Bay Area Real Estate

Silicon Valley, East Bay and San Francisco housing affordability, home sales and rental trends, growth and development and more from The Mercury News.

By The Mercury News

San Francisco Bay Area
New 'Backyard' opens in San Jose's once-seedy Fountain Alley
The Mercury News - Sal Pizarro
The We Company — you knew them as WeWork — has opened Backyard San Jose, a game-changing, pop-up garden in the lot next to Fountain Alley in downtown …
San Francisco Bay Area
Real estate company Redfin closes 4 Bay Area offices after suspected gun threat
The Mercury News - Rex Crum
Four Bay Area offices of the Redfin real estate agency were closed for at least part of this past week after a former contractor made what the …
Joe Pavelski
Photos: Ex-Sharks star Joe Pavelski sells San Jose mansion for $3.6 million
The Mercury News - Pueng Vongs
Former San Jose Sharks star Joe Pavelski has sold his Willow Glen mansion in San Jose, Calif. for $3.6 million. The former team captain who played …
Rental Housing
Bay Area renters could see relief from sky-high prices
The Mercury News - Emily DeRuy
According to the latest report from Rent Cafe, an apartment search site, just three out of 44 cities in the region saw month-over-month growth of …
San Francisco Bay Area
Home sale prices from San Jose and Peninsula areas, August 16
The Mercury News - Bay Area News Group
430 Hazel Avenue, Millbrae 94030. Sold for $3.65 million on July 12; 3070 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms. Bedrooms including master suite on …
Freddie Mac
High cost of housing cuts into food, utilities study says
The Mercury News - Karen D'Souza
More than a third of Americans have been forced to cut spending on essential items like food and utilities to afford housing, according to a Freddie …
San Francisco Bay Area
Google takes full ownership of dozens of downtown San Jose transit village sites
The Mercury News - George Avalos
SAN JOSE — Google bought out its real estate partner for a downtown San Jose transit village by purchasing roughly five-dozen properties near the …
Toluca Lake
Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin’s former Toluca Lake home lists for $8.5 million
The Mercury News - Sandra Barrera
Justin Bieber and wife Hailey Baldwin’s former rental home in Toluca Lake has hit the market for $8.495 million. No surprise here — the temporary digs …
San Francisco Bay Area
Jay Paul moves quickly with new downtown San Jose office towers
The Mercury News - George Avalos
SAN JOSE — The developer behind two projects poised to usher in dramatic changes to downtown San Jose and the city’s skyline intends to begin …
San Francisco Bay Area
Land values in these states growing faster than in California
The Mercury News - Emily DeRuy
Across the country, the price of land occupied by single-family homes ticked up from 2012 to 2017. But despite soaring housing costs in California, …
San Mateo County
Bay Area real estate a bargain? In some places, maybe
The Mercury News - Louis Hansen
Despite a record streak of higher real estate prices, some economists believe homes in certain Bay Area communities should be considered a bargain. …
San Francisco Bay Area
Eichler neighborhood in San Jose added to historic register
The Mercury News - Sal Pizarro
Congratulations to the residents of the Fairglen Additions neighborhood of San Jose who led a successful campaign to have the tree-lined district — …
San Jose, CA
Sage Intactt strikes deal for big downtown San Jose expansion
The Mercury News - George Avalos
SAN JOSE — Sage Intactt, an up-and-coming cloud services firm, has struck a deal for a big expansion of its downtown San Jose operations in a deal …
Kanye West
Kanye West's Star Wars-themed dwellings under fire
The Mercury News - Karen D'Souza
Kanye West’s vision of building affordable housing in the manner of Tatooine has crashed and burned with his suburban Calabasas neighbors. The iconic …
San Francisco Bay Area
FHA to expand access to condo mortgages, loosens owner-occupancy rates
The Mercury News - Associated Press
The Federal Housing Administration is changing regulations to make it easier for more first-time condo buyers to receive mortgages. The federal agency …
San Francisco Bay Area
Santa Clara County to check out vacant land for affordable housing
The Mercury News - Thy Vo
SAN JOSE — Santa Clara County is exploring whether to build affordable housing for extremely low income people on vacant county properties, including …
Redwood City, CA
$326 million apartment deal in Redwood City points to Bay Area housing market's strength
The Mercury News - George Avalos
REDWOOD CITY — A huge deal for the purchase of a big apartment complex in Redwood City suggests the Bay Area housing market remains robust. Blu …
San Francisco Bay Area
San Jose considers new law barring Section 8 voucher discrimination
The Mercury News - Emily DeRuy
After years of debate, San Jose is set to adopt a new ordinance that tenant advocates say will make it easier for low-income residents to find …
Cost of Living
California homebuying affordability falls … by less than you’d expect!
The Mercury News - Jonathan Lansner
So how can falling “affordability” for first-time California homebuyers be good news? Well, as you may know, I’m no fan of most affordability indexes. …
San Francisco Bay Area
Sam Zell firm grabs big San Jose apartment complex
The Mercury News - George Avalos
SAN JOSE — The real estate company headed by famed property mogul Sam Zell has bought a big apartment complex in south San Jose in a deal that points …
San Francisco Bay Area
Women of color face highest rent burden in Bay Area
The Mercury News - Bay City News Service
This past May, residents of the 64-unit Strawberry Hill complex in Vallejo came home to find a troubling notice on their doors. Beginning in June, …
San Francisco Bay Area
After elections and lawsuits, Martinez settles dispute over future of golf course land
The Mercury News - Nate Gartrell
MARTINEZ — After years of controversy, including lawsuits and competing ballot measures, the city, developer and open-space advocates finally have …
Cupertino, CA
Affordable housing project in Cupertino, funded by county bond measure, celebrates grand opening
The Mercury News - Thy Vo
CUPERTINO — Twelve low income seniors and six formerly homeless individuals have a new home, after an affordable housing development in Cupertino …
San Francisco Bay Area
Photos: Historic San Francisco mansion trades hands for $18 million
The Mercury News - Variety
San Francisco’s breezy Seacliff neighborhood, while not quite as opulent or excessively billionaire-laden as nearby Pacific Heights, is nonetheless a …
San Francisco Bay Area
Some East Bay homeowners may see a little — just a little — drop on their property tax bill
The Mercury News - Peter Hegarty
OAKLAND — It doesn’t happen often, but Alameda County homeowners’ property taxes may be lowered — by a teeny bit. The Alameda County Waste Management …
Nevada
How Californians moving to Nevada are changing the state's politics
The Mercury News - Casey Tolan
LAS VEGAS — An exodus of Californians has accelerated Nevada’s move to the left, helping Democrats take control of state government for the first …
San Francisco Bay Area
Amid trade wars, foreign investment in pricey California homes falls
The Mercury News - Louis Hansen
Foreign buyers have cooled on the U.S. residential home market, dropping investments by more than one-third over the previous year and spending less …
San Jose, CA
More than 1,000 hotel rooms head for north San Jose
The Mercury News - George Avalos
SAN JOSE — A burst of hotels that are under construction or poised to launch is expected to bring north San Jose in the vicinity of 1,100 hotel …
San Francisco Bay Area
‘Put in a corner,’ El Cerrito scraps just-cause eviction law
The Mercury News - Ali Tadayon
EL CERRITO — The 25,000-person town of El Cerrito was the latest target for a deep-pocket California landlord interest group, which shelled out more …