Mixed Bag for Bay Area Housing Market, But Buyers Still Out There
Housing recoveries – like housing downturns – never move in a straight line. As much as we’d like a clear, fast turnaround, real estate cycles are never that way. They seem to have lots of fits and starts, two steps forward and then one step back. We’re reminded of this economic truism as we looked at the Bay Area housing market over the past month.
As DataQuick, the La Jolla-based real estate research firm, reported recently, Bay Area home sales increased in August – the most recent figures available – by a solid 12.2 percent from a year ago. But the good news was partially offset by the fact that median sale price dipped nearly 4 percent with distressed property sales accounted for nearly half of the sales. It was the 11th straight year-over-year monthly decline in prices.
Clearly, bargain-hunting buyers chasing distressed properties continue to be a driving force in the market. That’s as true here in the Bay Area as it is in markets across the country. And it’s not just entry-level prices that are attracting bargain shoppers. An REO listing in our Southern Marin office priced at $858,000 received 16 offers and will sell for substantially over list price. We’ve seen similar stories play out in the East Bay and South Bay as well.
But this doesn’t tell the whole story of what’s happening in the Bay Area housing market. It’s not just the bank-owned and short-sale properties that area getting buyer attention. As I mentioned in my last column, we have a real, honest-to-goodness housing shortage in many of our communities – at least a shortage of reasonably priced, well-presented homes. And it’s not just at the lower price ranges.
A $2 million plus home went into contract immediately following the broker’s open house last week in Mill Valley, continuing to prove there are buyers for homes that are perceived to be good values, even on the high end. Another one for $1,350,000 received offers right away.
