Berkeley Hills Realty is starting to see more inventory come on the market in Berkeley and Oakland and some price softening happening in some of the surrounding markets of El Cerrito and Albany. This is the time of year that families make the move before school starts in the fall and as we are seeing more activity and inventory coming on the market recently we present an overview on the current market trends in the East Bay.

Oakland and Berkeley

According to a trend report on Trulia.com, Berkeley market trends indicate a decrease of $15,000 (-1%) in median home sales over the past year. The sales price and number of sales in Berkeley saw a dip in March and April this year, but, in general, both are tracking upwards as we head towards July. According to Altos Research, for the last week in June, the median list price for a single family home in Berkeley is $1,196,500 with days of homes on the market under 1.3 million under 30 days. The median price for a condominium is $854,500.

Interesting to note, that In Berkeley, two bedroom homes have risen 19.5% to $1,177,000 up from $985,000 a year ago, but four bedroom homes have dropped 11% to 1.4 million in June from $1.629 in 2018.

 

Following Berkeley’s trends, the spring market in March and April were slow and then the rain stopped and the market picked up with number of sales and prices rising.

Oakland market trends indicate an increase of $5,500 (1%) in median home sales over the past year. For June, the median list price of a single family home for Oakland is $624,500 and for condos, $678,549. Oakland showed a similar downturn for four bedroom homes with a price decline of 14.6% year over year to $965,000 and two bedroom homes increasing .07% to $675,000.

Surrounding Communities

Looking at surrounding markets, such as El Cerrito with a decrease of $82,000 (-8%) in median home sales over the past year and Albany with a decrease of $28,500 (-3%) in median home sales during the same time period, it would appear the market is softening in the East Bay. However, in the more affordable markets, Richmond median home prices increased $33,500 (6%) year over year and for El Sobrante, the city saw an increase of $5,000 (1%) in median home sales since 2018.

Mortgage Rates Hit Lowest Level Since 2016

Another bonus if you are in the market is for the seventh time in the last nine weeks, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped, reaching the lowest average since November 2016, Freddie Mac reported. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.73%, with an average 0.5 point, falling from last week’s 3.84% average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 4.55%

Focused Neighborhood Statistics

As many neighborhoods have micro climates of prices and sales activity, we encourage you to call us so we can give you a market report of exactly where you may be searching for a home and we can help you negotiate the best avenue to make a bid on a property. The market is still holding strong, so having expertise in this market is crucial to finding your East Bay home.