GOOD NEWS! Alameda sales are picking up!

It's happening! Properties are selling. As a matter of fact, compared to adjoining cities, we're beginning to see brisk movement.

HOMES IN CONTRACT
In March, we saw 70 properties go into contract --- and that's the second highest month in the previous two years (June 2006 was ahead by 74). That means that 24 percent of inventory sold that month.

Compare that to Berkeley where 54 out of 206 properties went pending, or 18% of inventory, In Oakland, 236 out of 3174 went pending, or 7 % of inventory.

SHORT SALES AND FORECLOSURES
From another perspective, we are also seeing our share of short sales and foreclosures.

Out of 163 active residential listings as of May 2, 2008, we have 17 short sales and bank-owned properties or 10% of total. Compare that to Berkeley with 16 out of 120, or 13% of total. Or Oakland with 788 out of 1816 or 43% of total.

PRICE IT AGGRESSIVELY
For a property to sell today, the sage advice is to price it ahead of the market (realistically speaking, even less than the nearest comparable). Classic example: a home on Garfield at the desirable east end of Alameda received an offer in less than 24 hours after it was posted and was accepted in 3 days. The secret? Price!

STAGING SELLS
And....without question, how it looks is critically important. Staging plays a very important role especially since there are many properties to choose from.

THERE ARE BUYERS OUT THERE
Serious buyers are seriously looking. Since I posted my new condo listing by the beach, we've had numerous showings, and we haven't even had our first open house yet.

TIME MAGAZINE SAYS "IGNORE THE HEADLINES"
Many Buyers believe they can afford to be choosy, and even wait. Maybe waiting isn't such a good thing. An article in Time Magazine on Feb. 14, 2008 makes the case against waiting to buy. It's titled "Ignore the Headlines". Here's the link to copy/paste.  http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1713483,00.html


WHAT'S HAPPENING
We are seeing a trend of more realistic and in many cases aggressive pricing among the homes for sale. Sellers are begining to see and accept the reality that the selling frenzy of two or even three years ago is no longer the case today. As such, they may be more willing to reduce the price when the REALTORs recommend it, and more willing to negotiate the terms.

Single family homes are still the draw. Even fixers are finding an audience. Sales of condominiums and townhouses slowed, and we've seen several price reductions. Condominiums are still taking a bit longer to sell, averaging about 70-75 days on market.