“I'm always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where I've been.”
Billie Holiday
The real estate market has been like that …. Really? The real estate market has never left. Over the course of this recession, the double dip, the triple dip, the comeback – homes have been listed and homes have sold. Only NOW the numbers are looking a tad bit better today.
The National REALTOR® Association recently reported our Bay Area, which is including Oakland and San Jose, are the “newcomers” to their list of the 25 Top Turnaround Towns. Oakland ranks sixth out of the Top 25 and San Jose ranks 24th.
So what does this mean?
“We continue to see signs of stabilization and recovery on the local level throughout the country, basing analysis on the real-time nature and accuracy of the Realtor.com data,” said Steve Berkowitz, CEO of Realtor.com operator, Move, Inc. “By all indications, the 2012 housing market is unfolding as we expected, and we’re encouraged with the progress local markets are making. However, much will depend on the continued health of our economy, specifically job rates, and how lenders will release their foreclosure inventories now that the 49 state AG Agreement has been signed. All of these key factors will determine how quickly our local housing markets recover and remain healthy.”
The report went further to say,
“6. Oakland, CA is showing the vital signs of a turnaround based on Realtor.com’s first quarter 2012 data. With an unemployment rate of 8.7%, far below California’s 11.4%, Oakland’s economy is growing. In the first quarter of 2012, median list prices in Oakland are up 7.07% compared to the same time last year, and inventory is moving 46.43% faster during the same time period. These factors were enough to move Oakland into the sixth spot on the Realtor.com list of Top Turnaround Towns. Also, in January 2012 the New York Times ranked Oakland fifth on its list of 45 places to go in 2012. Today, Oakland’s market is a huge contrast to the -41.6% decline in median sale price it saw from first quarter of 2006 to the third quarter of 2010.
Major draws: From foodies to history buffs, Oakland offers something for everyone. Every January, the city hosts Restaurant Week where gourmets explore the exciting culinary scene. Jack London buffs can experience the call of the wild on the history walk named for the author, which leads to his favorite waterfront spots.”
And
“24. San Jose, CA Bay Area home sales had their strongest March in five years, which can be partially attributed to high-priced single-family home sales and a strong condo market. Month-over-month sales of all types of homes in the Bay Area were up 35% in March and up 9% on a year-over-year basis. Santa Clara County saw year-over-year quarterly sales price gains for single-family homes of 1.3% to $535,000. San Jose benefitted from the increased demand for homes, as list prices in the first quarter of 2012 rose 6.67% compared to the same time last year. A -34.59% drop in for-sale inventory is also helping to boost price gains. The median age of inventory of for sale homes in San Jose in the first quarter of 2012 is now just 59 days, down -18.06% from the same period a year ago. San Jose made the list of Cities Where Real Estate is Ripe for a Rebound issued by Forbes in January 2012.
What’s fun in San Jose: Its home to the Winchester Mystery House, the former residence of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester’s widow, Sarah. The four-story mansion was under construction day and night for 38 years and now serves as a spooky tourist attraction full of dead ends and doors leading nowhere. The city also has the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden, a 5.5-acre garden with more than 3,500 rose bushes.”
As we recently posted, our real estate market in the Bay / Peninsula area is getting stronger and a bit healthier. We all know it hasn’t been easy these last few years with extremely high unemployment, high numbers of distressed housing and all round bad economic news. But after the real estate bubble burst to now, the real estate market has been still ticking along.
So, with the lower inventories, housing prices at 2002 levels, and historically low mortgage rates, now is the time to buy your home! Contact us today to find out how to get started. Don’t wait, because with the better real estate market, higher housing prices are just around the corner!
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