But even if you have that much in the bank, it might not be enough to be considered rich in certain places, the survey found.

In San Francisco, you need a net worth of $4.7 million to be considered wealthy. That’s down from $5.2 million since last year’s survey, but still well above the U.S. median household net worth of $121,700, according to the Federal Reserve’s most recent data.

San Francisco had the highest total in the survey, which examined 12 of the biggest metropolitan areas in the country, covering 13 major cities. Here’s the net worth you need to be considered wealthy in various places across the U.S.

1. San Francisco: $4.7 million
2. New York City: $3.3 million
3. Southern California (includes Los Angeles and San Diego): $3.5 million
4. Seattle: $3.1 million
5. Washington, D.C.: $3 million
6. Chicago: $2.3 million
7. Houston: $2.1 million
8. Boston: $2.9 million
9. Dallas: $2.3 million
10. Atlanta: $2.3 million
11. Phoenix: $2.4 million
12. Denver: $2.5 million

Net worth is a measure of the value of the assets a person or corporation owns, minus the liabilities they owe.

Despite these lofty numbers, 48% of Americans say they feel wealthy. However, of those that do, their average net worth is $560,000.

Perhaps relatedly, 7 out of 10 Americans polled say wealth is more about not stressing over money, rather than net worth. 

Wealth is also a subjective term. Nearly two thirds of survey respondents say enjoying relationships with loved ones better describes what wealth means to them, rather than having a lot of money. And nearly 66% of respondents say having time is more important than having money.

The online survey was conducted in March, with a sample of 500 to 750 local residents for each metropolitan area, between the ages of 21 and 75.

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The 46 homes are now open for residents at Mesa Terrace in San Jose.

Homes that are trying to make a dent in the city’s housing shortage, and help residents like Kevin Collins.

“We don’t have to be ashamed to invite people over,” he said. “We can have guests, barbecues, we can be proud to come into our places.”

The development focuses on low-income residents, and young adults who have just left the foster care system. It comes at a time when the local housing market is stagnant.

“They’re going to have an opportunity to go to school, and their children will go to high-resource schools, and have a wonderful backyard to enjoy,” said Supervisor Sylvia Arenas.

Zillow says new listings are down by nearly a quarter, thanks to high prices and mortgage rates. Over the last month, that scarcity has lifted prices across the Bay Area.

This week a new report by Compass shows that in San Mateo county, the median price for home is nearly $2 million – the highest in the Bay.

While the median price for a San Francisco home is $1.63 million.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan says housing development like these will alleviate some of the pain for some of the people.

“Ultimately the path to something better,” he said.

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The ambitious plan will bring thousands of jobs and houses to the city, which has many longtime residents both excited and worried.

“We already have enough traffic from when Google started coming here,” resident Dan said. “And it’s really hard.”

Dan, who did not provide a last name, lives in the Santiago Villa mobile home park, which also deals with traffic from the Shoreline Amphitheater.

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Google has already transformed Mountain View and made it a major player in Silicon Valley, but the company has bigger plans and has been working with the city on an expansion plan for 10 years.

The 30-year Google North Bayshore Master Plan aims to have 7,000 units, including 15% affordable housing and more than 3 million square feet of office space. It will also include 26 acres of public parks, 525 hotel rooms, a new school and new streets.

Mayor Alison Hicks said the project passed unanimously by the council is designed to be “car light,” with mass transit and nearby homes.

“We’re going to make this a place where people can get in and out without using cars,” Hicks said.

Google in a statement to NBC Bay Area thanked the city and said it plans to turn a car-centric area into a vibrant neighborhood with parks, restaurants, services, jobs and much needed housing.

The president of the Santiago Villa Residents Association is confident it will happen, saying Google and Mountain View have kept the park and other stakeholders in the loop with updates, as well as making sure the project has many aspects that benefit the community.

Google’s expansion project will be done in eight phases, with housing as well as parks in the first one.

For now, neither the city or Google has set an exact date on when work will begin.

The California numbers follow a nationwide trend and are the second highest amount of any state in the country, but are nowhere near the amount of foreclosures seen during the 2008 crash.

Part of the reason many are are defaulting on the mortgage loan are the adjustable rate mortgages that have shot up suddenly after the recent rise in interest rates.

NBC Bay Area’s Scott Budman has more in the video report above.

news Jun 7

Mortgage Demand Drops Despite Rates Coming Off Recent Highs

Making It in the Bay May 21

Renting vs. Buying: San Jose Homebuyers Feel Hopeless About High Monthly Mortgages

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan on Wednesday unveiled some June budget priorities, including strategies for the homeless, which led to the protest.

The community groups were protesting the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors’ support of a controversial proposal by Mahan to prioritize more immediate short-term housing over long-term affordable housing projects, which take years to build.

The money would come from the taxpayer-approved Measure E, which was passed a couple of years ago to address homelessness and affordable housing.

One protester said she’s grateful for temporary shelters but doesn’t see them as a solution.

“I’m in temporary housing, in a shelter,” said shelter resident Laura Laform. “You just don’t know.”

The frustration boiled over and protesters took their demonstration into the Association of Realtors office, most refusing to leave even after being told police had been called.

Police arrived just as most protesters were leaving and there were no arrests.

Robert Handa has more in the video above.

Making It in the Bay Jun 1

New Housing Coming to San Jose

Bay Area Housing May 18

Bay Area Housing Prices Grow Despite National Trend of Dwindling Home Values

“It just shows the scale of how many families are struggling in the Bay Area today,” United Way Bay Area CEO Kevin Zwick said.

United Way Bay Area’s latest figures shows a family of four living in the region needs an average of $120,000 a year to make ends meet, and that a quarter of local working families struggle to meet their daily needs.

NBC Bay Area’s Scott Budman has more on the latest numbers in the video above.

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Making It in the Bay Jun 1

New Housing Coming to San Jose

The construction comes at a time when project lead Charities Housing says the need is getting desperate.

“We just need to build more, to build faster, get community support, and get the funding and the land,” Charities Housing President Gregory Kepferle said.

Ribbon cutting for the project is expected in 2025.

Charities Housing said it has close to 2,000 other units in development over the next few years.

According to Bay Area rental tracker Zumper, the lack of available housing is even hitting the rental market, driving up prices to the point where several Bay Area cities now average $3,000 and above for an average one-bedroom apartment.

“Which means that those buyers that may have the resources to purchase, aren’t able to find inventory in order to purchase, and then that puts more strain on the rental stock of housing,” Housing Trust Silicon Valley CEO Noni Ramos said.

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1 in 4 Renters Are Successfully Negotiating Lower Prices—Here's How to Do It

San Francisco May 30

Land Dispute in San Francisco Turns Violent

The old firehouse has 12 beds, bunk beds that look like these. Officers said the idea has changed the way they show up to work and the way they approach their job.

Ryan Alba sometimes writes his reports, at a department substation in San Mateo. He said the old firehouse is also where he eats, where he sleeps and where he showers.

“I use it throughout all my shifts. So, I work four days a week. I stay here all three nights and go home on the last day,” he said.

Alba’s home is in Hollister, over two hours from San Mateo with traffic. It’s where Alba like many officers throughout the Bay Area could afford to buy a house.

Making It in the Bay May 24

Property Owner's Low-Income Housing Proposal at Issue in Los Altos Hills

news May 25

1 in 4 Renters Are Successfully Negotiating Lower Prices—Here's How to Do It

The department said converting the old firehouse into barracks is paying off since 70% of the officers live outside the area.

Local rent tracker Zemper reports that rent on the Peninsula for a one-bedroom apartment can top $3,000.

