There is a sense that buyers and sellers are really listening to the people that they ought to be listening to – their real estate professionals – and starting to understand that real estate is local. 

A continually increasing buzz of activity is being reported from most areas, and house hunters are becoming more motivated to make informed buying decisions now while interest rates remain low and inventory levels in some areas create bargains.  Sellers should continue to take note that the well-priced homes in good showing condition draw the greatest number of potential buyers and get offers. A well-priced Berkeley listing drew 58 visitors. Burlingame notes agents writing offers in all price points. Half Moon Bay as well as majority of the EastBay, seem to have turned the corner most dramatically with respect to increased activity.  A few of the micro-markets in the City and Peninsula may have seen a little slower week. 

It was a wild week for the stock market, and financials had quite a roller-coaster ride this week.  Seems as if a good Employment/Jobs report for the month means one thing one day, and then totally another the next. Economists are having difficulty staying consistent with any story line. But isn’t it great to remember that in nearly every year-over- year period, San Francisco Bay Area Real Estate has consistently been a good investment.

Overall, listing and sales activity remains steady for most offices, but with a buzz of excitement and an increased sense of urgency. Sellers are beginning to think about the upcoming holiday season and many may be reconsidering their decision to sell. I believe if I were a potential Seller right now, I would try my chances over the next six weeks while inventory is likely to be its lowest -and while Buyers are enjoying lower interest rates as well.

These are actual news headlines culled from various sources over the past two weeks: “Does the Drop in Housing Prices Mean It’s Time to Buy?”, “Buying a House Now isn’t a Bad Choice for Everyone,” “Housing Economists Expect Market Turnaround to Begin in 2008,” “Investors Find Silver Lining in Real Estate Market,” and my personal favorite from the San Jose Mercury News Real Estate Blog, “For Avid House Hunters, the Season Starts Today.”Getting our Reality Check message communicated to the populace of Northern California seems to be having an impact and even the media is beginning to find those silver linings in our housing micro-markets. Motivated buyers are buying and motivated sellers are selling. And all before the Feds made their rate cut on Halloween!  

Attractive Berkeley and Oakland Hills properties are still getting multiple offers. A $900,000+ listing on the Alamo/Walnut Creek border sold in one day. A San Ramon listing priced at $1,425,000 sold in less than one week. Greenbrae is reporting solid activity, some multiple offer situations and steady movement of higher end properties. Pending sales are on the increase in Pleasanton and well-priced Santa Rosa homes are seeing multiple offer situations.

Burlingame, Half Moon Bay and Menlo Park are reporting exceptional open house activity. Burlingame noted that homes in solid middle price points were experiencing anywhere from 20 to 75 groups of visitors. Palo Alto is noting an “all time low of – 29 listings on MLS in Palo Alto.”  

San Francisco reports that supply and demand are “quite balanced.” It’s important for our hesitant buyers to be reminded that the upper end of the market remains strong. This week alone, our City offices reported a home closed at over $15M, and two new sales at $5M, while the Woodside office reported a new sale at $7+M. 

More than 565 homes were held open last week, and sales activity was reportedly increasing or steady by a vast majority of the offices.   It’s getting busy out there! Our patchwork quilt of a real estate market continues to be sewn together from dozens of micro-markets, but many of them are seeing marked improvement in what is a traditionally slower time of year. Even the headlines are beginning to agree that buyers are well-advised to lock in a lower home price now while the variety remains, grab a low mortgage interest rate from a reputable lender.

Week of October 21, 2007

The scope of the tragedy engulfing our Southern California neighbors is staggering. Nearly 2,000 homes have been destroyed by the fires rampaging through San Diego, Orange, Riverside and Los Angeles counties, and tens of thousands of people remain displaced. 

In the San Francisco Bay Area, buyers are starting to realize that selling prices are just not going to drop precipitously from where they are now in most of the Bay Area. If a deal is to be had, now is the time to negotiate it, and it seems the negotiating has begun. Offices in all areas reported increased sales activity and buyer interest, and our more than 600 homes held open were overwhelmingly well attended. Sales activity and buyer activity is reportedly increasing in practically every area. 

Oakland reports plenty of buyers and multiple offers on the better available listings. There’s a “buzz” in Lamorinda’s steady market.

The high end homes continue to sell quickly in Southern Marin while

Walnut Creek is seeing sales in all price points and in every corner of that market.

Inventory still remains tight on much of the Peninsula. Palo Alto and West Menlo are starved for fresh, well-priced inventory.  A San Mateo Park home sold for $3.8 million without ever being exposed to the market. There was an all cash sale in Woodside for $3.1 million. A Palo Alto property sold for $250,000 over list price in a multiple offer situation. Eight offers are on the table for a $2.7 million “tear down” in Atherton. 

San Francisco continues to see good activity in all price ranges with the properties over $1.5 million remaining the most desirable.

We are still seeing year-over-year median-price gains in Santa Clara, Marin, San Francisco, and Contra Costa counties. Bay Area housing remains a solid long term investment. It makes good sense to get into the market when there is still a good selection of available housing at multiple price points and while interest rates remain low.