Mid March '08 Market Update

The other day a buyer remarked to me that there are a lot of homes are on the market right now, with all the foreclosures and everything. Actually, I shared with him, right now there are only 114 homes actively listed for sale on the MLS in the entire San Lorenzo Valley. In comparison, often during 2005, there were 100 homes for sale in Boulder Creek alone!

This past winter, there were a lot more homes listed for sale, so what happened? I think many of those sellers, if they had a choice, took their homes off the market to wait for a better selling season. Meanwhile, recent positive press articles and low interest rates have stimulated a new wave of buying here: in the last month, 22 homes changed to pending, and 7 closed escrow. The average time it took those 7 homes to sell was just 5 months, and the sellers received on average 93% of asking price. Looking closely at those 7 homes, one was a major fixer that sold for 72% of asking price. So if you took that one out of the mix, the other sellers got 95.5% of their asking price.


The key for sellers in this market is setting the right price and taking the time to make sure your home is more appealing than your competition. The key for buyers is to realize just how rare it is to be able to buy with the current combination of low interest rates, motivated sellers, and home prices their lowest in the past few years.