“NorCal median home price plummets 41 percent”
NorCal median home price plummets 41 percent
A real estate tracking firm says the median home price plunged 41 percent last month in a nine-county region around San Francisco Bay, as homebuyers snapped up homes that had been foreclosed and otherwise discounted.Figures released Thursday by MDA DataQuick show the median sale price in the region declined to $375,000 October, compared to $631,000 in the year-ago period.
October’s median was down 6.3 percent from September and nearly 44 percent below the peak median of $665,000 in the summer of 2007.
Last month’s home sales climbed nearly 39 percent from a year ago to 7,613 and nearly 5 percent from September.
Foreclosure resales accounted for nearly 45 percent of preowned homes sold last month.
Bay Area H8ters will probably celebrating this news and throwing it in our face. But let’s be clear, this refers to the 9-county region in Northern California. I can’t even name all 9 - can you?
Come on folks, please write letters to the editor explaining to them the concept fo the Real Bay Area. It’s all about (most of) Santa Clara, (some of) San Mateo, and San Francisco county.
November 24th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Another doom and gloom article by SF Gate. Why is it always talking about counties outside of its service area?
November 24th, 2008 at 9:36 am
RE,
There’s much of the same story going on in the entire Bay Area though. The mix of homes selling right now is heavily reliant foreclosures. Now there’s two ways to look at this. On one hand, the “nice” areas are still clinging to somewhat higher prices. But then again, not many of those are selling. I can personally say that nothing in my neighborhood is selling that’s over $400,000. Then on the other hand, what is selling becomes the current median price, and since the median is tied to what foreclosures are going for, this will affect the overall median of the region. The question will be how much this will eventually erode those still holding out for higher wishing prices. Its pretty clear that there is resistance in buying higher priced properties.
November 24th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Bob says,
>>I can personally say that nothing in my neighborhood is selling that’s over $400,000.
What you’re seeing right now is the flight to quality. Buyers are more selective on which neighborhood they will buy into, what price level they will tolerate for a particular area, and whether the home has major issues.
I think your neighborhood has further to fall, so buyers are holding back. The cherry neighborhoods have a different mentality. Buyers are opportunistic, but they want in. Sellers are not desparate, so prices are holding even on low sales volume. If I were to summarize:
1. The higher end areas are doing better than the lower end.
2. The the higher priced homes in any given neighorhood (e.g. 800K+ in Santa Clara) are harder to sell compared to mid and lower priced homes (e.g. +- 500K in Santa Clara).
3. Homes with issues (e.g. on high traffic street, next to railroad, very small lot etc.) will struggle to sell.
November 24th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Yes sir, we’re cleared for takeoff on the flight to quality! Can I interest you in some in-flight service? I’ve got sticky pricing, default notices, and a fifth of deposit, or more!
Tonight’s movies will be The Money Pit and Pacific Heights. On audio, enjoy “Foreclosure of a Dream.”
(That’s for you, anon.)
November 24th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Yes, I remember the angry renter from Pacific Heights. That’s why renting should be banned so that they cannot do all those anti-social activities.
November 24th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Yes sir, we’re cleared for takeoff on the flight to quality!
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Wait, wait! Not so fast. Let me add some vagueness so that the statement can be justified and backfitted in every future condition. How about “desirablity” instead of “quality”? You know, like those “desirable homes” kind of things.
November 24th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Foreclosure of a dream? I do love me a courthouse auction…
November 24th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
How ironic - to have one’s dreams auctioned off to the highest bidder.
November 24th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
How ironic - to have one’s dreams auctioned off to the highest bidder.
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Yes, that American Dream - related to unreal estate stuffs.
November 24th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
The American dream is to be free.
A dream that can be ’sold’ never really was a dream at all. It is only the illusion of a dream.
November 24th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Illusion of a Dream - that sounds like another song title. But I’m still wokring on rhymes for credit default swap.