"Something must be afoot. Eleven offices reported increasing sales
activity---a number we haven’t seen in many a moon. Most offices
(20) saw steady activity and only one showed decreasing activity.
"Are buyers beginning to sense that it is time to move with no
guarantees that interest rates will remain low and that well priced
and merchandised properties will not sit on the market? Or are sellers
becoming more realistic in their pricing? We are seeing a number of
price reductions. Are sellers becoming more flexible in their negotiation?
I think it is probably all of the aforementioned. This is a good sign
for both buyers and sellers.
"More listed properties are expiring and not being re-listed allowing
inventories to modulate. There has been a pick up of the number of offices
(65%) reporting multiple offers---most of these transactions receiving
2-4 offers and sometimes selling at full price and in some cases a little
below listed price. It is still important that sellers realize that
pricing and merchandising are essential to attract offers and most significant
that offers are going to take some time to negotiate.
"An interesting phenomenon is that the highest end of the market
is moving. We had a $19 mil. sale on the Peninsula and two $10 mil transactions
in San Francisco---reaffirming that those with significant resources
are still bullish on real estate.
"Open house activity is steady. Still seeing the best activity
on those homes opened for the first time. Buyers are still being deliberate
in their decision making process---making sure they feel confident that
the properties they are writing on have long term value.
"Here are the numbers for the week: Twelve offices reported increasing
listing inventories, 15 steady and 5 decreasing---11 offices saw increasing
sales activity, 20 steady and 1 decreasing."
Avram Goldman
President and COO
Coldwell Banker SF/Bay Area