“It helps with our recruitment, our retention efforts. In addition being this is a substation, the officers are already here and are able to respond to calls for service,” said Sgt. Michael Haobsch with San Mateo Police Department.

Officers sign up for the nights or the shifts they need. The department said there is a $5 per night fee, so it can abide by the tax code.

For Alba, it means not showing up for his shift exhausted after a long commute and perhaps a 15-hour shift the night before.

“It allows us to work slightly longer hours without the stress of commuting. So, extremely grateful for the opportunity that they gave us to have this station here,” he said.

The department said that everybody wins.

“Having the officers here, maybe doing report writing or getting refreshed for their next shift, it’s a great opportunity for the community and for our officers,” Haobsch said.

Town officials were set to meet with homeowners opposing the project that would allow multi-unit housing on a single property, counter to the town’s building ordinances.

Some residents during Wednesday’s meeting were upset with the town for not coming up with a state-mandated plan for affordable housing, which essentially opened the door for builders to override local ordinances.

Because Los Altos Hills did not meet the state’s deadline with its housing plan, developers can legally bypass local ordinances under the state’s “builder’s remedy,” as long as 20% of the units are low income or all are moderate income.

Los Altos Hills currently allows one unit per acre. The town’s housing plan is not in compliance with the state’s requirements, according to an update this week from the Department of Housing and Community Development.

City Manager Peter Pirnejad on Wednesday released a statement to NBC Bay Area:

“The Town of Los Altos Hills remains dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive community, where housing opportunities are accessible to all residents. We appreciate the concerns expressed by the protesters and recognize the urgency of addressing the issue of affordable housing. Our ongoing collaboration with HCD and the public demonstrates our commitment to transparency, public engagement, and the pursuit of sustainable solutions.”

Several homeowners who attended Wednesday’s closed-door meeting with town officials said they support affordable housing, but they want a say in the plan so it’s what works for the town, not developers.

“We were supposed to have a dialogue; we were supposed to move the ball to get something a little more appropriate, and we were handed a lawyer and a city manager. No one with any authority to do anything,” resident Ian Earnest said.

Resident John O’Connell added: “Los Altos Hills needs 20 to 40 distributed sites where the people who come to live in this community live as part of this community. They don’t need to be put into segregated site in an inappropriate location.”

Residents say they plan to appeal to the state, and if that doesn’t send a strong enough message, they’ll take more drastic action.

The Bay Area housing market, however, bucked the trend with prices growing last month, Zillow reported. The average home value in the region now sits at $1.1 million.

Listings in the Bay Area are also up over the last 30 days, with buyers focusing on the lower end of the market.

“Those homes are the ones where we’re seeing prices rising faster,” Zillow chief economist Nicole Bachaud said. “We’re seeing inventory depleting a lot faster because that’s where the sales are being concentrated — in that lower point because that’s where we have people being able to afford to buy.”

news May 18

Home Sales Fell in April as Buyers Contended With High Prices, Fluctuating Mortgage Rates

Making It in the Bay May 18

San Jose Drops Out of 10 Largest Cities in US

Local agents said buyers are trying to find a better price due to high mortgage rates.

“I am seeing some multiple offers on some mid-priced homes for Silicon Valley. People are excited and they are over that 6%, like that’s what we are used to,” said Holly Barr with Compass Real Estate.

Meanwhile, the long-term numbers are still considerably lower. Zillow said new listings over the last year are down 23% and pending home sales are down 35%.

San Jose long stood at the No. 10 spot with just under 1 million residents, but it is now the 12th largest city in the nation.

According to the Census Bureau, as of July 2022, the top five largest cities in the U.S. are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Phoenix. Austin, Texas, and Jacksonville, Florida, moved up and pushed out San Jose, whose population stands at 971,233.

That’s a 1% drop from the previous year and a more than 4% drop since April 2020, census data shows.

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Making It in the Bay May 3

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“To me, it’s a warning sign. We’ve seen the polling data prior to the pandemic. There was a lot of frustration,” said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.

Some people in San Jose have said that they have been fed up with homelessness, crime and blight. While other people said they are looking for more affordable areas.

“San Jose has always been challenged fiscally because we’re such a residential heavy city. More residents means higher cost of services. It’s our employment land such as downtown and north San Jose where we generate most of our tax revenue to provide those services,” Mahan said.

On a broader scale, The Bay Area Council said the lower cost of living in other states and the rise of remote work are the top reasons people are moving away. And that will make it all the more challenging for the Bay Area to bring them back.

“All of these cities, they are dependent on economic activity. You can draw a pretty straight line between population growth and economic growth across the country,” said Jeff Bellisario, Executive Director of the Bay Area Council Economic.

Meanwhile, San Francisco is ranked 17th with a population of 808,444, about a half-percent drop from the previous year before.

But there was one very notable exception.

Santa Cruz Is booming. The census data shows it’s the second fastest growing city in America, adding 7,000 new residents in the last two years. Including, some of those workers looking for something outside the Bay Area.

So, where are those people going? No surprise: Texas and Florida. Both states have lower taxes and depending on where you are looking cheaper housing.

According to moveBuddha and Zillow, here are the top five cities people left San Francisco for in the last year.

1. Austin, Texas
2. Las Vegas, Nevada
3. Reno, Nevada
4. Miami, Florida
5. Orlando, Florida

NBC Bay Area’s Scott Budman has more in the video report above.

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District officials say Assembly Bill 1469 would add language to the district’s governing act specifying it can assist unsheltered people, allowing it to play a more active role in addressing the deepening homelessness crisis in Santa Clara County.

The bill, authored by local Assemblymember Ash Kalra and sponsored by Valley Water, passed in the Assembly unanimously on Monday, and will next head to the State Senate, though it’s unclear when it might go for a vote.

Contra Costa County May 12

Contra Costa County's Unhoused Survey

Making It in the Bay Apr 17

$11 Million Heads to the South Bay to Battle Homelessness

Jim Beall, a Valley Water board member since December and a longtime South Bay leader, said under the current law, the district isn’t allowed to do much more than clean up trash and debris along the creeks where homeless people live, costing about $2.4 million per year.

“We can’t just ask (other government agencies) to do all the work on this, we have to participate and get involved in a more proactive way,” Beall told San Jose Spotlight.

Despite efforts by city, county and state governments, the homelessness crisis in the county has grown, with roughly 10,000 people lacking permanent housing in 2022. About 77% of those people are unsheltered, meaning they live outdoors, on the street or in vehicles, according to Destination: Home.

Valley Water owns and manages 294 miles of streams and habitat. Officials said 2,300 people currently live on district property, often in encampments near waterways, which can be dangerous due to flash flooding, among other factors. Human waste and other debris from encampments can lead to degraded water quality and habitats for animals.

“We want to help the people in a more humane way to find housing, places to live and solutions rather than have them live in the creeks where they have a negative impact on the environment,” Beall said.

The bill would allow the district to use some of its revenue from an existing 1% assessed property value tax to fund outreach, counseling, transitional housing or other services for unsheltered people.

Bart Broome, Valley Water’s assistant officer for state government relations, said a little financial flexibility for the district could go a long way. He said the district would only be using a “small part” of the existing tax funds on these efforts, but said it’s too early to pinpoint a number.

“If we are able to access just a small part of that, we can do the things that are urgently needed to improve the situation. Not just for the unhoused people living along the creek, but for the neighbors that live around,” Broome told San Jose Spotlight.

The bill could also allow the district to use some of its surplus land for housing projects, Beall said, but a timeline for those potential projects isn’t yet clear.

Homeless advocate Richard Scott said Valley Water, San Jose and other government agencies have been “ruthless” in their sweeps of various encampments  in recent years, but said he trusts the intent of the bill if Beall is heading up the effort.

