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Weekly Market Watch

DataQuick, the real estate information service that the media looks to every month, issued yet another gloomy report on Thursday. Frankly, I think the reports received from our offices each week, and from talking to all of those hardworking Coldwell Banker Sales Associates in the field, should be what’s making the headlines in our newspapers instead of DataQuick’s latest monthly statistics. We are actually working with buyers and sellers and understand our local markets.  We comprehend the intricacies of the various communities and neighborhoods we work with, and we actually know what’s happening out there.  Quite simply, they don’t know what we know about the market TODAY.  They can only report on what closed last month based on transactions that began 30 to 90 days prior.  We need to continue to remind our buyers and our sellers that what they see in the newspaper today is a reflection of the recent past – not necessarily a snapshot of the current market and certainly no prediction of the future.  Yes – it’s been a challenging market overall as of late, but we see definite signs of improvements that just aren’t reported anywhere else.

Here’s something current that I haven’t read about – we’re seeing a drop in month’s inventory in virtually every county in our area.  We’re seeing an increasing number of homes going into contract.  We’re seeing open houses in most areas that continue to teem with buyers anxious to take advantage of the low rates and plentiful selection.  We’re seeing a boost in the number of first-time buyers who don’t have to sell an existing home in order to make their purchase. Were seeing investors snap up great deals on REO and foreclosure properties.  We’re seeing high-end homes selling off-market - meaning that they sell without ever hitting the MLS - often with multiple offers and well over the asking price, (this also means that DataQuick won’t account for those homes in its statistics for sales and median prices next month).

In Petaluma, six different open houses received more than 30 attending groups apiece.  Pleasanton and Fremont have begun offering Bank Owned Property Tours and they are being met with huge success.  Open house attendance is up for the third consecutive week in Santa Rosa and Sebastopol. In Berkeley we saw multiple offers on a well priced listing. Danville sold a 2 million + property in less than a week. In Pleasant Hill a broker’s open that was supposed to close at 2:30pm stayed open until 7pm in order to accommodate the vast amount of walk-in traffic.  A Martinez open house had more than 50 attendees.  A Noe Valley listing had over 100 groups pass through it.

A Portola Valley home listed at $2.5 million had more than 100 groups through its open house and sold with three offers.  80% of Menlo Park sales were multiple offers.  In San Francisco a fixer in Hayes Valley sold for 20% over asking and multiple offer situations are once again becoming the norm.  The Market Street office notes busy opens on Sundays and on Thursday nights, and that homes that have been on the market for months are selling now.

Clearly, our government is taking the essential steps to allow the markets to recover in a way that stimulates the economy, keeps interest rates affordable, and helps buyers, sellers and investors alike.  At the time of writing this, we are waiting for a possible full 1% cut from the Fed. And again, we see the beginnings of the positive aspects in our San Francisco Bay Area markets on a daily basis.  Our continued optimism is grounded in what we see today, and in the eager eyes of our buyers and sellers.

Have a great week!