Weekly Market Watch

Coldwell Banker Weekly Market Watch
Week ending February 17, 2008

Economic news was sketchy again this week, with housing-related headlines continuing to point out the scary negatives. Fortunately, we continue to see a surprising amount of interest from buyers who are deciding to take the plunge. Really, the deals that are out there are getting to be irresistible, and with mortgage rates starting to creep back up (though still at near historic lows) buyers are recognizing that now really just may be the best time to buy.

Sales are increasing in all price ranges in many areas, and it is perhaps the passing of the economic stimulus package that is spurring these buyers into bringing their checkbooks with them when they’re looking at properties. Buyers are also being properly educated by the real estate industry and doing their research – not just being scared by skewed headlines. Now they’re jumping in while the deals are out there. We are also starting to see homes that have been on the market for quite awhile starting to get multiple offers and selling. First time buyers are also finding affordable, desirable homes in lower price ranges and through REO sales – and they’re buying them. It is not uncommon now to see multiple offers on REO's.

In San Francisco, as in other parts of the Bay Area, the high-end market remains particularly strong with homes well over the $1 million mark in high demand. The were 15 offers on a two-unit building in San Francisco Lake Street neighborhood, and popular homes in desirable neighborhoods are back to seeing buyers letters, agent interviews and selling prices “way over” the listing. A Burlingame property had seven offers and sold for $125,000 over the listing price. A San Mateo home sold for $3 million without even being put on the MLS. Parts of the Peninsula keep seeing this phenomenon occurring, as are other areas. It’s worth keeping in mind that many of these off-market sales aren’t included in sales figures collected and reported by the media. Everything isn’t as bleak as some would have us believe.

Open houses continue to be surprisingly busy in almost all areas, even during a traditionally slower holiday weekend. We held more than 480 homes open last week and saw groups in the double digits in all price ranges viewing them. A new listing in Novato had 30 groups through it, and multiple properties in Petaluma saw groups ranging in size from 25 to 65 in attendance. Exceptional activity was also reported from Berkeley, Castro Valley, San Francisco, Redwood City, Danville, Walnut Creek and San Rafael.

Buyers and sellers who choose to succeed now have an unprecedented opportunity to do so. Continue to educate them using tools such as Reality Check as well as your extremely valuable local expertise on particular communities. In today's market, Buyers and Sellers need your professional guidance more than ever. Looking forward to seeing you at our ’08 Sales Kick-Off event a week from Monday, on March 3rd!

Have a great week.
Rick

Rick Turley
President, San Francisco/Peninsula
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage