"The week of June19-25th showed a bit of an upswing. Although
the market is not moving anywhere near the velocity of last year, the
best priced and staged homes are selling in historically short periods
of time. Yes, more homes are available than we have seen since 2003,
but are nowhere near the slow cycles of the early 80’s and 90’s.
"We are seeing fewer multiple offers around the Bay with the exception
of the SF/Peninsula where percentages run from 20-75% of listings sold
being involved in multiple offers. We are still having shortages of
good listings in the SF/Peninsula market under the $1-1.5 mil. price
range and the upper ends of those markets still are moving where there
are shortages of available listings.
"Open house activity is slowing, particularly for the listings
that are being held open for the 3rd or 4th times. Well priced and prepared
homes being held open for the first time are attracting large groups
of buyers. There are still plenty of buyers looking; they are just taking
longer to make their decisions. The volume of price reductions has increased
as motivated sellers are trying to find buyer price points. I am attaching
an article from the Wall
Street Journal discussing the advantages of different pricing
and reduction strategies.
"What we are noticing is that the flow of new listings coming
on the market is beginning to slow. I think over the next several months
we will see those sellers that don’t have a compelling reason to
sell taking their homes off the market. This will be a positive sign
for the market as it will accurately reflect the true inventory available.
Now is a great time for buyers as choice is at the highest point in
years and interest rates are still under 7% which is historically low.
"Here are the numbers for the week: 14 offices reported increasing
inventories, 13 steady and 5 decreasing----8 offices showed increasing
activity 19 steady and 5 decreasing."
Avram Goldman
President and COO
Coldwell Banker SF/Bay Area
