"It’s that same old song----buyers are slow to write and
sellers are still looking for reality. As our Sebastopol manager put
it, buyers have glue in their pockets and sellers have sugar plums on
their minds. A bit emphatic, but probably not too far from the truth
in Sonoma county. For the most part open house activity is still decent
and in some cases still quite active as evidenced by the 100 groups
that came through a new Millbrae listing. It is still amazing given
the current market that a third of our offices had 20% or more multiple
offers. Interesting to note is we are seeing a few marketplaces that
are experiencing both decreasing listings and sales. This could primarily
be due to fewer listings coming on the market at the same time more
listings expiring, while sales could be impacted by prime vacation season
before children go back to school.
"Nevertheless when buyers see value they move. In Half Moon Bay
where the market is beginning to pick up now that Hwy. 1 is open had
a $1.4 mil new construction listing that had several offers going over
by $400,000. Not the rule, but certainly shows that there are still
a number of serious buyers out there. Overall we have seen a slowing
this month, although in the past week momentum seems to be building
toward the Fall market.
"Price reductions do motivate buyers as seen by several listings
that have been on for some time receiving multiple offers, however sales
prices still went below the new list price. Merchandising is still the
name of the game. Houses still need to be presented in their best light,
this includes “reality pricing”, staging and dealing with
any deferred maintenance.
"A recent report in the newspaper said that this July was the
slowest July in 10 years. That would put it at the 1996 market. As I
recall 1996 was a nicely balanced market. Both consumers and the real
estate industry have been indulged by a very active market and accelerating
appreciation over the last 10 years. Now we are back to a regular real
estate market.
"The numbers for the week of August 7th-13th are as follows: 4
offices showed increasing listing inventories, 14 steady and 10 decreasing----6
offices reported increasing sales, 15 steady and 9 declining."
Avram Goldman
President and COO
Coldwell Banker SF/Bay Area
