East Bay Housing Data – Glen’s Numbers through August 2011

The August numbers are in and for the fourth month in a row we’ve seen another slight decrease in inventory, a 9% drop since the end of April. This isn’t typical because we’re usually just starting to back off about this time of year.

We saw nearly a 32% increase last year during the same period. The months supply for the combined 38 city area that I track is now 3 months, slightly below normal.

Our Pending/Active Ratio has increased slightly to 1.06, again slowly returning towards a “normal” market range. Keep in mind that this number is overstated due to the large number of short sales that remain in pending status for longer periods than normal.

Distressed properties, (REOs and Short Sales), are still a large part of our local markets. Although this is slowly becoming less of a factor with listings.  47% of the active listings, 73% of our pending sales (primarily due to the large number of short sales – 56%), and 49% of the sales over the last 4 months are distressed properties.

From Around the Web…

Last month’s sales fell harder in the higher price ranges: The number of $500,000-plus homes sold dropped 25.4 percent month-to-month and 19.2 percent year-over-year.

“There’s certainly a lot more discretionary buying in the higher price ranges,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president. “A lot of those buyers have the option to just take it or leave it and, lately, it looks like more have been leaving it. There was a lot of uncertainty out there over the economy, home prices and the nation’s future. And that was before the stock market turbulence hit in early August.”

– DQNews: Bay Area Housing Market Takes a Breather

“Home buying will be conservative in the months ahead until we get a sense of which direction this economy is heading,” said Robert Dye, chief economist at Comerica Inc. in Dallas, who forecast a decline for July. “No one wants to buy into a soft housing market. We’ve seen prices remain soft in many areas.”

– Existing home sales unexpectedly dropped in July – Alex Kowalski, Bloomberg News

As always, I’m available if you want to talk about the market, or explore your options for buying, selling or investing in East Bay real estate. You can reach me directly at 510.333.4460.

You can download an entire copy of Glen’s East Bay Housing Numbers Through August 2011 here.

Looking Closer into the East Bay REO & Short Sale Market

When I was compiling my latest set of East Bay Housing Numbers, I decided to take a closer look at the distressed property market and chart the sales since the beginning of 2007.

The graphs consist of all sales on a month by month basis for both Contra Costa and Alameda Counties. It also shows what portion of sales were distressed property (both REO and Short Sales) since the beginning of 2007 to current April 2011 numbers.

The influence of distressed properties reached their peak during the first quarter of 2009, consisting of 72% to 76% of all sales in Alameda County, and 81% to 83% of all sales in Contra Costa County.

While the number of REO sales has since declined to its current levels, (48% in Contra Costa County and 55% in Alameda County), the number of short sales have gradually increased, now almost as much of a factor on sales as REOs.

Top 8 Luxury Bank Owned Homes for Sale in Berkeley, Ca

Showing properties 1 - 8 of 19. See more High End Berkeley REO.
(all data current as of 2/22/2012)

1. $599,000 : 1225 Dwight Way, BERKELEY
   
   3 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,510 sq ft

   Lot size: 3,920 sq ft

   Year built: 1922

   Parking spots: 1

   Days on market: 49
2. $503,900 : 2425 EDWARDS ST, BERKELEY
   
   3 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,338 sq ft

   Lot size: 3,484 sq ft

   Year built: 1920

   Days on market: 20
3. $474,900 : 2218 WOOLSEY ST, BERKELEY
   
   2 beds, 1 full bath

   Home size: 1,100 sq ft

   Lot size: 3,920 sq ft

   Year built: 1928

   Parking spots: 1

   Days on market: 15
4. $429,900 : 1318 Kains Avenue, BERKELEY
   
   3 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,344 sq ft

   Year built: 1910

   Days on market: 61
5. $400,000 : 2022 WOOLSEY ST, BERKELEY
   
   3 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,321 sq ft

   Lot size: 3,999 sq ft

   Year built: 1904

   Parking spots: 1

   Days on market: 57
6. $399,900 : 2113 7TH ST, BERKELEY
   
   3 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,227 sq ft

   Lot size: 5,400 sq ft

   Year built: 1918

   Parking spots: 1

   Days on market: 50
7. $384,900 : 1831 Woolsey Street, BERKELEY
   
   3 beds, 1 full bath

   Home size: 1,459 sq ft

   Year built: 1930

   Days on market: 190
8. $369,900 : 2418 SACRAMENTO STREET, BERKELEY
   
   2 beds, 1 full bath

   Home size: 1,234 sq ft

   Lot size: 3,534 sq ft

   Year built: 1920

   Days on market: 33

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.