“Jim Beall has always been involved in community mental health,” Scott told San Jose Spotlight.

Scott said in addition to creating more permanent affordable and supportive housing, the district should work with the county or cities to invest quickly in temporary solutions.

“What we need right now is to have sanctioned and regulated encampments where people are stable, where the advocates and providers can find them and where they feel safe,” Scott said, similar to Hope Village, which was dismantled in 2019. “You can’t treat a person when they’re under the kind of pressure that you’re under when you’re homeless.”

While pursuing this bill, the water district is also monitoring its nearly $5 million contract with San Jose to clear people living along roughly nine miles of Coyote Creek, and work to find them services or housing, so the district can begin a major flood prevention project.

Homeless advocate Scott Largent said people living near Coyote Creek and other water district lands were effectively forced into those areas after being pushed out of other parts of the city, such as the Spring Street encampment, sidewalks and underpasses.

“They’ve been harassed, swept, had their motorhomes towed, everything. People try to go deeper into the creek, and try to get creative and build bunkers or find camouflage,” Largent told San Jose Spotlight.

Broome said Valley Water’s intentions are good, and the bill wouldn’t be used simply to order more mass sweeps of homeless camps.

“It’s in everyone’s backyard, these public lands are the people’s property, it’s everybody’s issue,” Broome said. “We want to do it in a way that’s actually going to find people solutions, not just have them move from one piece of public land to another.”

This story was originally published by the San Jose Spotlight and Joseph Geha. https://sanjosespotlight.com/silicon-valley-water-district-sponsors-california-state-assembly-bill-ab-1469-to-help-house-homeless-people/

You can contact Joseph Geha at joseph@sanjosespotlight.com or @josephgeha16 on Twitter.

Local rent tracker Zumper released the average one-bedroom monthly rent for the Bay Area showing the Peninsula has shot to the top.

Mountain View’s average one-bedroom rent is now $3,200 a month. In San Francisco, a typical one-bedroom spot will cost $3,000 a month.

Rents are high because people are being called back into the office couple with a lack of housing inventory.

NBC Bay Area’s Scott Budman has more in the video report above.

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news May 3

Mortgage Demand Drops as Bank Failures Hit Jumbo Loan Rates

According to the data, between 2013 and 2022, California approved 2,600 new housing units per 100,000 residents, below the national number of 3,900.

Florida and Texas are approving permits at more than double California’s rate.

Abbey Fernandez has the full story in the video above.

The National Association of Realtors says the median price for a Bay Area single family home jumped by 17% last month. 

With mortgage rates still above 6%, and the economy growing uncertain, inventory has stayed low.

But, according to Re/Max Bay Area, spring traditionally brings new buyers into the market, and many of them are willing to pay the Bay Area’s high prices.

“There are still a number of buyers out there in the market, no doubt about it,” said Tim Yee, broker at RE/MAX Gold Bay Area. “There’s still, despite the layoffs, despite the economy, there’s still a number of people in the Bay Area who can afford to buy, and who want to buy.”

Business and tech reporter Scott Budman has more in the video player above.

As first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, on April 20, a note was posted to the door of Rosemarie Benter’s condo on Page Street telling her she had three days to vacate the premises.

Benter said she bought her home decades ago, but a loan she took out to pay her property taxes led to a chain of issues, ending in her home being sold in a foreclosure auction. Benter told NBC Bay Area that she’s not moving out without a fight.

“Yeah, I’m a tough old bird,” Benter said on Sunday.

Benter said she has lived in the Victorian home in San Francisco’s Upper Haight for more than three decades. She explained that she first got to own the home as part of a “tenancy in common” joint ownership agreement, and then she was able to maintain ownership when the unit was subdivided into condos.

Benter said she had taken out a reverse mortgage on her property back in 2007.

Presently, Benter said she is dealing with a host of health issues, including arthritis and the impacts of a recent stroke. In July 2021, Benter said she looked for help paying for her health expenses and property taxes. Benter said she was put in touch with a broker who pressured her into signing papers to use her home to take out a loan.

Originally, Benter said she was told that the loan would be $8,000, but the loan turned out to be more than $9,000 and then ballooned to more than $13,000 including interest and fees.

“Repeatedly I was told ‘No, no, no, nobody’s gonna throw you out over an eight thousand dollar note,'” Benter said.

Then in February of 2023, Benter said, “There was this knock on my door, I believe it was around 11 a.m., and the man said ‘Hi I am here to repossess your home.'” 

“And I said, ‘What do you mean?'” Benter recalled, “He said, ‘Unless you have thirteen thousand dollars to pay off this debt you had, it’s going to be sold in 29 minutes.’” 

Benter said her home was sold to the highest bidder at a foreclosure auction.

An attorney for the buyer released a statement to NBC Bay Area on Monday.

“My client’s intention is to live at this property, however, if Ms. Benter wants to buy it back, my client is willing to negotiate,” attorney Joanna Kozubal said.

Darren Orr, an attorney with the nonprofit Legal Assistance to the Elderly in San Francisco, is now representing Benter. Orr explained that Benter contacted the nonprofit after the foreclosure sale, and his team has been trying to undo the foreclosure, which they say is based on a “completely unconscionable and predatory loan.”

Benter said she was surprised to find the eviction notice on her door on Friday. She said whoever delivered the notice did not call her or ring her doorbell to let her know. Benter only found out about it through a reporter.

The notice states that “Eugene Gardner has purchased the property at a trustee’s sale and title to the property has been duly perfected.” The notice is signed by Kozubal.

Benter said seeing the notice sent her into a panic, “I thought ‘This is it, Monday morning they’re gonna show up with a sheriff and a truck and get me out of here.’” 

But Orr explained that the scenario Benter imagined was unlikely to happen on Monday, there are several other procedural steps that would need to happen before Benter could be officially evicted.

“Legally, we would anticipate that [Gardner] is going to file an eviction an unlawful detainer to try and evict Ms. Benter as quickly as possible. We will of course defend Ms. Benter in that lawsuit, and we certainly hope to be successful in that,” Orr said.

On Monday, Orr said Benter will file a suit against the broker and lender she worked with as well as the new buyer. He said this suit will ask the court to find Benter as the lawful owner of the condo and to seek damages for the harm caused to her. 

“Ms. Benter is taking action to try to undo that sale and void that unconscionable loan, and we are hopeful that justice will prevail,” Orr said.

Benter said she is still holding out hope that she can still live out the rest of her life in her home.

If that isn’t possible, she has no idea what she will do.

“I can’t live on the street and I can’t afford anything,” she emphasized.

The home is in Supervisor Dean Preston’s district. He said his office is also willing to go to bat for Benter, and he’s been talking with nonprofits about the situation.

“The idea that a homeowner would lose their home for under $10,000 and then be faced with a notice to get out of their home on three days notice is completely unacceptable,” Preston said.

NBC Bay Area’s Ian Cull contributed to this report.

Parcl Labs, which tracks the housing market, said that prices in the Bay have dropped a staggering 24% from their peak last summer — more than double the national average of 10%.

Analysts say that’s partly because people have been moving away, meaning there’s more supply than demand.

The co-founder of Parcl Labs says it has a lot to do with interest rates.

“So if you see indications of mortgage rates coming down, particularly a big decline in interest rates for mortgages, then you can expect home prices to go up over the subsequent two months,” said Jason Lewris.

Based on these trends,  Lewris said home buyers could have more leverage to negotiate a good deal as the spring housing market heats up.

