The sizzling Bay Area housing market cooled in August
following one of the most dramatic run-ups in recent years, according to a
report released Friday.
following one of the most dramatic run-ups in recent years, according to a
report released Friday.
After months of increases, single-family home sales dropped
3.2 percent from a year ago, and were down 8.8 percent from July, according to
real estate information service DataQuick. While the median single-family price
of $588,000 extended several months of double-digit annual gains, it was 3.9
percent lower than it was in July, the first such drop in six months, DataQuick
reported.
3.2 percent from a year ago, and were down 8.8 percent from July, according to
real estate information service DataQuick. While the median single-family price
of $588,000 extended several months of double-digit annual gains, it was 3.9
percent lower than it was in July, the first such drop in six months, DataQuick
reported.
The market is stabilizing, said Arvin Paredes of Keller
Williams in Campbell. “The competitive market made it super-exhausting for
people,” he said. “They’re exhausted from looking for places,
school’s back in, and the market tends to slow down seasonally in the
fall.”
Williams in Campbell. “The competitive market made it super-exhausting for
people,” he said. “They’re exhausted from looking for places,
school’s back in, and the market tends to slow down seasonally in the
fall.”
poster child for the new market conditions. He started looking for a home
several months ago but lost out several times to higher bidders. Recently,
though, he snagged a townhouse in San Jose.
offers, and people were bidding higher than what I was offering,” Kabel
said. “Now it’s calmed down quite a bit. Places are staying on the market
longer, prices are dropping and there’s much less competition.”
challenge in the coming months, said DataQuick’s Andrew LePage.
is that it will be a pleasurable experience for home shoppers,” he said.
“There is more to choose from and prices aren’t leaping any more.”
getting beaten out by higher bidders for homes in Pleasanton. Louis Marcoux, an
executive with a Pleasanton medical electronics firm, said they lost out on
three houses, only to win the fourth time around in August.
on the other homes, he said. “It is a better house, a better location, and
everything we were looking for. Prices started to cool down just a tiny bit by
the time we came to it. It’s definitely a little less competitive.”
expected to taper in the fall with fewer buyers, a greater selection of homes
to buy and rising mortgage rates.
said Lanny Baker, chief executive of Zip Realty. “Higher prices and higher
interest rates are causing that.”
single-family homes was $570,000, up 32.6 percent annually but unchanged from
July; in Contra Costa County, $435,000, up 39.4 percent annually but down 3.3
percent from July; in Santa Clara County, $744,500, up 24.1 percent from last
year but nearly unchanged from July, and in San Mateo County, $867,500, up 33.5
percent from last year and up 4.1 from July.
sale in some — but not all — parts of the Bay Area, giving buyers more
choices and more time to make a decision to buy. There are still multiple
offers and all-cash sales, but the number has dropped.
engineer in Southern California, can take his time shopping for a home in San
Ramon. “I have a lot of family members up there and it’s time for me to
slow down a little bit,” he said.
the right place. It’s taking longer to sell a home in Contra Costa County,
especially homes priced around $700,000 to $800,000, said Marilyn Cunningham of
Executive Brokers in Walnut Creek.
she said, a change from six months ago when “in three days you had at
least several offers. There’s definitely been a shift in the market.”
Nearly 10 percent of the homes listed last week in central
Contra Costa County had price reductions, said Kevin Kieffer, a Danville real
estate agent. He said some sellers overshot the market and had to pull back.
“There’s more of a selection for buyers, and more of an opportunity to
come in at the asking price or even below it,” he said.
Contra Costa County had price reductions, said Kevin Kieffer, a Danville real
estate agent. He said some sellers overshot the market and had to pull back.
“There’s more of a selection for buyers, and more of an opportunity to
come in at the asking price or even below it,” he said.
has dropped since August, the frenzy has eased because there are fewer buyers,
said Carl San Miguel, president of the Santa Clara County Association of
Realtors. “The pressure is off at this point,” he said.
Caroline Miller, president of the Silicon Valley Association
of Realtors, said a home that sold last week for $730,000 after a $5,000 price
reduction fetched three offers. “Two months ago I would have had six or seven offers on
this little house in Campbell as opposed to three or four,” Miller said.
Condos, which made up about a fifth of all sales, are still
going strong, with sales at an eight-year high for the month of August. The
median price of a condo was $445,000, up 39 percent from a year ago.