SF Bay Area Rents Drop As Vacancies Spike

By Alicia Lanier, REALTOR

Bay Area cities are occupying prominent spots on Business Week’s list of the 25 Metro Areas with the biggest drops in rents. 

Weighing in at #7 with an annualized rents drop of 3% was the Silicon Valley trio of San Jose, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara. Suffering from technology layoffs and dimming economic prospects as the recession deepens, the unemployment rate in the San Jose metro area climbed to 7.2% in November 2008 compared to 4.9% in November 2007. Business Week said “the apartment vacancy rate jumped to 4.2% in the fourth quarter last year from 3.5% in the same period in 2007. Landlords on average are giving rent concessions of one week.”

Not far behind, at #9 on the Business Week list, is Alameda County’s Oakland-Fremont-Hayward metro area. This area’s economic troubles have only gotten worse with the financial crisis. But it has also seen a rising tide of foreclosures. The unemployment rate in the area climbed to 7.2% in November 2008 compared to 4.9% in November 2007. Business Week said “the apartment vacancy rate jumped to 4.6% in the fourth quarter last year from 3.9% in the same period in 2007. Landlords on average are giving 1.4 weeks of rent concessions.”

TIP:  Why pay your landlord’s mortgage with your rent? Instead, take advantage of declining prices, rising inventory and historic low home loan interest rates in the Silicon Valley? Ask me to send you, free, a list of bank-owned properties currently being offered for sale: Call 408-491-1634 today or e-mail me at Alicia.Lanier@cbnorcal.com