Real Estate Archives - Green Escrow Services, Inc

2021: An early forecast

October 29, 2020 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

Yes, there are still two months left in 2020 but real estate professionals are already looking ahead to 2021. After a steep decline in March and April, Bay Area real estate has rebounded with median home prices as high as they’ve ever been.

Analysts expect the trend to continue into early 2021. Currently, the inventory of available properties is at 1.9 months which definitely indicates a seller’s market. This could prices up even more.

While prices remain high – and are projected to climb even higher – historically low mortgage rates are a major inducement for buyers.

Luxury home sales soaring

October 26, 2020 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

Everything is topsy-turvy in this craziest of years – home sales typically slow in quarter three after a more robust spring; the reverse is true this year. Moreover, the median price continues to rise, due to two factors: low inventory which is driving up prices, and a dramatic increase in the sales of luxury homes.

Quarter three saw the median square footage of home sold in the East Bay rise to over 2,700 square feet. As expected, the median sales price increased to over $1,300,000!

Inventory remains low as new listings remain low, driving up the prices even higher but the demand for larger – and more expensive – home remains strong.

Bay Area homes are moving … fast

October 22, 2020 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

While the September median price for an existing single-family home in the Bay Area ($1,060,000) dropped slightly (0.7 percent) from August’s all-time high, it is still up a whopping 20.5 percent from September 2019, according to a recent report by the California Association of Realtors.

However, the big news is that the average time it took a house to sell was 11 days in September, down from 24 the year before.

Demand remains strong des[ite low inventory, driven in part by the pandemic and the uncertainty of the months to come. Sales remain strong in the Bay Area – up 34.2 percent year-over-year.

2021 Forecast: Sales & prices to rise

October 15, 2020 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

The California Association of Realtors is forecasting that 2021 will see an increase in sales of single family homes by 3.3 percent and a rise in price of 1.3 percent for a median California house to $648,800.

Economic uncertainty and a continuing shortage of available homes for sale will keep these increases modest, according to CAR.

It’s also predicted that mortgage rates will remain historically low, which will encourage motivated buyers to purchase.

Buying sight unseen

October 12, 2020 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

Buying real estate sight unseen, while nothing new, has long been province of foreign buyers are investors. Recently , a survey found that 45 percent of homebuyers in the last year had made an offer without seeing the property first. If you’re considering going this route, here are a few points to consider:

Work with a quality agent familiar with the area
Get a floorplan to get a complete look at all the dimensions
Use technology such as 3D home tours to get an accurate look at the house
Have your agent conduct a tour using Facetime so you can ask questions
Get an appraisal and a home inspection

Going up: Bay Area home prices continue to rise

October 8, 2020 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

With all the economic uncertainty, the one area that continues to thrive is Bay Area real estate. According to the latest report from DQNews data, the median sale price for an existing single-family home in the Bay Area is $975,000, marking a 16 percent increase from 2019.

Once again, these numbers are driven by the limited number of properties for sale and the relatively large number of high-end homes for sale.

Nationally, prices increased by close to 14 percent and are nearing their peak. But not the Bay Area, where prices are projected to continue to rise by as much as 7.8 percent.

Some buyers waiving the home inspection

September 24, 2020 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

While waiving the home inspection has been a tactic to possibly make an offer more attractive in a competitive bidding war, these days it’s often used simply to get the deal done.

Home inspectors are currently in high demand throughout the country; many are booked for weeks ahead. A buyer’s contract typically gives them only seven days to get an inspection completed and some are waiving the inspection in order to complete the deal.

Most states didn’t allow inspections from March through May due to shelter-in-place restrictions so the backlog and current busy housing market have slowed things considerably.

Experts warn that while waiving the inspection may speed things up, it can be very costly for the buyer in the long run if there are defects in the home.

Bay Area real estate hits record high

September 21, 2020 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

Despite the pandemic and wildfires, the median price of an existing single-family home hit a record high of $1,068,000, according to a recent California Association of Realtors report. This represents a 1.7 percent increase from July and an amazing 18.7 percent increase from August of last year.

Locally, the median price of an Alameda home rose .1 percent to $1,028,220 while Contra Costa saw a robust 2.5 percent increase to $805,000.

On a year-over-year basis, median prices were up in every Bay Area county in August. The strongest counties were Napa (24 percent) and Marin (23 percent), and sales were up significantly at 52.2% and 37.8%.

Still a seller’s market…

September 17, 2020 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

Realtor.com says sellers still dominate the real estate but does offer one caveat based on last week’s activity. Home prices continue to rise – median listings were up 10.8 percent annually – the fastest pace in over two years.

The average time on the market for a home is 12 days less than a year ago. Buyers continue to move very fast in an effort to beat out the competition and lick in low mortgage rates.

As to that caveat: last week buyers demand dropped slightly while the number of new listings showed a smaller decline than had been seen recently. Whether this is a trend or a one-time thing remains to be seen.

Refinancing, delinquencies both on the rise

September 10, 2020 By Geoffrey Disch Leave a Comment

Given the extremes of the current situation, from the pandemic to economic uncertainty, it’s not surprising that the real estate market is mirroring those extremes as both refinancing and delinquencies both on the rise.

With 30-year fixed rates below 3 percent, mortgage originations hit a record $1.1 trillion in the second quarter.

At the same time, nearly 2.25 million mortages were at least 90 days late in July, an increase of 450 percent from the pre-pandemic days. While the number of homeowners in forbearance declined, many analysts see the July 31 end to extra unemployment benefits as a real test to how things actually stand.