Market statistics for August 31, 2012 in Fremont, Ca.
I have supplied three charts showing the inventory of single family homes and condo/townhouses that are were posted for sale as of the end of January, end of July and end of August of this year in Fremont, Ca. In Fremont, as in many places in the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere, the inventory of houses for sale is unusually small. Real estate is cyclical and we have changed from a real estate market where there were plenty of homes for sale and not that many interested buyers to a market where eager buyers are pursuing a sharply reduced number of real estate buying opportunities. We don’t understand the reasons that there are so few houses for sale. We do know that lenders are releasing fewer REO properties onto the market. At the same time, strong buyer activity is pushing prices up somewhat which is stimulating some sellers who have been waiting for a better market to list their houses for sale. Some homeowners who have been somewhat but not far underwater on their mortgages are finding that an increase in value may move them to a positive equity position. These owners could be holding their homes off the market because they hope to salvage every penny possible from a sale when the time comes when they will sell and move on with their lives.
From the charts we can see that inventory is drastically down. REO and short sale listings have shrunk to near extinction.
What you cannot see from these charts is that buyer demand continues to be strong. The supply vs. demand equation is still out of balance in favor of sellers. Fremont is truly the scene of a “sellers’” real estate market. First time buyers are finding that it is challenging to buy the house that meets their needs when there are numerous other buyers, including cash-buyer investors, pursuing the same properties. With prices showing upward movement and interest rates remaining attractively low buyers are striving to buy before any change in financial conditions make buying even more expensive.
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