"Fall is in the air. Maybe the sales bump we have been looking
for may be coming. This is the first week since the spring that we had
more offices increasing in sales activity than declining. This could
bode well for the remainder of the year. Over half of our offices had
multiple offer transactions, however the percentage of multiple offers
to single offers have fallen off. The strongest multiple offer markets
are in San Francisco and a few spots on the Peninsula. It gives further
substantiation that we are in a balanced market for most of our locations.
"Buyers are still singing that song 'Time is on My Side', being
cautious and deliberate before considering writing offers. Although
for those properties that are priced competitively and fully prepared
for the market, the buyers are singing a different song 'How Sweet it
Is', as it was for the Palo Alto home listed just under $1M garnering
9 offers and going well over list price. We are also seeing that those
sellers who readjust pricing are receiving positive results as they
did in Fremont were a seller in the $600,000 price range reduced their
price by $30,000 and entertained 3 offers and sold at the previous list
price. Buyers are particularly price sensitive.
"Open home activity is still active, especially for those homes
open for the first time. Offers are taking longer to put together as
buyers and sellers are negotiating over longer periods of time. It is
important for sellers to continue dialogues with buyers as those that
do are more successful of getting their homes into escrow. Interest
rates continue to drop creating more opportunity for buyers. There are
no guarantees that these rates will stay at these levels in the future.
This should be a motivator for buyers as they want to take advantage
of these rates.
"Here are the numbers for the week: 9 offices reported increasing
listing inventories, 16 steady and 3 decreasing---9 offices showed increasing
sales inventory, 14 steady and 5 decreasing."
Avram Goldman
President and COO
Coldwell Banker SF/Bay Area
