The area claimed that distinction for the third consecutive year and local real estate markets throughout Northern California have continued to show strength in 1999, validating this judgment. Single-digit vacancies prevail throughout the region.
Rents are firm following substantial increases in recent years.
The nine-county Bay Area is home to 6.8 million people. It provides 3.3 million jobs and enjoyed an unemployment rate of approximately 3 percent for the past three years. The economy has added 216,000 jobs during the 1996-98 period, a growth rate of 3 percent a year. The Bay Area is the fourth largest economic region in the country after New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The Bay Area's three major metropolitan statistical areas are San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose.