Existing homes throughout California are typically selling below list price, except in the San Francisco Bay Area.
According to the California Association of Realtors (CAR), existing homes that sold in January within the Bay Area had an original list-to-sales price ratio of 100.3 percent. In January 2015 this ratio was at 100 percent.
The primary reason more listings are selling above their asking prices, a lack of for-sale inventory within the nine counties that comprise the Bay Area. But the state as a whole did pretty well, too.
In the state of California, the price of a single-family home dipped by 4.3 percent in January from the previous month, but it was still an increase of 9.2 percent over the same month in 2015. Home prices are still gaining at a rapid pace in the state, with January’s monthly uptick being the largest gain since May 2014.
“The fundamentals underlying the demand for housing fueled a healthy start to 2016,” said C.A.R. vice president and chief economist Leslie Appleton-Young, in a statement.
“The volatility in the equity market in the last few weeks, coupled with increasing uncertainty about the impact on economic growth, however, may lead potential home buyers and sellers to take a “wait and see” approach, which could erode housing market activity in the upcoming months.”
Supply dropping in all Bay Area regions
Only three Bay Area counties entered February with three months or more of supply. These regions included Napa County (4.1 months), Solano County (3.4 months) and Sonoma County (3.2 months).
Similar to the previously mentioned counties, these regions have seen inventory levels drop on a year-over-year basis coupled with continued price appreciation. This time last year Napa had 5.4 months of supply, with Solano boasting 4.2 months of for-sale inventory. Sonoma’s supply in January 2015 stood at 3.9 months.
On a year-over-year basis sales prices have rose by 26.8 percent in Sonoma, 22 percent in Napa and 10.8 percent in Solano.
Statewide, CAR estimated that homes sold in January had a median list-to-sales price ratio of 97.9 percent.
