"The weather was hot, the market was not. The summer months
have historically been a slower time of the year for sales, but this
combined with the unseasonably hot weather and the uncertainty of world
events may have additionally taken the market down a gear. This is a
general overview of the market. As I have said in past reports, you
cannot oversimplify the distinct Bay Area markets.
"For example open houses in SF and the upper half of San Mateo
county were well attended, maybe because they were the coolest parts
of the region. Multiple offers were still strong in Berkeley, Burlingame,
So. Marin, Palo Alto, parts of Menlo Park and the southern half of San
Francisco.
"Buyers are continuing to be cautious and patient in their purchases.
The demand is out there, it is just not exercising itself. Again the
trend for sellers is that those homes that are well prepared for the
market and priced at or below current market values are selling. We
are seeing increasing numbers of price reductions as sellers are felling
their way to find the new pricing levels. The number of expired listings
is increasing as those sellers who do not have an immediate need to
sell are pulling their homes off the market.
"As the number of sales slow and new listings continue to come
on the market, inventories in the North and East Bay continue to rise.
The SF Peninsula with few exceptions is holding steady. The upper end
inventories of a number of markets are beginning to see their levels
increase. A nice surprise is sales activity has picked up on the Monterey
Peninsula, as the 2nd home buyers have reappeared.
"Here are the numbers for the week of July 17-23rd: 7 offices
reported increasing listing inventories, 18 steady and 5 decreasing---sales
activity increased in 2 offices, 18 steady and 10 decreasing."
Avram Goldman
President and COO
Coldwell Banker SF/Bay Area