Making It in the Bay Apr 19

Interim Housing for Unhoused Set Up in San Jose Police Headquarters Parking Lot

San Jose Apr 13

San Jose Officials Break Ground on Interim Housing Site for Homeless People

Juan Bonales, 33, has been homeless for some time after he said he hit rock bottom. 

But on Wednesday, he got a preview of his new home, and path forward. 

“It’s a shattered dream that’s coming true,” he said. “I thought I wasn’t going to be able to come out of the situation I was in.”

Bonales is one of 96 people who will now have a place to live, as the city of San Jose unveiled its latest interim housing site. 

Each unit has a desk, air conditioning, a bed, and its own bathroom. There’s also laundry and a kitchen on site. 

“This is exactly what we need,” said Bonales. “Just a place to rest and a place to be able to clean up.”

The community is known as a quick build. The buildings and units are pre-fabricated so it took just a year and a half to complete this project. 

It’s something San Jose is focusing on moving forward to curb the homelessness crisis. 

“These units take 1.5 years to build on average versus the nearly 5 years it’s taking to build more traditional affordable housing and we’re able to deliver them in about one-seventh the cost per door,” said Mayor Matt Mahan.

Half the units here will be for members of San Jose Bridge and the Goodwill Strive Program. 

It employs the unhoused to clean up and beautify the city. 

“This is going to just explode with impact. Impact not only for the residents that we’re serving but for the community at large,” said Trish Dorsey, the vice president of Mission Services, Goodwill of Silicon Valley.

San Jose now has 700 units like this either operating or under construction and another 300 are on the way. 

All the projects have been built on public land so far. This one is in the parking lot next to police headquarters. 

For Bonales, it’s a second chance. 

“Having this place is going to give me and a lot of us an opportunity to get back into society and start working,” he said.

The City Council voted to approve the ordinance in the late night hours, setting a hard end date instead of a gradual phase out that would have ended the pandemic-era eviction moratorium in September.

Certain evictions will be allowed to resume in May.

A key clause in the ordinance that would have strengthened Oakland’s permanent just-cause eviction protections was not part of the approved policy.

Landlords in Oakland had expressed their opposition to the proposal, instead calling for an immediate end to the moratorium.

“I can’t sleep at night because I know I have to pay this bill tomorrow and that bill the next day and I don’t have enough money to pay, and I have to work day and night, three jobs to get by,” said Lynn Truong, Oakland property owner.

She shares the beliefs many landlords do — that they’re being taken advantage of.

Changing course from a slow phase out over several months to a hard end date stunned and disappointed tenant advocates, who worry that come mid-July, renters unable to pay their bills will be out on the streets in record numbers

“Just to stop it abruptly like that would be like a death sentence for a lot of renters,” said Sameerah Karim, co-founder of Moms 4 Housing.

Before the vote, Oakland City Council said that if the legislation passed for a July 15 moratorium end date, the city is committed to providing outreach and education for tenants and landlords to access resources and support over 75 days before the July deadline. Moms 4 Housing plans to do the same.

Meanwhile, Alameda County’s eviction moratorium is set to expire at the end of April.

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“Homelessness has become the moral crisis of our time,” said San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.

Santa Clara County and San Jose leaders are working together and with people like Chad Bojorquez.

He is from Destination Home and Lived Experience Advisory Board.

“The people who know best, what type of service and how to get off the street are the people themselves,” said Bojorquez.

He was homeless for four years in the Bay Area and is now on an advisory board helping politicians direct money to solutions that are working. 

“The actual funding decisions about which non-profit partners receive these funds, and is our community holding ourselves accountable and actually performing?” said Bojorquez. Getting people housed is the ultimate goal. We have a lot more people who have been there before.”

Making It in the Bay Mar 21

Bay Area Buyers Taking Advantage of Lower Home Prices

Making It in the Bay Jan 6

House Prices Dropping in the Bay Area

The $11 million will benefit a few programs. One is the Agrihood Sustainable Community that’ll be finished next month. It’ll give 54 chronically homeless households a place to live.  

The money will also provide rental assistance to 28 households so they aren’t put back on the streets. 

And the county says it will double its outreach team, which will help 800 people each year get out of encampments and into a place to live. 

“Just as the homelessness crisis we are facing statewide isn’t simple, our solutions cannot be either,” said Susan Ellenberg, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. “We must face this work together.”

The message Monday was that every little bit helps and more funding will always be needed. 

The Department of Housing and Urban Development says the grant is part of a nationwide initiative to reduce homelessness by 25% by 2025. 

So far this year, grants have been given out totaling $486 million.

Tuesday, Oakland’s Community & Economic Development Committee will discuss a proposed ordinance brought forward by council President Nikki Fortunato Bas and council President Pro Tem Dan Kalb that would set up a gradual timeline for ending the city’s eviction moratorium. If approved, the proposed ordinance would phase out the eviction moratorium, allowing certain evictions to resume from May through the end of August, then ending the eviction moratorium on Sept. 1.

The ordinance also seeks to make several changes to strengthen Oakland’s existing just cause eviction protections.

Alameda County’s eviction moratorium is set to expire on April 29. The city of Oakland’s eviction moratorium is not scheduled to expire yet, though this proposed ordinance would change that.

Like many cities, Oakland has had an eviction moratorium in place since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. But three years later, Councilmember Dan Kalb says the city is in a different place.

“We are coming out of — I won’t say completely, but mostly coming out of — the COVID pandemic, and most people are back to work in some fashion,” Kalb said. “We feel now is the appropriate time to phase out our eviction moratorium,  while at the same time, we want to strengthen our ongoing and permanent eviction protections.”

Some landlords in Oakland are organizing to express their opposition to the proposed ordinance, instead calling for an immediate end to the moratorium.

“It needs to get phased out now — tomorrow — not over a period of time,” said John Williams, an Oakland resident and landlord. Williams said he lives in the same West Oakland property where he also has a tenant.

“I still haven’t gotten five dollars from her,”  Williams said of his tenant, who he added has not paid him rent since the start of the pandemic.

Williams is also named as a plaintiff in a 2022 lawsuit against the city of Oakland and Alameda County over eviction moratoriums.

Williams said his tenant’s nonpayment has placed a significant financial strain on him. He said he received a foreclosure letter for his property on Friday.

“I am losing money, I’ve lost value on the property, you know,” Williams said, “Over the last year, nobody wants to buy a property with a tenant who doesn’t pay.” 

“Before they ask any further owners to take on this responsibility, there has to be funding, because we’re all going to be homeless if the banks get our property,” said Oakland resident and landlord Michelle Hailey. While Hailey doesn’t currently have tenants who are not paying rent, she said she is opposing the proposed ordinance to support other landlords she knows.

Hailey, Williams and other landlords are joining together with a group called In It Together Oakland to oppose the proposed ordinance.

The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) supports phasing out the moratorium and is hoping the proposed ordinance passes with no changes. ACCE is a nonprofit tenant rights organization that works with renters across California, including in Oakland.

“I’m feeling cautiously optimistic,” said Kijani Edwards, the director of ACCE’s Oakland office. “We hope that the CED committee will do the right thing Tuesday when it comes to Oakland tenants, but we have reason to believe that it may not happen.”

“We knew that the moratorium would end at some point, but we need a responsible phase-out instead of dumping people out all at once on the streets,”  Edwards continued, explaining that tenants have expressed to ACCE that they need time to prepare for the end of the moratorium.

Edwards said he sympathizes with the financial burden small landlords have faced during the pandemic. However, he maintains that “putting people out on the street making people homeless doesn’t get [the landlords’] money back at all.”

Both ACCE and In It Together Oakland plan to hold separate news conferences Tuesday ahead of the committee meeting.

Tuesday’s committee meeting is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.

