East Bay Real Estate Market Booming with Inventory and Buyer Confidence
Oakland, CA (PRWEB) July 25, 2013 -- The East Bay real estate market is booming as homes sell on average 11 percent over asking. Interestingly, if buyers ignore over-priced homes and look at homes prices at or below market value that sell over asking, they sell 10 percent (Kensington) to 19 percent (Piedmont) over asking.
Red Oak Realty, a prominent East Bay real estate brokerage, has released an in-depth, non-biased analysis of the East Bay real estate market for Q2 2013. The analysis includes results based on home sales and market data with year over year comparisons for the communities that Red Oak Realty primarily serves including Oakland, Piedmont, Berkeley, Kensington, Albany, El Cerrito, Richmond, and the surrounding areas.
While homes are selling further over asking than any time on record, home prices are NOT selling higher than peak. So what does this mean for buyers? Even though the market is competitive, the ultimate sale price for Q2 2013 did not exceed historical market highs. Red Oak Realty compared Q2 2013 with Q2 2007 and Q2 2000, finding that East Bay homes sold 11 and 10 percent respectively over the original list price. Until this year, these were the highest on record.
This recent spike is driven by a hot real estate market combined with the right seller strategies in which a property is listed below market value to encourage competitive offers.
“The key to success is helping a client understand how to navigate the East Bay real estate market so they understand what their search perimeters should be,” said Art White, sales manager at Red Oak Realty. “It’s important to know that homes are selling 10 to 20 percent above the original list price so they can accommodate for that overage. However, with inventory finally increasing, we expect the ‘price over asking’ metric to decrease in Q3 so we will adjust our buying strategies accordingly.”
Increased inventory
2013 has been a record setting year with the lowest inventory and highest buyer demand on record nationwide. But a tipping point came in Q1 2013 as inventory finally increased at the end of March.
• In March the number of active properties in the East Bay was down 59 percent versus the same time last year.
• At the end of June, the number of active properties was down just 11 percent.
• Active inventory has more than doubled (116 percent) since the beginning of 2013.
Median Home Prices
Median home prices in the East Bay are up significantly. According to East Bay data, the median price is $615,000, a 43 percent increase year over year and the highest on record since Q4 2007. While this increase is impressive, it still does not match the all-time high of $700,000 in Q2 2007.
• Today’s median home price in the East Bay is 12 percent from its peak in Q2 2007.
• Oakland home prices are up 64 percent from this time last year.
• In Q2 2013, 15 percent of all home sales in the East Bay were above $1 million with more properties sold above $1 million than any time since Q2 2007.
Distressed volume continues to decline
More homeowners are no longer "under water" which allows them to either sell without being "short" or hold on to their property to build equity.
• In Q2 2013, only 14 percent of sales were short sales or Real Estate Owned (listed in the MLS).
• Compare this to Q1 2009 when 75 percent of sales were distressed.
About Red Oak Realty
Red Oak Realty, with offices in Berkeley and Oakland, is celebrating its 36th year in the business and remains independently owned and operated. The company primarily serves Oakland, Piedmont, Berkeley, Kensington, Albany, El Cerrito, Richmond and surrounding areas.
Jamie Soper, Red Oak Realty, http://redoakrealty.com, +1 4152545549, [email protected]
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