REAL ESTATE UPDATE: “True” Spring Season

As we enter our "true" Spring season (April, May, June) - I think that it is interesting to look at some recent data.

Chart 1 looks at the number of single-family homes sold in March 2019 vs March 2020 for Berkeley and Oakland. The number of sold single family homes are down 41% in Berkeley and 31% in Oakland in 2020.  COVID 19 appeared to hit the Real Estate market in the 2nd week in March as I saw first-hand offers not coming in on listings that I had and clients pulling out of writing offers that they were really excited about. The third week in March, things pretty much were at a standstill, with many offices closed and SIP firmly in place.

Chart 2 gives a bit more of a broad view, as I think we had a very robust January and February 2020 in terms of single-family home sales in Berkeley and Oakland (this slide does NOT include April 2020 stats). Without including the month April, it looks like we are down 22% in Berkeley and 21% in Oakland in terms of single-family home sold.  I think April 2020 will be an interesting month to watch. As agents attempt to "virtually" stage, show and then sell a home. April will also be interesting to see how lenders process loans and how appraisers do their jobs during COVID. How much additional time will both these entities really need? Likewise, and perhaps the biggest elephant in the room - have prices dropped, flattened and by what %? April and May will be very telling months in gauging the health of the Inner East Bay real estate market. Stay tuned and feel free to reach out to me directly.