San Francisco Real Estate - Residential

San Francisco Real Estate Market Update for 10/16 - 10/22/06

Avram Goldman, President and COO of Coldwell Banker, San Francisco Bay Area said in his latest weekly report:

"Finally, the diet is kicking in----inventories are shrinking. Forty percent of our offices reported diminishing inventories and only eighteen percent reported inventories increasing. The rest were steady. Those sellers that do not have a pressing need to sell are either staying put or leasing their homes.

"San Francisco and the Peninsula overall have seen a boost in sales. Twelve of fifteen offices reported having multiple offers. Some as high as 50%. We are noticing a modest fall surge. This also includes Sonoma County which has come to life. Sellers have become more accustomed to what it takes to sell. Pricing and preparation are keys. Two-thirds of our offices experienced multiple offers over the past week. In the Ingleside district of San Francisco a listing priced at $549,000 had 20 offers and went well over asking. The East Bay still remains a bit sluggish, as well as the Monterey Peninsula.

"Buyers are out in force. An open home in Ladera had over 100 groups. Buyers are still not making quick decisions, but they seem more poised to make offers. Transactions take longer to put together and require more work to keep together. Patience is a virtue to creating a sale. The upper end appears to be warming up. We had a $5 million sale in our Menlo Park Santa Cruz office.

"Have we stabilized? Has the market found equilibrium? Only time will tell. The last two months of 2005 slowed. If the next two months exceed open sales from last year there may be a marked shift. Keep tuned.

"The numbers for the week are as follows: 5 offices showed increasing inventories, 14 steady and 12 decreasing---sales activity looked like this 6 offices increasing, 18 steady and 7 decreasing."

- Avram Goldman

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posted by SFResidence.com @ 7:26 AM