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Home Prices Are Rising Even in One of the Worst-Hit US Markets

Scarce inventory is propping up values in the Bay Area, the center of tech and bank turmoil. 

Residential homes in San Francisco.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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San Francisco and Silicon Valley, tethered to a faltering tech economy, rank among the weakest housing markets in the US. But with inventory tightening fast, prices are taking a surprising upward turn.

Listings in the San Jose area, home to the likes of Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc., plummeted 31% in April compared with the previous year, a decline outpacing all other regions, according to an analysis of 50 large metros from Zillow. Options in San Francisco and Seattle, another pricey tech hub, are shrinking almost as fast.