September Market Update

Now that the kids are back in school, summer is officially over and we're heading into fall! I can't wait until Indian Summer hits the Bay Area for our 2nd warming trend! I love this time of the year!

August proved to be a pretty busy month for us at Hatch Realty with 9 closings and 2 more escrows closing right after the holiday weekend. Congratulations to our happy buyers and sellers who were able to perform well in this market!

In last month's blog I predicted that more homes will be available for sale and I was absolutely right. We are now already starting to see more inventory come on the market, but just as they get listed on the MLS, the good ones are still getting swiped up pretty quickly. Our listing on Mandalay in South San Francisco was sold in 6 days with 4 offers and it went well above the asking price.  We have 5 listings in the pipeline planned to hit the market by the end of September and we'll be coming on with all the bells and whistles in hopes for the same results. The first half of the year, the listing pool was very dry. We were working primarily with buyers, but now, things are changing. Many of our sellers are reaching out asking for consultations as many are thinking that now is the time to cash out. Some people are thinking of moving out of the area, but many plan to stay local and rent for a bit while their homes are on the market. This is happening across the board in all counties. We are getting listing appointments in all parts of the Bay Area.

As far as pricing is concerned, I have noticed that more frequently, sellers are listing their homes at their target sale price (or just slightly below vs the crazy teaser prices). Yes, there are still homes grossly underpriced in the hopes of creating a frenzy, so just be sure to check your comparables before making judgements on the market. Truth of the matter is, the market is still strong and the market sets the price. If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't, so check the comps before you get too excited. 

For those of you constantly checking your property values on Zillow, Trulia and Redfin, etc with dollar signs glistening in your eyes, I have been finding those to be off / inaccurate lately. Zillow is listing their homes a on the high side when it comes to their zestimates. If you are going to those sites to check to see what your home is worth, double check with us as we can send you the real live comparables. My theory is that Zillow is inflating the prices to entice more sellers to sell. In a way, it's actually working to help to fuel the market. On the flip side, buyers go there to look at homes they are interested in and base their bids on what they see. If you are competing against a couple hot and heavy buyers, the lucky seller might just get that price. Keep an eye out for what the Zestimates were and what they end up closing for to get a clearer picture. Call us if you want to find out final sale prices of homes (or click here).

As for Redfin, the values go up as more people click on the listing, so that is how the price on that gets adjusted as the listing stays on the market.  I hear agents talking about how the market is slowing down, but I honestly do not see that at all! It was a seasonal effect which happens every year. My clients that are in the market to purchase are still competing against multiple offers. Non-contingent offer writing is still the standard, especially when the seller has provided full inspections and reports with the disclosure package. (Today we lost a bid in SF that received 7 competing offers more than half of which were non-contingent). For my listings, I am finding that 75% of the offers are coming in non-contingent.... And guess who we end up choosing to work with? Buyers, if you are serious about a home, do your due diligence ahead of time and get your ducks in a row so you can write competitive offers. Sometimes price is not the main determining factor for a seller. They want to know you are going to close and have no way to back out.

On my final note, I think foreign money is still coming in the country as well. Today I showed my listing on 40 Zoe Street #3 in SF to 3 groups of clients that made appointments and all three were foreign buyers looking for a home for their child who is going to be attending school or starting work in SF. Our listing on Greendale sold to a cash buyer from China who wanted a second home in the area. These guys are not the overbidding crazed types, though they are competitive and non-contingent. 

Thanks for reading my blog! If you have any specific questions about your area, property, general questions about the market or need a good contractor to help you with a remodel, please feel free to reach out. We are here to help!