San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for 7/10 - 7/16/06
Avram Goldman, President and COO of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco Bay Area said in his latest weekly report:The market always seeks equilibrium after a period of rapid appreciation. Between 2003 and 2005 sellers experienced accelerated appreciation. Many properties increased in value from 30-80%. This kind of appreciation cannot be sustained. There is an old expression sellers are 6 months behind the market and buyers are 6 months ahead of the market. This has been particularly true of the first half of this year. We are seeing that sellers are becoming more in tune with the new reality. It is not 2005 prices. The number of multiple offers has slowed in many areas to a trickle. There are some areas that are exceptions, but those are due to lack of inventory and built up buyer demand. For example the 20 offers on a $699.000 fixer in Palo Alto or the 27 offers on a Parkside fixer in San Francisco. These are not the norm. However what it does show is the market is still active when buyers see true value.
Most buyers today are much more pragmatic than a year ago. In areas were we have seen large run up of inventories there is no sense of urgency. Sellers are beginning to understand this new environment. We have been seeing increased numbers of price reductions. Sellers are becoming more willing to do the work necessary to merchandise their properties. For those sellers that do, they will reap the rewards. For those that don’t, their properties will remain on the market or eventually decide not to sell. Buyers will move once they see the value.
In many market places we are still seeing good open house activity. This is especially true of homes held open for the first time. After the first time, activity lessens. Buyers are on the hunt---looking for that house that has real value in their eyes. When they find it they are moving on it. This is certainly an opportune time for buyers---given the selection of properties and their increase negotiating power.
Here are the numbers for the week of July 10-16: 10 offices showed increased listing inventories, 17steady and 1 decreasing---8 offices reported increased sales activity, 14 steady and 6 decreasing.
- Avram Goldman
* For an e-mail alert when this report is updated, send a note to info@SFResidence.com with "weekly market report" in the subject line.
posted by SFResidence.com @ 10:54 PM
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