Most Bay Area homes continue to sell above their list prices — a phenomenon unique to our real estate markets when compared with the rest of the country.
According to recent research by Redfin, 65.3 percent of homes in the San Francisco metro area sold for more than list price in July, the largest percentage of any of the 35 U.S. metro areas included in the study. In San Jose, 62.1 percent of home sales involved a price premium, No. 2 in the country.
Nationwide, only 20.1 percent of homes sold above their list prices, Redfin noted, and the next market coming closest to San Francisco and San Jose was Los Angeles, with 35.4 percent of homes selling for more than list price.
The numbers speak to the continued demand for Bay Area homes, while the rest of the country sees a more pronounced shift in pricing power from sellers to buyers.
In the Bay Area, where available homes for sales remain in tight supply, the move to a more balanced market is proceeding relatively slowly
Redfin researchers noted that 23.7 percent of homes in the nation’s largest metro areas saw a drop in listing prices in July, compared with only 18 percent in the San Francisco area and 21.7 percent in San Jose. In Denver, meanwhile, 37.8 percent of homes had a drop in listing price.
Nationwide, the median sale price for homes was up 5.5 percent in July from a year earlier, with a 10.4 percent increase in San Francisco and a 5.9 percent rise in San Jose. According to Redfin’s research, San Francisco had the highest median sales price in the country in July: $900,000. San Jose ranked as the second priciest market, with a median sales price of $741,000.
Redfin predicted that an overall slowdown in home price growth, plus the move to more balanced markets, will result in an “unusual surge in home sales” this fall.
Here in the Bay Area, we’re also expecting a busy autumn real estate season. In response to a recent internal survey, the majority of Pacific Union real estate professionals polled reported a slowdown in Bay Area home sales over they summer but said that they expected an uptick after Labor Day.
(Image: Flickr/FutUndBeidl)