Choose the market experts to be your real estate agent.

Bay Area Real Estate Market Newsletter ("BAREMN") as of March 5, 2002


Executive Summary (based on single family home market)

The Bay Area Real Estate Market remains hot. Indications are that 2002 will be a good year from the Owner’s/Seller’s point of view. After two record-breaking months, December and January, volume of sales during February remained very close to record levels. The number of days a property is on the market is now falling. This trend is especially noticeable for the properties where offers were accepted during February. Remember that DOM is a lagging indicator.

Sold prices are still mixed but up significantly in SCC. All five Counties saw an improvement in the Sold price to List price ratio and the percentage of properties selling for over asking price. Prices are one of the last indicators to show changes in market trends, as they are reflective of what happened 90 days ago. Most indications are positive. This means that the first quarter of 2002 could see significant improvements including price appreciation. Although the median price will not reach the previous record set in early 2001, it is possible that property values, especially at the low end of the market will be setting new records. This is possible because the high-end is still relatively slow which artificially holds down the median price.

The market may be kept in reasonable balance because of the 4,300 properties that came off the market without selling during 2001. Many of these properties will come back on the market causing a higher than normal inventory to help satisfy the record breaking demand.