Clara served as 7-Eleven, a little bit later as Quick Grocer convenience store and finally gone after being nice restaurant for a few years. As you can see from the picture taken from the corner of Chevron premises toward Enclave Santa Clara the work has started.




One of the strength of a new small Rockwell Homes community is location within Cupertino Union School and Fremont Union School Districts. Kids will attend Eisenhower Elementary school (API 893), Hyde Middle school (API 829), Cupertino High (API 817) together with children from Enclave Santa Clara single family homes.

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