What’s Going On With Real Estate?
FAQs
How has buyer interest been in the last couple of weeks?
Buyer interest has been very strong since early May. As we moved through phase 1 and into phase 2 of SIP, buyer confidence has largely returned. To help illustrate current demand, our office listed a house in Oakland that received 100 disclosures requests and received 18 offers! There are 2 conclusions we can glean from this data: multitudes of buyers are looking and demand is high!
Have Sellers changed the way they price their property for sale during COVID?
As many of you know, Bay Area home sellers are known to under-price homes in hopes of garnering lots of interest and receiving multiple bids. This strategy has worked for several years. During the earliest weeks of SIP, however, sellers began pricing properties closer to their expectations to reduce the number of visitors to their listing for safety reasons. In the last couple of weeks, it seems this change has confused some buyers and caused some unexpected drops in interest levels for the houses that were “transparently priced”. This has resulted in some hard to de-code, inconsistent list prices. My prediction is that now that the housing market has returned closer to normal levels, under-pricing will resume. When in doubt about a list price, just reach out to me and I would be happy to translate! 😊
Interest Rates this Week
Interest rates are still low. 3.25% on a 30 Year Conventional Loan with 20% down.
What’s on the market?
Market Activity
This week in Alameda, 4 properties have Sold (all slightly above list price largely due to the market pricing technique). This same time last year, 13 properties Sold (2 at list price and 11 sold above the list price).
If you’d like data for any other cities, let me know.
Friends,
As always, let me know if I can be of service.
I hope you and your family continue to stay well,
Sophia
