The Redfin forums.....
Overall, the people that are regulars are mostly investors, some RE agents, a builder, mortgage brokers, and a couple of past buyers, most if not all of whom have stopped buying right now, except for maybe one investor who is fairly bullish. There is an acknowledgement that on the Tech corridor rents are crazy, prices are high, inventory is low, buyers are priced out, and Facebook and Google are driving prices up by paying high salaries, and a number of IPOs, including Facebook, have dumped a lot of money into the area but we're always wondering what the distribution is (100 people with $10M is much different from 1000 people getting $1M). Other parts of the Bay Area seem to be still recovering. There is limited Tech corridor housing development, with most of it happening in Redwood City and San Jose. There is also a lot of discussion on renters vs. landlord issues, rent control and building policies especially in SF, Prop 13, and what kind of issues people face with the various building depts. They would agree with you that the worst areas have the most fluctuation, and those stats can also be seen by zip and city using Trulia's market trends. Predictions are for an easing of the BA RE market in 2-5 years depending on who you ask, but that interest rates will not be allowed to rise significantly next year. Of course, everyone has their own opinion, but the above is a pretty decent summary of the over all sentiment. There's also a lot of discussion on schools and a consensus that student performance is pretty much all about parent expectations.
They're awesome when it comes to RE investing and how to maximize their property buying, put in offers, etc., but most of them seem to *only* invest in real estate, and only in the Bay Area. Hence, my question here. I need people that think about something other than RE in the Bay Area. :)
PS: I've put in almost two thousand hours reading the posts there--the RF stats say I've read 120K of posts--probably not all of them, but.... That's why I don't want to go over it all again here. My current focus is on trying to maximize savings, minimize taxes, and to understand the best path to retaining the value of the $$ we have in the face of inflation (or QE or whatever the Fed is currently doing).