Finally, More Bay Area Housing Inventory Arrives After 16 Months of Declines

So many of my clients have been frustrated by the lack of home inventory in our local market. It looks like we’re finally getting a bit of relief. Read the terrific executive summary below from Pacific Union’s Chief Economist and VP of Business Intelligence:

  • The Bay Area’s decline in home sales (including single-family and condominiums) improved in July, with only 3 percent less activity year over year after a 13 percent decline in June.
    • Compared with last summer (May through July), sales were slower in Santa Clara, Napa, Sonoma, Marin, and San Mateo counties.
    • Sales activity declined by 19 percent in Marin County and by 13 percent in Santa Clara County.
    • Sales of homes priced above $1 million — and especially those above $3 million — continued to fare better than they did last year.
    • Only Marin County saw a decline in sales of homes priced between $2 million and $3 million, down by 7 percent year over year.
  • Inventory finally improved, up by 2 percent, after 16 consecutive months of year-over-year declines.
    • Most Bay Area counties saw inventory improve in July.
    • Inventory above $1 million increased by 17 percent, mostly driven by more homes for sale in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
    • Only Sonoma and Napa counties gained inventory below $1 million, up by 17 percent and by 5 percent respectively
    • In contrast, San Francisco still lost inventory across all price ranges in July, declining by 14 percent. Contra Costa County saw inventory drop by 5 percent from July 2017.
  • Absorption rates continued to decline in Silicon Valley and Marin County, followed by Sonoma County.
  • Fewer homes sold for more than asking price in Silicon Valley, Marin County, and Sonoma County.
  • Overall Bay Area absorption rates for homes priced more than $3 million increased by 11 percent points, from 34 percent last July to 45 percent this July.
  • The Bay Area’s median home price rose by 12 percent from July 2017.
  • We expect median price growth to return to its recent five-year-average of less than 10 percent.

If you would like to read the full report, you can find it here on the Pacific Union site.

About David Weil

With almost 20 years of experience in residential real estate, David brings exceptional character, expertise, and client focus to Granoski | Weil & Associates, a premier Mid-Peninsula luxury real estate group. David is one the area’s top luxury real estate professionals and advisors ranked in top 1% of local agents.

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