If you live in Hercules, or you're thinking about buying or selling here, the city just released its proposed budget for the coming year, and there's a ballot measure this November that could raise your sales tax to one of the highest in California. Here'
Most sellers hear "national housing report" and brace for bad news. Fair reaction. July's numbers, out of Realtor.com, do describe a market that's cooling. But cooling nationally and cooling in the East Bay are two different things, and the distance between them is
Every August, Redfin publishes its affordability numbers, and every year it reads like a story about buyers. This year it's actually a story sellers in Contra Costa County should read closely, because the direction of the data lines up almost exactly with how our seven core markets are
Across the East Bay, a quiet transition is underway. Parents who bought homes in Walnut Creek, Danville, or Pleasant Hill in the 1980s and 90s, back when a starter home ran well under six figures, are now in their seventies and eighties. Many are downsizing into smaller units or senior
Every listing season, sellers get handed a repair list from their agent. Repaint this. Replace that switchplate. Re-grout the shower. Some of it protects your sale. Most of it doesn't move the needle at all, and it's costing East Bay sellers money and time they
Institutional investors put $15.3 billion into retail properties in the first quarter of 2026 alone, up 5 percent from a year earlier. Meanwhile new retail construction is on pace to fall 37 percent this year. The entire country has just 52.1 million square feet of retail space under
National coverage keeps framing the housing slowdown as one story. It isn't. The homes losing the most ground right now are the ones that saw the biggest speculative run-up during the pandemic, mostly in Sun Belt markets that overbuilt and overpriced. The homes holding their value are
On June 30, the Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship. For housing, that matters more than most headlines let on. A segment of buyers that has been sitting on the sidelines, not because they lacked income or savings, but because the legal ground beneath them felt uncertain, just got a reason
Across the East Bay, homeowners are watching mortgage rates sit stubbornly in the mid-6% range and wondering when the Federal Reserve is finally going to cut. The short answer, based on what macro analysts are saying right now: not soon. And possibly not at all this year. That sounds
I get asked this question almost every week, usually by a seller who's hoping rates drop before they list, or a buyer who's waiting on the sidelines for relief. My honest answer right now is: I don't see it happening soon, and here'
California homeowners are looking at the steepest insurance rate increase in the country. A 16% projected hike in 2026 follows a 16% climb since 2023, meaning the cumulative increase is closing in on 34% over roughly three years. This is not background noise. It is a cost that buyers are
A very strong El Niño has formed in the tropical Pacific. NOAA announced this month that ocean temperatures are already well above average, with forecasts calling for conditions to strengthen through winter. For Bay Area meteorologists, that means one thing: elevated rainfall is coming, and preparation cannot wait until December.
