San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for
week of
May 25, 2008
Note: While Avram Goldman is no longer with Coldwell Banker, he is still a friend and associate with an excellent handle on San Francisco Real Estate:
Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers in the Pink Panther) would say the market is “comme ci comme ca” ( so so). Meaning that not much has changed in the last 30 days. The real estate market certainly has improved from the beginning of the year. However, it appears to be lumbering along. A bit up one week and a little slower the next week.
Multiple offers picked up from the previous week and we are now back over 20% of our transactions receiving more than one offer. Ninety-five percent of those transactions went over list price. One listing in the Richmond district in San Francisco, listed at over $2 mil., went considerably over asking price. A No. Berkeley 2 bedr. one bath home listed at $650K received 11 offers while another 2 bedr. 1 bath in the same area priced at $779K garnered 8 offers. Obviously No. Berkeley entry level homes are in short supply. The majority of multiple offers continue to occur in San Francisco and the Berkeley/Piedmont/Montclair and Rockridge areas of the East Bay.
The number of sales was also up over the previous reporting period. Much like the financial markets, the housing market, is at the vagaries of attractive listings, economic news and seasonal influences (weddings, graduations and holidays). For a Memorial Day weekend open homes were fairly well attended, particularly a few in the East Bay---one in the Upper Lakeshore area of Oakland had 80 guests and another in No. Berkeley (surprise) entertained 75. Most opens had between 8-20 buyers---a nice crowd given the holiday weekend.
Economically speaking, there is still much controversy as to whether we are out of the woods. Some say we still have rough sledding ahead while others think we have seen the worst. I have attached a WSJ interview with Barton Biggs, a long-time investment strategist stating that the worst is over. Given his experience and past record (more right than wrong), brighter days could be ahead.
Avram
Avram Goldman
President and CEO
Pacific Union GMAC Real Estate
One Letterman Drive, Bldg. C Ste. 300
San Francisco, CA 94129-1492Direct 415.345.3788
Cell 925.323.8881
Fax 415.561.2158