Kalb hopes the proposed ordinance will be heard before the full council the following week.  

Apartment listing service RentCafe says that for every apartment that opens up in the Bay Area, 11 people apply to move in.

“It’s competitive because you get put on a list, you know, and then from there, you’re getting qualified to see who’s the highest applicant,” said Daniel Gomez of San Jose.

Making It in the Bay Mar 28

Affordable Housing Units Now Available at Santa Clara Property

news Mar 30

More Home Sellers Are Sitting Out of the Spring Housing Market

This has led to higher rental prices, especially in certain cities.

“South San Francisco, Mountain View, and Santa Clara,” said Crystal Chen of Zumper.

Those cities, according to Zumper, are home to a variety of tech companies that want to see employees back in the office, and therefore, living nearby.

“The big tech giants, Apple, Google, Intel, a lot of those companies have return to work policies so people are migrating back to those, and driving rent up,” said Chen.

Another factor keeping the rental market competitive is the continued slowdown in the housing market. High prices combined with high mortgage rates mean there’s not much inventory for those trying to buy a house.

People say that, until that opens up, they’ll keep renting.

“There are a lot of people that are leaving the state,” said Lynsie Gridley, an agent with Compass Real Estate. “Multiple states have had a huge influx of Californians.”

Gridley said there are still positive signs on the horizon as the usual hot spring housing market arrives.

NBC Bay Area’s Scott Budman has more in the video report above.

news Mar 28

Home Prices Cool in January, Even Falling in Some Cities, S&P Case-Shiller Says

Housing Mar 28

California's New Dream For All Program Provides Assistance to First-Time Homebuyers. Here's How It Works

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

The income-restricted units are at the St. Anton Tasman property located at 2233 Calle Del Mundo in Santa Clara, adjacent to the Lick Mill light rail station, according to a press release from the city.

Studios start at $1,439 per month and 1-bedroom units start at $1,537 per month.

The property on the site of a former warehouse will have 196 units. About 39 units will be reserved for people making 50 percent or less of the area median income, which is about $81,000 for a household of two people, according to the city’s website on the project.

The remaining units will be reserved for people making 60 percent or less of the area median income.

More information can be found at housekeys7.com/st-anton-tasman or by calling 408-598-9955.

We’re talking about homes that cost millions of dollars. Fewer of them are selling, so prices have been coming down.  

But the lower priced homes are staying steady.

Business and Tech Reporter Scott Budman has the full story in video player above.

More than a year later, Marshall has lost nearly 100 pounds. His wound has healed. His blood pressure has returned to normal levels. His foot, which had nerve damage, has improved to the point he goes on regular walks to the park.

Lots of factors are at play in Marshall’s dramatic turnaround, but the one he credits the most is finally having stable housing, after the nonprofit Sacramento Covered helped him get a one-bedroom, 500 square-foot (46.4-square-meter) apartment in a downtown high rise. He has hardwood floors, white pine cabinets and a glass jar on the counter filled with Bit-O-Honeys.

“To me it’s the most important 500 square feet I’ve ever had,” he said. “Living here has just improved my well-being in every possible way.”

Marshall’s story is part of a radical rethinking of the relationship between housing and health care in the U.S. For decades, Medicaid, the joint state and federal health insurance program for people with disabilities or low incomes, would only pay for medical expenses. But last year the Biden administration gave Arizona and Oregon permission to use Medicaid money for housing — a nod to reams of research showing people in stable housing are healthier.

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Now California wants to join those states, building on the success of programs like the one that got Marshall housing. Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed spending more than $100 million per year in the state’s Medicaid program to pay for up to six months of housing for people who are or risk becoming homeless; are coming out of prison or foster care; or are at risk for hospitalization or emergency room visits.

It would be the biggest test yet of using Medicaid money for housing. California has the nation’s largest Medicaid program, with more than 13 million patients — or about a third of the state’s population. California also has nearly a third of the nation’s homeless population, according to federal data.

“It’s a huge step toward breaking down the silos that have gotten in the way of taking care of the whole person rather than limb by limb and illness by illness,” said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a consumer advocacy group.

It would also be an expensive step. California is expected to have a $22.5 billion budget deficit this year, and it could get bigger in years to come. Meanwhile the state’s Medicaid spending is projected to increase by $2.5 billion over the next three years, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.

“What we’re really doing is expanding the welfare state, which is going to become just a huge financial problem,” said Wayne Winegarden, senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute, a group that advocates for free-market policies.

California experimented with using Medicaid money for some housing-related expenses in 2016 when it launched a pilot project in 26 counties. While Medicaid did not pay for rent, it paid for things like security deposits and furniture.

In Marshall’s case, he pays his own rent, using some of the $1,153 per month he gets from Social Security and Supplemental Security Income. But Medicaid paid for his security deposit, bed, sofa, table, chairs and nearly 3 1/2 gallons of Pine Sol. Marshall said keeping his apartment clean is one thing that helped his leg wound to finally heal.

Over five years the program has reduced expensive hospital stays and emergency room visits for people on Medicaid, saving taxpayers an average of $383 per patient per year, according to an analysis by researchers at UCLA.

Now California wants to go further by using Medicaid money to directly pay some people’s rent. Democratic Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, who chairs the budget subcommittee that will vet Newsom’s proposal, said lawmakers are supportive. Arambula spent a decade as an emergency room doctor.

“I became very good at being able to get cockroaches out of people’s ears,” Arambula said. “The living conditions of many of our communities, especially in our rural communities, really can affect a person’s ability to get adequate sleep, to be prepared for the next day and to stay healthy.”

Advocates for homeless people say they welcome such programs but spending more money on rent isn’t enough, noting the state still has a massive shortage of affordable housing.

Kelly Bennett, founder and CEO of Sacramento Covered, said that during California’s first experiment with using Medicaid money for housing services, it would often take up to eight months for workers to place a patient in an apartment. In some cases, people have waited for years to find a place.

“Even when you have the deposit money and you have some rental subsidy, it’s still very, very challenging to find units — and to find units where the landlords will lease to our clients,” Bennett said.

Marshall said he grew up in Sacramento and got a degree in dietic technology and culinary arts. But a 30-year addiction to meth landed him on the streets from the late 1990s through about 2006. He camped at an old landfill, often eating leftovers from people’s picnics at a nearby park.

He applied for apartments at multiple subsidized housing buildings, but never made it off the wait list. It took him about a year to get his current apartment, where he pays $186 per month with the help of a subsidy.

“I feel like I’m electric. … I have power and ability to do things that I could not do for a very long time,” Marshall, 64, said. “Whatever years I’ve got left now, I’m going to spend them up here in the glass tower.”

All signs point to more layoffs coming, but it doesn’t mean there are no jobs available.

NBC Bay Area’s Business and Tech Reporter Scott Budman shows where the jobs can be found.

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For the first time in 11 years, the median U.S. home price has fallen year over year. And, in the Bay Area, there are new signs that buyers are taking advantage of lower home prices.

The latest numbers from Zillow shows a spike in monthly mortgage payments have led to a drop both in homes for sale, and new listings, slowing the market.

“Higher mortgage payments that are curbing housing demand, but you also have constraints on the inventory side, inventory is still much lower than it was a year ago,” said Orphe Divounguy, Zillow chief economist. 

But that has also triggered a drop in housing prices and that’s enough to get some sidelined buyers back in the game.

“I think there’s a little bit of pent-up demand,” said Holly Barr, real estate agent at Compass.

Demand that Barr says is boosting the value of the small number of homes on the market.

“They’re kinda out there in full force,” she said. “I’m seeing multiple offers, I’m seeing a lot of people downloading disclosures, I’m seeing busy open houses.”

