You have heard the expression, “It’s not personal. It’s
just business.” Well, in real estate, our business is always personal,
and the Bay Area market bears witness to that. With the pressures of
tax season and spring break over, people have started getting back to
the business of investing in the home of their dreams. Most areas saw
a sharp increase in serious buyers – not just tire kickers - as
well as a welcome influx of fresh inventory from sellers.
Of the more than 615 homes held open during the week, most were well
attended by serious buyers. A home in Pleasanton saw 53 groups of people
go through, while 300 people packed into a $1.8 million dollar listing
in Redwood City. Petaluma reports that open house activity was “phenomenal.”
Menlo Park had an open house in the Willows district with over 100 visitors.
Berkeley, Oakland/Piedmont, Pleasanton, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Walnut
Creek, San Francisco and Orinda all reported exceptional turnout as
well.
The higher-end homes continue to do well in many areas. Menlo Park
notes brisk sales activity in the $1-3M dollar range. A $4.9M property
in San Francisco received an offer immediately upon coming on the market
and was ratified. Mind you, this was after excellent leadership from
the Coldwell Banker co-listing agents on preparing, staging, pricing,
and timing which began several months ago. Southern Marin also notes
that the high end remains active.
Multiple offers are still the rule of thumb in many areas – especially
in desirable niche markets where sellers are heeding the advice of their
real estate professionals and allowing for the proper staging and pricing
that helps homes sell more quickly. More than 60 properties were in
multiple offer situations. Menlo Park office reports a Palo Alto property
listed at $2.5M received seven offers and ratified for quite a bit over
list price. In San Francisco, one property in the Sunset received 24
offers while another received 28! Redwood City, Orinda, Palo Alto and
San Mateo also saw many multiple offer situations. The Lombard office
in the City reminds us that most of the South of Market condo sales
are going solo.
Overall, we are seeing strengthening inventory and good movement in
sales in most areas. Listing inventory was reported as increasing by
eight offices, decreasing by only three offices, and steady by 17. Sales
activity increased for nine offices, decreased for five offices and
remained steady for 13, and more than 250 offers were ratified. I have
heard reports of some excellent floor calls at the up-desk this past
week. Perhaps we’re getting our typical spring season just a little
bit later this year. We’ll gladly accept the new listing inventory,
as we are selling them a very acceptable pace.
Rick Turley
President
Coldwell Banker SF/Peninsula
