Diablo Valley & Lamorinda Market Report: August 2019

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Needless to say, there are many factors behind home sales and values in different communities. Home size is one of them, and median sales prices are not apples to apples comparisons: For example, in the small community of Diablo, the median home square footage is over 4000, while in Walnut Creek, it is under 2100 square feet. Lot size also plays a big role in our markets, which is illustrated a little further down in this report.

 

If the median ASKING price (below) in a community is well above the median SALES price (above), it is usually indicative of some disconnect between seller and buyer expectations regarding fair market value, and/or the supply of higher-priced listings simply outweighs demand for such homes in that city.

In San Francisco, houses selling for $8 million and houses selling for $800,000 can both be found on lots under 1/8 of an acre. In our market (and also in the wine country), lot size is a major factor in home size and price. 

Listings and sales ebb and flow dramatically by season. In Diablo Valley and Lamorinda, the peak of activity – as measured by the number of listings going into contract – typically occurs in late spring. The relatively short autumn market – Labor Day to early November – is the last major selling season of the year before activity plunges in mid-November for the winter holiday period.

A few things should be kept in mind regarding the next 3 charts: Firstly, in or within communities of similar quality, a smaller home will typically sell for a higher dollar per square foot value. As an example, the median size of a home in Lafayette is about 28% smaller than in Alamo. Secondly, it is not unusual for higher price markets to have softer buyer-demand dynamics than more affordable areas, though this is not always the case. And thirdly, Q2 is commonly the strongest market of the year, and its statistics reflect that heat.

According to a new report by the National Association of Realtors – based on a survey of its members – the purchase of U.S. homes by foreign nationals plunged in the 12 months through March 2019. 

California, and the Bay Area in particular, have been top destinations for international homebuyers in recent years.

In recent years, within counties around the Bay Area, the heat of buyer demand has often been as strongly correlated with price segment as by the location of the home in a specific city or town.

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