Hello Friends and Neighbors!

We hope this finds you and your loved ones healthy and safe during these challenging times.

As you shelter-in-place, we thought you might be wondering how our Bay Area real estate market is reacting. Our April San Francisco Market Update is presented below for your review, and we will send out a separate Bay Area Market Update soon. We will continue to keep you informed on our local market. We are here to assist you in every way possible and are committed to providing you with the utmost service and guidance moving forward, so if you or anyone you know has any questions for which we could provide assistance, please feel free to send them our way – happy to help.

We of course continue to monitor and adhere to the guidelines set forth by our local, state and national governments, as well as the leading real estate industry associations. At present, like most of us, we are operating in a Stay-at-Home mode.

Circumstances are pushing all of us to conduct business in ways we haven’t before — in real estate, we hope and expect that this will result in making our business more user-friendly to you as we go forward. So, let’s enjoy all things virtual for now.

One thing is for sure, we are here for you —- we will get through this together —- and we will all be stronger for this on the other side. Please reach out anytime with any questions or needs. We are here for you.

Buyers and Sellers are asking us how this will affect our local market. While there are unknowns as to when our market will kick-start back into action, one thing we do know is that there will be a pent-up demand for real estate once the pandemic ends. People are going to be ready to move on with their lives and make the life changes they’ve had to put on hold over the last few months.

So, let’s all work towards getting the best out of this disruption while we continue to evaluate what is important to us and continue to think about what we need to do to realize our goals!

HOME – HEALTH – HAPPINESS

Warm Regards, RicRoc & Callista

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The first thing to remember is that there is a time lag – usually 3 to 6+ weeks – between a new listing coming on market, an offer being negotiated and accepted, and when the transaction actually closes sale. This means that almost all of the sales price data we have, as of the first week of April, still reflects the market BEFORE the shelter-in-place rules went into effect. In virtually all Bay Area counties, first quarter and March median sales prices were quite strong. This report will look at the effect of the crisis on supply and demand by reviewing week by week statistics, sales price trends reflecting the market before the crisis, and longer-term trend data to give context to how the market typically performs at this time of year. Spring is usually the most active selling season and often sees the highest median sales prices of the calendar year, due to both the level of buyer demand and the seasonal surge in the luxury home market. (A higher percentage of luxury home sales pulls up the overall median sales price.)

We do not know how the crisis will ultimately play out, depending as it does on so many, rapidly changing, socio-economic factors.

Median Sales Price Trends

These first 4 charts review median sales price trends in the short, medium and long-term. March and first quarter prices generally reflect the pre-crisis market. Link to our San Francisco home price map

Shelter-in-Place Effect on Inventory & Deals – by Week

The following 4 charts detail the plunge in listing and accepted-offer activity, and the surge in listings being pulled off the market by sellers, over the past 4 weeks. Typically, at this time of year, the first 3 charts would be seeing steady climbs over February numbers, and the 4th chart would have a very low, flat trend line. Though the numbers are way down, some listings have still been going into contract.

Average Days on Market by Month

Those listings that did go into contract in March – a much lower number than normal – apparently did so quite quickly after coming on market, presumably seizing the attention of buyers despite the crisis. Or the buyers and sellers may already have been in the midst of negotiations when shelter in place rules began.