San Francisco real estate experienced a 14% plunge in housing sales in August, combined with a decline in the median sales price for residential properties. Contributing factors are likely to include reduced availability of foreclosures and market expectations among homebuyers that failed to materialize, according to MDA DataQuick. For more on this, see the following article from HousingWire.
While August home sales in the San Francisco region are up year-over-year for the 12th consecutive month, month-to-month sales dipped in the Bay Area, MDA DataQuick reported.
There were 7,518 new and resale houses and condos closed escrow in the nine-county Bay Area — Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano, and Sonoma counties. That’s down 14.3% from 8,771 properties sold in July and up 4% from 7,232 properties in August 2008.
Claim up to $26,000 per W2 Employee
- Billions of dollars in funding available
- Funds are available to U.S. Businesses NOW
- This is not a loan. These tax credits do not need to be repaid
MDA DataQuick said the decline in available foreclosure inventory — and thus the perception of fewer bargains in the market — contributed to the decline. The number of foreclosed properties that resold in August fell 15.2% from July.
Historically, the drop in sales between July and August is atypical, but not a new trend. Sales between the two months fell during the past two years, MDA DataQuick said.
“Part of the mid-summer pause in the market could have been caused by home shoppers becoming frustrated by market conditions they didn’t anticipate. In many areas there were fewer homes, especially cheap foreclosures, to choose from, and lots of talk about multiple offers and all-cash deals. It might have driven some back to the sidelines,” said MDA DataQuick president John Walsh.
The median price paid for all new and resale homes and condos also fell. The August median price of $360,000 is 8.9% lower than July’s median of $395,000 and down 19.5% from $447,000 in August 2008. MDA DataQuick attributed the decline to an increase of sales in lower-cost inland areas.
This article has been republished from HousingWire. You can also view this article at HousingWire, a mortgage and real estate news site.