It’s a small blip, but we’re heading into spring, and that traditionally brings buyers back — if the price is right.

“We’re gonna see home buyers take advantage of every single small improvement in housing affordability,” said Divounguy.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday said the state is ready to deliver 200 tiny homes to San Jose as soon as the city can set up water and power services. The city wants to put 100 tiny homes on the property at the Cottle VTA station, but a coalition of people have been fighting the location.

“We are not against the homeless, but it’s not fair to take this away from tens of thousands and give it to 100 people,” San Jose resident Issac Kokohayo said.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said it will help the city meet its goal of getting 1,000 people off the streets.

“The outcomes have been fantastic,” he said. “We run four of these communities. The neighborhoods that they’re in see the same or fewer calls for service for both 911 and 311, so public safety and blight. The neighborhood therefore is better off.”

homelessness Mar 16

Newsom Pledges 1,200 Tiny Homes for California's Homeless

San Jose Feb 20

High Rate of Homelessness Among Young Adults in San Jose

For some families, the tiny homes are the first step off the streets, into stable housing an on to a more permanent living situation.

In Santa Clara County, CityTeam runs programs along with the housing, and the permanency rate is about 70%.

“When you’ve just been in that cycle of shame and guilt and depression and all of these things feeling like a failure, it’s hard to get that courage to kind of step into that and know that you’re worthy of all those things, like a job and a good life, a car, all these things,” House of Grace resident Jordan Silveira said. “I truly believe housing is a part of it, but I think it’s so much more than that.”

The 13 proposals that were approved will help a range of people receive housing, including homeless seniors, foster youth and families with young children.

The board approved more funds for senior housing, a land swap for supportive housing in Cupertino, an investment into rental assistance with seven non-profits, a new housing development in Milpitas and more affordable housing in Mountain View, some specifically for foster youth.

“Dealing with housing and homelessness is extremely complex but not unsolvable,” said Supervisor Cindy Chavez. “We are making good progress in Santa Clara County. More people are ending their homelessness with permanent housing than they were three years ago. The County will not stop working night and day on affordable housing and homelessness. There will be more progress to come.”

Also on Tuesday, the board heard a status update on the “Heading Home” program, which is dedicated to creating enough housing for all county families experiencing homelessness by 2025.

In a little over a year, the project has helped house 635 families with young children, which is an average of 42 families a month, said Hilary Armstrong, program manager with the Santa Clara Office of Supportive Housing.

Over 1,400 families are currently enrolled in homeless prevention programs and receive financial help, education and other resources.

The office predicts that it will have 848 new units of supportive and affordable housing open for families by 2025.

Armstrong added that the office is working with other family services, expanding more of its services to pregnant people, and collaborating with landlords.

The office is also taking a deeper dive into the data of the families they serve. According to recent numbers, over half of the families have children ages five and younger, and the majority are sleeping in their cars, shelters or on the couches of friends.

“A lower number, thankfully, are outdoors, but still more than we would like,” said Armstrong at Tuesday’s meeting.

Following the presentation, supervisors expressed the need for more information on success stories of the program.

“I think it is hard when there is always more work in front of us to take a moment, take some sense of satisfaction, for the lives that have been changed for the better, in ways we can sometimes only imagine and not always see,” Supervisor Joe Simitian said to Armstrong. “I hope that gives you some comfort, some sense of solace. I hope that the work yet to be done doesn’t overwhelm the sense of satisfaction I think you and your colleagues should have for the work you have been able to do.”

Watch the full interview in the video above.

Sep 1, 2022

Want Bay Area Housing News? Get the Latest With Our Newsletter

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Most of the people who attended the meeting were low-income immigrants who said they’ve been unfairly evicted and are struggling to find somewhere to live.

A community group representing the renters said property owners are forcing people out so they can renovate buildings.

“To have rent control that will allow us to remain in Marin County, afterall, we also pay taxes, we work for Marin County residents. It’s time for them to protect us,” said Marina Palma of Voces del Canal. 

The mayor of San Rafael said the city council will consider recommendations made at the meeting and another is scheduled for March 20.

This will bring affordable rent to the center of the least-affordable place to rent in the entire Bay Area.

How are they doing it?

NBC Bay Area’s Business and Tech Reporter Scott Budman takes us out to the construction site, watch full report in video player above.

Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to apply for $5 million from the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program, which is a competitive grant available to all California counties.

The money would be used to purchase pre-manufactured houses that would be designated for farmworkers. The county is also exploring a partnership with the city of Half Moon Bay to fulfill the grant and identify potential sites for the houses.

“The Joe Serna grant program represents a tremendous opportunity for the county,” said board president Supervisor Dave Pine. “If state funding is granted, we can begin to address the chronic housing shortage among our essential agricultural workforce.”

Recipients are eligible if 50 percent or more of their family income comes from agricultural sources, according to the state Department of Housing and Community Development.

Grant winners will be announced by the state in June.

Meanwhile, 38 farmworkers and family members displaced by the shootings in January are being supported with temporary housing and services for at least the next year. The assistance is partially funded through funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, but the cost of the year-long expenditure is still underfunded by $750,000.

A task force was established last month with the goal of identifying unpermitted farmworker housing in the county. Unpermitted housing at the two farms where the shootings took place drew scrutiny due to unsanitary conditions.

Assembly Bill 1532 would categorize office conversion projects as “by right” developments, relaxing the permitting and review process for housing projects by preventing a city or county from requiring certain permits to convert a vacant office into housing.

The bill is partially spurred by the hundreds of empty offices in downtown San Francisco, which has seen one of the slowest pandemic recoveries in the country among major metro areas.

According to the commercial real estate firm CBRE, some 27% of San Francisco’s offices were vacant at the end of 2022.

“How people work was permanently changed by the pandemic and the downtowns that relied on commuters are starting to look like ghost towns,” said Haney, D-San Francisco. “Turning empty offices into housing is one of the only paths forward to saving our downtowns.”

In addition to preventing local governments from stalling office conversions via the permitting and review process, AB 1352 would also make office conversion projects allowed in any area of a city regardless of local zoning laws.

The bill requires that at least 10% of units in an office-to-housing conversion must be reserved for low- and moderate-income families.

AB 1352 would also create a grant program to partially subsidize office-to-housing conversion in an effort to further incentivize new projects.

“This bill stops the bureaucracy and will allow us to move fast to build desperately needed housing and bring life back to our downtowns,” Haney said.

State lawmakers have yet to refer AB 1352 to a committee in the Assembly. The bill will be eligible for a committee hearing as soon as March 20, its 31st day in print.

The moratorium began in March 2020 at the height of the pandemic. Many households were unable to pay rent because of employment losses when much of the economy was shut down. Some essential workers became ill as well.

The Alameda County eviction moratorium covers Berkeley residents and is in place until at least May 1, meaning Berkeley property owners would’ve been able to serve eviction notices beginning in May.

But on Monday night, the City Council voted to extend the current moratorium through August and are even considering extending it, despite property owners and managers saying that the ordinance has overstayed its usefulness.

“I know from personal experience and the properties that we manage, that none of the people that have been basically not paying rent all this time, they all have jobs … they are just taking advantage of the situation,” said a community member.

On Tuesday, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors will consider ending the protection set to expire in April.

By day, Angel Flores works at a packaging warehouse. By night, he’s a janitor at a San Jose high school.

Flores moved to the Bay Area from Acapulco, Mexico, where he was a tour guide. Violence dried up the tourism industry there, so moved his family to San Jose.

Today, he’s barely home, often working a third job as a roofer on weekends.

