Real Estate

Rising home prices create economic displacement in San Francisco area

Commutes getting worse, middle class forced out

Economic displacement has become a growing problem in the Bay Area, and is credited mainly to job growth and lack of new homes, according to Pro Teck’s Home Value Forecast.  

Over the last five years, about 500,000 jobs have been added to the Bay Area, and housing inventory has continued to dwindle, according to the report. Of course, that has caused the already limited supply of housing to shoot up. The average home price in the metro is about $1.2 million, and rising.

Click to Enlarge

Home Prices

(Source: Pro Teck)

“This isn’t a new problem for San Francisco, just one that has been exacerbated by the real estate crash,” said Tom O’Grady, Pro Teck Valuation Services CEO. “New housing starts tanked for three and a half years after 2008, leaving much room to make up.”

Due to the rising prices, many have been forced to move outside of the city, where they have landed in Antioch, California, a community about 40 miles east of San Francisco. It also probably doesn't help that the amount of rentals being moved from long term to short term, is steadily increasing thanks to services such as AirBnB.

According to this article in SF Weekly, as of March, there were 7,047 hosts offering 9,448 listings in the city, up from 5,378 hosts and 7,029 listings in the fall. 

So, where can residents go for affordable housing? The options are not improving.

Unfortunately, Antioch has yet to recover from the housing crisis.

“Antioch’s is a community still in transition,” said O’Grady. “After the foreclosure crisis many homes in the community were bought and rented out as investment properties, leading to more temporary residents. Today, the number of REO sales has returned to pre-crash levels and prices have begun to rebound. As more families make permanent homes in Antioch, home prices should continue to rise.”

Click to Enlarge

Home Prices

(Source: Pro Teck)

Most Popular Articles

3d rendering of a row of luxury townhouses along a street

Log In

Forgot Password?

Don't have an account? Please