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Bay Area Still Has Some Homes Listed For Under $500K

RICHMOND (KPIX) -- The median home price hit $787,000 in the San Francisco Bay Area last month, according to CoreLogic.

That's up almost 13 percent from a year ago.

The average house sells for $872,000 in Alameda County.

So to find one under $500,000 is very tough, but not impossible.

In San Leandro and Hayward: we found less than ten houses under that price.

We did find a few ready for move in, such as one in san Leandro.

There're more options in Oakland, and not just in deep East Oakland, which tends to get a bad rap.

One house we found on the market for half a million dollars was in the Fruitvale District, a good, working-class neighborhood.

Realtor Tim Ambrose with the Bay East Association of Realtors has a tip for homebuyers.

"One of the things I encourage my buyers to do is submit what I call a love letter," Ambrose said. "I encourage them to send a photo of themselves. It's basically just telling the seller how much you notice pride of ownership, what they've done with the home, and how you can see yourself growing older and making that your home. Because now they can get a true idea of who is buying their home."

There's also West Contra Costa County to consider.

The Bay East Association of Realtors reports the average price there is $573,000.

So for under $500,000, we're looking at mostly four cities: Pinole, San Pablo, Richmond, and El Sobrante.

We found one in Richmond listed for $480,000. It's a three-bedroom house in a very nice neighborhood. It's now pending.

And not too far away, over in San Pablo, another house is listed for $500,000. It has four bedrooms and is ready for move-in.

So even in the crazy expensive Bay Area, there are still places where home ownership isn't just a pie in the sky.

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