My long-time clients who check in to see how the market is doing will remember that one of the key statistics I watch is growth in the median wage.

A recent article in the Contra Costa Times highlights how well the Bay Area is doing in this regard.  While affordability will begin to dampen further price increases, as our local economy continues to outpace the rest of the nation and interest rates remain historically low, we’ll see a solid floor to our real estate market for the medium term with some upside should inflation begin to pick up – the wild card along the West Coast will be whether the inflow of money from China, India and others continue as investors abroad seek a safe haven for their capital:

Wages and benefits for private industry employees in the Bay Area are rising more quickly than in any other major metro region in the country and twice as fast as the national average, a government survey released Tuesday shows.

“It’s tech. High tech is driving this,” said Christopher Thornberg, founding partner with Beacon Economics. “The Bay Area has one of the strongest economies in the nation.”

Total compensation — measured as the combination of wages, salaries and benefits — for people working in private industry in the nine-county Bay Area rose 4.6 percent over the 12 months that ended in June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

via Bay Area wages and benefits rising twice as fast as national average – ContraCostaTimes.com.