Coldwell Banker Weekly Market Watch

March 2007

The hot-and-cold-running microclimates of the past few weeks have apparently started to temper geographically. The typical spring onslaught of listings remains hesitant this year, though there has been a refreshing, if slight, up-tick in inventory in most areas. Most areas are also seeing stale inventory starting to sell, and not just due to price reductions but also to the limited selection available to buyers that are getting weary of the hunt.

While San Francisco and most of the Peninsula remain ravenous for homes to show and sell in all price categories, Burlingame, Castro Valley, Danville, Livermore, Oakland, Orinda, Redwood City, Santa Rosa, San Carlos and Woodside/Portola Valley all report an upswing in inventory coming on the market and are feeling more balanced activity.

Multiple offer situations are finally slowing down a bit, though upper-tier homes (and virtually anything in San Francisco) are continuing to see an increase in multiple and pre-emptive offers. There were 12 offers on a Portola Valley listing priced at $2,995,000. One Burlingame home that was listed at $1,388,000 had 13 offers and closed at $1,801,000. Reports from the North Bay indicate that the luxury market over $2 million is particularly hot in Greenbrae, Corte Madera, Larkspur and Ross, and Novato notes momentum in high-end sales as well. A Mill Valley tear-down priced at $800,000 sold significantly over asking and, in San Francisco, some high-end pre-emptives are going pre-MLS.

All in all, things continue to bode well for spring with listing inventory remaining steady for 14 offices, increasing for 14 and decreasing in only 2. Sales activity remains steady in 18 offices, increased for 5 offices and declined for 7. Over 220 offers were ratified and more than 70 multiple offer situations occurred.

We are seeing a slight effect from the sub prime mortgage issue. The first time buyer market in the Oakland area is feeling some pain as a few loans were cancelled and some first time buyer programs may be going away. The biggest impact seems to be from the media frenzy that has taken place and may be giving some buyers the jitters. Overall we should not be impacted too much from the situation. We will be keeping an eye on this for sure.

We may have lost an hour of sleep, but we gained an extra hour of daylight to get those homes ready for the market. Let's put it to good use this spring!