The East Bay Monthly Analysis is prepared by the East Bay Economic Development Alliance (East Bay EDA) and augments the East Bay Quarterly Forecast authored by the UCLA Anderson Forecast.
The East Bay EDA encourages you to forward this report to anyone interested and welcomes your comments and suggestions.
PLEASE NOTE: This edition of the East Bay Monthly Analysis will differ from previous editions. In an effort to bring our readers the most relevant and up-to-date economic information we have moved GDP, CPI and Hotel Vacancy data to our Quarterly Indicators Sheet. The Quarterly Indicators Sheet will accompany the East Bay EDA Quarterly Forecast, authored by UCLA. The First Quarter 2007 edition can be downloaded from our website.
If you have any questions regarding this change to the East Bay Monthly Analysis, or would like to request any of these data please contact us.
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THE EAST BAY IN APRIL 2007
- Year-over-year job increases continued, with the East Bay gaining 16,800 jobs since April 2006.
- The East Bay’s manufacturing sector gained 1,100 payroll jobs when compared with April 2006.
- The median home sale price in Contra Costa County increased in a year-over-year comparison, while median home sale prices in Alameda County fell.
- East Bay multi-family permits increased in a year-over-year comparison, while single family permits decreased.
- East Bay residential permit values decreased in a year-over-year comparison, while commercial and industrial permit values increased dramatically.
As reported by the California Employment Department, the unemployment rate in the Oakland-Fremont-Hayward MD was 4.4 percent in April 2007, virtually unchanged from the estimate of 4.3 percent in March 2007. The East Bay’s unemployment rate resembled the nation’s rate of 4.3 percent and was lower than the California estimate of 5.0 percent. The unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in both Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.
The unemployment rate in the San Francisco MD was 3.8 percent in April, a minor increase from the March estimate of 3.7 percent, In the San Jose MSA, the unemployment rate was unchanged between March and April 2007, holding at 4.4 percent – a minor decrease when compared with the April 2006 estimate of 4.5 percent.
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Between March and April 2007 in the East Bay:
--Construction payrolls fell by 900 jobs, mainly in specialty trade contractors (down 500 jobs). The average for the prior 17 years between March and April was a gain of 800 jobs.
--Government lost 900 jobs, primarily in state schools (down 600 jobs).
--Manufacturing decreased by 400 jobs, largely in durable goods (down 300 jobs).
--Trade, transportation and utilities, health care and other services each increased by 200 jobs.
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Bay Area homes sold at the slowest pace in 12 years last month, the result of a continued buyer-seller standoff as well as very slow sales in some lower-cost neighborhoods in the East Bay. Prices increased for the third month in a row to a new record, according to Data Quick Information Systems.
A total of 7,447 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county Bay Area last month. That was down 10.5 percent from 8,317 in March, and down 18.4 percent from 9,129 for April last year. Sales have decreased on a year-over-year basis the last 27 months. Last month's sales count was the lowest since April 1995, when 5,636 homes were sold. The strongest April in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988, was in 2004 when 14,430 homes were sold. The April average is 9,614.
The median price paid for a home in Alameda County was $586,500 in April 2007, down 2.10 percent from April 2006. In Contra Costa County the median home price was $600,000, a 4.30 percent increase over April 2006.
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In April 2007, the dollar value of residential permits issued in the East Bay was down from the previous month, dropping from $219 million in March to $177 million in April. Residential permits continued to increase dramatically in the San Francisco region, increasing over $80 million dollars between March and April. Non-residential permit values were down in the East Bay, where $94 million in permits were issued in April, compared with $155 million in March. Non-residential permits also declined In the San Jose and Napa MSAs, while increases were seen in the San Francisco and Vallejo-Fairfield MSAs.
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