Housing Reporter

Kate Talerico

Kate Talerico is a Bay Area News Group reporter covering housing for The Mercury News and East Bay Times. Before that, she covered growth and development at the Idaho Statesman, and lived in France for two years, teaching English to high school students. Kate graduated from Brown University with a BA degree in urban studies. She can talk for hours about urban planning, architecture, and design — and don't get her started on parking.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, center, arrives at Fort Baker after visiting Alcatraz Island, Thursday, July 17, 2025, in Sausalito, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

AG Bondi, Interior Secretary Burgum tour Alcatraz to advance Trump’s plans to reopen former prison

July 17, 2025 at 2:05 p.m.

President Trump floated the idea to convert Alcatraz back into a high-security federal prison for violent offenders.

Sellers’ agents wanting to market homes on Zillow’s sites must follow a new standard requiring the listings be available widely, according to a Zillow statement April 10. If a for-sale home is online and hasn’t been posted to a multiple-listing service within 24 hours, that listing will be banned from Zillow. (Dreamstime/TNS)

Zillow says it’s fighting for buyers. Compass says it’s fighting for sellers. What if neither is fighting for you?

June 17, 2025 at 8:20 p.m.

Real estate giants' power struggle could change how homes are sold.

An MV-22 Osprey flies over Alcatraz Island as part of the US President Joe Biden’s Marine One air support after taking off from Crissy Field in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Biden departed to Larkspur on his second day visit in San Francisco. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

Trump directs Bureau of Prisons to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz. Can he do that?

May 5, 2025 at 6:14 a.m.

The prison has been closed since 1963 and is currently owned by the National Parks Service

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 05: (L-R) Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg attend the 11th Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at Barker Hangar on April 05, 2025 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize)

Mark Zuckerberg’s charity quietly cuts funding for affordable housing, homelessness groups

May 3, 2025 at 10:12 a.m.

Many California housing organizations were caught up in a push to end 'social advocacy' grants.

This home at 995 Spruce St. in the Berkeley Hills was listed for $795,000 and fetched 30 offers. It sold for $1.6 million. Many prospective home buyers are frustrated by sellers deliberately provoking a bidding war by asking for much less than they are willing to accept. Photo by Open Homes Phtography, Inc.

A ‘stupid system’: Bay Area homebuyers frustrated by rampant underpricing in real estate listings

March 19, 2025 at 6:03 a.m.

In the Bay Area, prices have little meaning. Rather than signaling what a seller hopes to get, they function as the opening bid at an auction, agents and buyers say,...

Fernanda Tinoco, left, makes different kinds of espresso coffees as Karina Ramos takes an order from customer Robert Selna at Happy Donuts in Oakland on Friday. Businesses like Happy Donuts have been impacted by the new PG&E rates from $1,400 in 2017 to around $2,000 a month now, they said, and they’ve had to raise around $0.50 per donut in that time. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)

‘They need to be on the hook for it’: PG&E customers bristle at rate hikes to fund maintenance

February 5, 2024 at 10:01 a.m.

Pacific Gas and Electric rate increases are hitting customers, and they're not happy about the escalating gas and electric bills.

A drone view of a housing development near Positano Hills Park extends into the hills in Dublin, Calif., on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. Dublin is now California’s fastest growing city, according to U.S. Census data. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Mortgage rates hit lowest rate since August

February 13, 2024 at 9:18 a.m.

As borrowing costs drop, real estate experts predict home prices and sales will pick up.

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