He says like all Mexicans, he gives his work 100% every day.

There are many people like Flores in Silicon Valley. According to Zillow, the median rate for rent in the region is more than $3,400 per month. That’s 64% higher than the national median.

Sacred Heart Community Services says their requests for help are increasing. The agency helps up to 600 families per day with food boxes and other services, but they’re struggling to keep us as well.

The agency gave out $30 million in rental assistance last year. Now they’re having to turn some working families away because the funds are drying up.

“There are a lot of misconceptions about poverty and I think a lot of people make it into an individual failing,” Demone Carter with Sacred Heart said. “But our work with people experiencing poverty tells us a different story.”

Flores is now preparing to file his federal income tax forms, part of what he describes as his appreciation to a country that he says allows him to provide for his family.

When he finally returns home from the nightshift, he’ll try to get a few hours of sleep before heading off to his day job, a sacrifice he makes so his family can make it.

How to overcome them will be part of the conversation at the annual State of the Valley Conference in the South Bay on Friday.

NBC Bay Area’s Kris Sanchez has further details in the video above.

For more information and to view the Silicon Valley Index report, visit jointventure.org.

Making It in the Bay Feb 15

Los Altos Hills Homeowner Wants to Build 20-Unit Housing Complex on His Property

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Sasha Zbrozek currently owns nearly two acres in Los Altos Hills on Summit Wood Road. He’s hoping to tear down his house and replace it with 15 apartments and five townhomes in the upscale suburb.

It’s a proposal that’s likely to face a lot of local opposition, but he believes a provision in state housing law could help him force the issue.

“Builder’s remedy” allows property owners to override local zoning laws and push through projects of virtually any size. It’s meant as a penalty for cities and counties that fail to meet the deadline for state mandated future homebuilding plans.

The state requires 20% of builder’s remedy projects to be affordable housing without the provision.

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Zbrozek said his multi-unit plans would be dead.

“The town has tight restrictions, 1 unit per acre and a 40 foot set back ,so it’s basically single family homes only,” he said.

California YIMBY, which stands for “yes in my backyard” is a nonprofit focused on ending the state’s shortage of affordable housing.

California YIMBY spokesman Matthew Lewis told NBC Bay Area he supports homeowners trying to build more housing.

“In this case, Los Altos Hills thumbed its nose at the state law now they have to face the reality that builders can do what they want,” he said.

NBC Bay Area reached out to the Los Altos Hills city manager Wednesday. He declined to do an interview but sent a statement, which said in part:

“The town adopted a substantially compliant housing element prior to the state law deadline. The town is currently reviewing the proposed “builder’s remedy” project proposals.”

Some Los Altos Hills residents NBC Bay Area talked with off camera said they are concerned the builders remedy projects will change the look of their neighborhood.

But Zbrozek said that he personally has received nothing but support.

“I am looking forward to having control over the future of the parcel,” he said.

The Town of Los Altos will hold a public hearing on the project and it must still comply with environmental laws and go through a design review.

A total of 395 affordable housing projects are in various stages of predevelopment, needing additional public or private funding to be completed, according to research from the two organizations, which was organized into the Bay Area Affordable Housing Pipeline database.

Of those projects, 282 are new construction projects while 67 are some form of renovation or rehabilitation of an existing building.

The researchers also found that Alameda County has the highest number of projects in development at 106, but Santa Clara County leads the region in total units in development with 10,829.

State officials have determined the Bay Area needs roughly 180,000 new housing units by 2031 to meet the total need housing need across the region.

“The good news is that the sheer size of the predevelopment pipeline gives Bay Area cities, towns and counties a good running start toward meeting the affordable housing production challenge laid down by the state,” BAHFA Director Kate Hartley said in a statement.

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Affordable housing is generally funded by various bonds and funding measures, with local, state and federal funding filling in the gaps to cover the costs of development.

In lieu of waiting for state or federal funds to cover the $7.6 billion gap, officials with the regional planning agency the Metropolitan Transportation Commission have proposed placing a bond measure on the 2024 ballot that would provide between $10 billion and $20 billion in funding exclusively for affordable housing.

State lawmakers authorized the BAHFA to place a parcel tax or bond measure before voters in an effort to raise funding for affordable housing when the legislature created the authority in 2019.

The authority is jointly governed by the MTC and the Association of Bay Area Governments.

“The Bay Area faces a critical lack of affordable homes, and existing local, state and federal resources are oversubscribed,” said Justine Marcus, the senior state and local policy director for Enterprise Community Partners.

“We need new solutions to ensure every planned housing development gets built and that homes that are currently affordable remain affordable for generations to come,” she said.

The average selling price for a home in the region is actually below the average asking price — something we haven’t seen in more than 10 years. 

“Usually there’s a bidding war, and that determines the price. But things have changed,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin. 

The company says one big reason for that is a more flexible tech industry.

“Now that remote work is giving many tech workers the opportunity to live in any part of the country, the Bay Area doesn’t have such a stronghold on that talent,” said Fairweather.

“All of those things are adding to buyer confidence,” said San Jose real estate agent Lynsie Gridley, adding that buyers are starting to come back feeling better about their chances without having to compete with multiple offers. And the deals are getting done.

“We were seeing offers coming in under asking, and sellers often accepting those offers anywhere from 1% to 5% under asking,” said Gridley.

Meaning, even with mortgage rates still hovering near 6%, prices may have, for the time being, found a ceiling.

“It’s good that housing is becoming a little bit more affordable,” said a San Jose resident.

Agents say that moving forward, they expect to see the housing market here pick up, thanks to better weather and people making new moves for the new year.

But, some potential buyers said they’re still nervous about putting down big money for a down payment, because their company’s stock prices have recently fallen.

A new report shows Mountain View is now the most expensive city in the region to rent a one-bedroom apartment. 

The city saw a nearly 24% increase in rents compared to the year before. One reason? Experts said more high tech companies are requiring employees to head back to the office. 

“This is the first time Mountain View has surpassed San Francisco,” said Crystal Chen of Zumper. 

A new report from the company showed Mountain View had the highest average in January with the median price of $3,130 for a one-bedroom. 

Richmond Feb 7

Unhoused Richmond Teacher Works Full-Time, Unable to Make Ends Meet

Housing Jan 31

Why Are Rent Prices Increasing in the Bay Area?

San Francisco has the second highest rents in the Bay Area.

For some perspective, the median price for a one-bedroom apartment in San Jose is $2,530 and the most affordable city is Vallejo where the median rent is $1,600.

So, why is Mountain View suddenly seeing the spike? Companies, particularly Google may be playing a role. 

“I think with big tech companies having return to work policies a lot of those workers are coming back to California and moving down to the Peninsula which creates demand and drives up prices,” said Chen. 

Other factors could be that most of the new units in Mountain View are luxury apartments. 

Derrick D’Acolatse, owner of Legacy Property Management Silicon Valley said our economic climate is also keeping people from buying homes. Meaning more are looking to rent.

“I believe interest rates  are having an impact on rental increases on prices,” he said.

And with more demand, and limited supply, renters may be looking at bidding wars.

“People are willing to pay $100 to $200 a month over asking price just to get a property,” said D’Acolatse. 

With many apartments in the city renting in a week or less.

Which is why property managers said if you want to rent in Mountain View, you may want to submit an application first and then go look at the unit because you may have to compete against dozens of other potential renters.

The buildings and lots around housing advocate Aaron Eckhouse’s neighborhood in north Oakland are part of the city’s eight-year plan to expand affordable housing across all economic levels. 

But last week, the finalized plan, called the Housing Element, fell short of the state’s certification requirements.

“I do think we’re seeing the state is taking a strict standard, to hold cities accountable,” said Aaron Echhouse, East Bay for Everyone volunteer. 

A letter from the Department of Housing and Community Development asked for more details on potential limitations for building on certain sites, and wants to see more transportation, parks, and other investments in areas where affordable housing is set to be built.

“They felt that Oakland had some really strong pieces for affirmatively furthering fair housing by expanding opportunities in high resource neighborhoods, but they wanted to see them do more to expand resources in some more disinvested parts of Oakland,” said Eckhouse. 

Oakland’s director of the Planning and Building Department said in a statement, “staff are currently reviewing the suggested edits and anticipate being able to resolve all comments.” 

District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife agrees.

“We feel like we’re in a good position to make those amendments and get it back to state HCD in a timely manner and not have a huge hiccup to the process we’re attempting to abide by,” said Fife. 

If Oakland fails to get the Housing Element certified, it risks being penalized by the state.

“The most serious thing is I think the city is also concerned they may lose the pro housing designation which puts them in a more favorable position for state funding,” said Jeff Levin, senior director of policy for East Bay Housing Organizations.

The city of Oakland has until the end of May to get the housing element certified. 

City council members said they’re confident they’ll meet that deadline.

But the sixth grade teacher never imagined she’d be working full-time and still unable to make ends meet. 

“It hasn’t been easy at all. I come and try to spruce myself up and keep a smile on my face but on the inside, it’s a struggle,” said Schexnayder. “I’ve been between my car, motel six and an Airbnb, whenever I can afford it.”

She drove from her home state of Mississippi to take a teaching job in Richmond two years ago.

“I had no idea that I would come here, leaving Mississippi, live in a home, and come here to being homeless,” said Schexnayder.

Schexnayder said she hasn’t been able to find affordable housing so sometimes she rents an Airbnb or motel room, and every month when the money runs out, she sleeps in her car. 

“I’m thankful for the grocery stores, the gas stations, where I go to kind of wash up and take care of hygiene and come to work,” said Scheznayder. “Most nights I’m scared it’s unsafe. But I get up in the mornings and still come to work. This is what I love to do.”

The President of the Teachers Union said that Schexnayder is not the only teacher living on the edge. 

“Our starting salary here for a teacher is in the mid to late 50s, that is not sufficient to be able to independently live,” said John Zabala.

He said West Contra Costa School District teachers are among the lowest paid in the Bay Area. They’re currently at an impasse with the district as they fight for higher wages. 

“About two weeks ago we had a rally where about 700 people spoke and people were in tears, letting them know how desperate they are to remain working here,” said Zabala. “To just do their jobs which is what they want to do … and instead, they’re spending so much of their time and energy just to fight for survival.”

The district acknowledges teachers are struggling. In a statement they said, “WCCUSD is working rapidly to readjust budget priorities in recognition that many of our educators are currently experiencing economic hardship, which has been worsened by rising inflation and the economic climate of the greater Bay Area.” 

They say they’re offering a 10% raise.

“I don’t regret coming here because I love that I’m chasing my dream. But it makes me sad to know I’m  doing this while most times sleeping in my car,” said Schexnayder. “It’s really sad.”

Schexnayder said she wasn’t prepared for the high cost of living in California. She’s met many others who are working, some multiple jobs, who are homeless too. 

“It’s not a personal thing.  I believe it’s a Bay Area, California thing, where there are people that are working jobs getting up going to work and yet still doesn’t have a safe, comfortable place to live,” said Schexnayder. “It makes me really sad.”

She said California’s teachers deserve way more than what they get paid. Though she loves her Richmond students, she may have to move back to Mississippi at the end of the school year, but she’s determined to continue pursuing her passion.  

“I wake up every day, not knowing how it’s going to end. All I do know is that I’m going to teach and that’s what gives me joy. That’s what I live by,” said Schexnayder.

The teachers union has set up GoFundMe to help Schexnayder as they fight for higher wages for all the district’s teachers.

While that likely does not come as a surprise, it is triggering old questions about how the region got to this point and what solutions are out there to fix it.

NBC Bay Area’s Scott Budman has more in the video report above.

California Feb 2

Bay Area Cities Seeking State Approval for Housing

real estate Feb 2

‘It's Leaking in So Many Places': San Mateo Teardown Home Listed for $1.2 Million

In San Francisco, prices have seen the greatest drop nationally, down 15% year over year, or about $1,500 a month in mortgage savings, the report shows.

Oakland was fourth with an 11.6% drop, or about $700 a month in savings, and San Jose was sixth with a decline of 10.6%, or about $960 in monthly savings.

Redfin credits the drop in mortgage rates and decreased housing demand.

“It’s hard to predict, though, because San Francisco is facing a lot of changes,” Daryl Fairweather, chief economist with Redfin, said. “There’s no longer this strong pull of workers to the area to get a tech job. You can get a tech job just about anywhere. And a lot those tech San Francisco (companies) are laying off workers, so maybe people don’t feel like it’s really worth it to pay for a home when job security is not as great as it used to be.”

The Bay Area, however, remains one of the most expensive markets for homes in the U.S., with median monthly payments of $8,496 in San Francisco, $8,116 in San Jose and $5,443 in Oakland.

A two-bedroom, one-bathroom home in San Mateo that sits behind the Hillsdale Shopping Center needs a new roof and walls replaced, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in other renovations. Don’t think the needed repairs will bring the sale price down — the house is listed for sale at $1.2 million.

“It’s leaking in so many places that we cannot just throw a tarp up there, otherwise I would have,” said Leo Chaudoir with Sentinel Realty Company. “I see a lot of reconstruction.”

So why would someone drop more than a million dollars for a home needing major overhaul?

“You are in San Mateo, the heart of San Mateo,” Chaudoir said. “You’ve got a beautiful hidden park behind you and you’ve got the award-winning Hillsdale Mall sitting right down the street from you.”

Making It in the Bay May 13, 2022

Overpriced, Overwhelmed, Over it! Investigating California's Housing Crisis

Bay Area Housing Oct 12, 2022

Bay Area Housing Prices Continue to Fall. Here's Why

Zillow’s Chief Economist Skylar Olsen said the median home price in San Mateo may explain the high cost of the home, adding the current price is likely lower than prospective buyers would have seen a few years ago.

“(Prices) are starting to come down. And would you believe that $1.4 million as a typical home in San Mateo is actually 10% down from where it was in the middle of last year where the typical home was actually $1.6 million,” Olsen said.

Other homes in the neighborhood are valued around $1.5 million to $2 million. The owner of the home up for grabs at $1.2 million passed away and did not have a will, so the county is selling it and will disperse the money to relatives.

“This house sitting somewhere else would probably go for significantly less,” Chaudoir said.

The house is accepting sealed bids through mid-March.

Out of the roughly 110 cities and counties in the Bay Area, about 65 had not submitted their so-called Housing Element plan as of Wednesday morning, according to the Bay Area Council.

That means there will be a “builder’s remedy” in those jurisdictions, giving developers the freedom to build affordable housing in any zone within those areas even if the city or county objects.

Bob Redell has the full story in the video above.

The latest real estate landscape in the region has led to a jump in local rent prices.

With rent prices high, young people are especially caught in a bind.

In fact, a study from real estate website Zillow says anyone making a minimum wage of $17 an hour will need nearly three incomes to afford to rent a one-bedroom home in San Francisco.

NBC Bay Area’s Scott Budman has more in the video report above.

Making It in the Bay May 13, 2022

Overpriced, Overwhelmed, Over it! Investigating California's Housing Crisis

Making It in the Bay Jan 31

Bay Area Home Prices Continue Slide, With a Few Exceptions