San Francisco rents spiked up 10.6% last year—more than triple the national average of 3%. But San Francisco's listing prices didn't accelerate in the same way. In fact, San Francisco didn't even make the top 10 list in increase in listing prices for 2013. The Bay Area was represented in that list by Oakland, which ranked #4, with a 25.2% increase in listing prices y-o-y. Real estate aggregator Trulia explains that this discrepancy in rent vs. asking price increase is due to two factors, working in tandem. First: Oakland took a much bigger hit during the housing bust than San Francisco, which remained stable enough to avoid rock bottom. (Oaklands market dropped as much as 39% during the crash to hit bottom.) Second: Job growth in San Francisco blew growth elsewhere in the Bay Area out of the water, with jobs increasing 10.6% over last year. (Oakland's increased 2.2%.)
The lesson to be learned here? If you were thinking of taking your signing bonus and buying a house in Oakland—everyone else already had the same idea.
· The Post-Crash Rebound, Not Job Growth, Drove 2013 Price Gains [Trulia]