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San Ramon Valley Real Estate - Looking Back at 2010

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Accord

There is an old Chinese curse that says "May you live in interesting times" and it certainly seems that the past few years have been interesting in terms of Real Estate values. But are things getting better or worse? Let's take a look.

We entered 2010 with mortgage interest rates around 5.5%. Now they are closer to 5% but they fell to levels around 4.25% during the year. Still 5% is pretty good, so there are grounds for some optimism there. Now lets see if we can expand that to changes in San Ramon Valley home values through the year. If you are a first-time buyer in the lower priced market, you would probably hope to see falling prices, while if you are a settled home owner in a four or five thousand square foot home anywhere in the San Ramon Valley, you would probably hope that values were moving upwards.

Analyzing The Value Of The "Typical" San Ramon Valley Home

As always, I like to compare like with like, so let us first take into consideration, a four bedroom detached single family  home with between 1800 and 2500 square feet of living space. This is depicted in the upper of the three charts below.

Chart

 The figures are interesting to say the least. Although prices continued to fall into the second quarter of the year, the third and fourth quarters increased in this popular segment of the market. Interestingly though, compared with prices in this segment in 2009, the final average sale prices was just 1.5% lower than a year ago. It certainly looks like prices in the San Ramon Valley have stabilized to me.

Now look at the second chart, this time for three bedroom homes. Here we can see a spike in the second quarter (probably a direct effect of competition as people rushed to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit) but the year ended very much as it started

Chart

Finally, let's take a look at the higher end - the luxury home market. Even here, as can be seen in the bottom chart, prices seemed to have recovered nicely. Certainly the second quarter gave some concern but things started to turn around in the third quarter and continued into the fourth.

Chart

Not Such A Bad Year

So it would seem that most home owners in the San Ramon Valley will have seen their home values stabilize in 2010 and barring any unforeseen crises, I would anticipate a similar pattern in 2011. Perhaps with some increases in value in some areas.  This may not be what you will read in the newspapers but you can't argue with the facts. This data is actual sales figures from the Multiple Listing Service.

What To Do With This Information

If you believe, as I do, that prices, in the main, are likely to start rising soon, and interest rates will do the same, then it may be time to make your move. This is particularly true if you are a first time buyer, or a move up buyer, so you can avoid paying higher interest rates.

If you would like to get a similar analysis tailored exactly for your home, anywhere in the San Ramon Valley or Lamorinda, just give me a call or send me an email. I will respond quickly.