Berkeley real estate market is nearly unchanged when compared with the frenetic activity in the surrounding cities.
For the statisticians and other folks who prefer graphs to see what's going on a specific market, here's a snapshot of what it looks like in Berkeley CA, comparing the market the past two years, starting in October 2007 - October 2009.
People will see different things and interpret this information in different ways --- I guess it depends on what you want to see or what you hope will happen.
in the meantime, here's what the data is SHOWING us.
MONTHS SUPPLY OF INVENTORY I like starting with the months supply of inventory. When there are more buyers than there are sellers, it means that it's a seller's market. The higher the months inventory, the more it becomes a seller's market. Traditonally, if the the months inventory is more than six months, it's a buyer's market, and vice versa.
In Berkeley the months' inventory was 2.6 in October 2007, and 1.6 in October 2009. This difference is almost insignificant --- but it is an amazing picture to show the movement in the Berkeley market. The inventory levels mirrors the activity in other cities in the East Bay.
UNDER CONTRACT Homes under contract peaked in
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- June 2008 (68 in contract),
- April 2009 (66)
- October 2009 (65)
Fewest contracts were recorded in January 2008.That would have been a time when a buyer would have had more negotiating power.
MEDIAN PRICE The median price was the lowest in March 2009 and bounced back in April. Prices increased again. Although not at the peak recorded in June 2008 when median price was a $640K, October 2009's median price is close enough at $696K
SUPPLY AND DEMAND Here's a good way to correlate number of properties sold (demand) with number of properties for sale (supply). This chart shows almost no change. Demand is nearly flat.
DAYS ON MARKET So, how long do the Berkeley properties stay on the market before they have accepted offers? With the exception of December 2008 where the average daays on market peaked to over 90 days, the average days on market is steady at between 30-40 days.
Good for the sellers and their agents! While buyers and their agents are on notice that they should be fleet of foot when searching for property and when strategizing on their offers.
So...what are these graphs telling you?
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