Latest figures on home sales suggest many buyers are still having to work hard to get their hands on a new home in Berkeley. Sellers, it appears, have the advantage, and, according to research compiled by Redfin, have done so for the past 12 months.
Everything in Berkeley points to the continuation of a sellers’ market. The data (presented in the Redfin graphs below) shows that the total number of homes for sale is down 26.8% from October last year, and down 15.2% over last month.
Meanwhile, prices are up 0.4% year-on-year, and up 8.6% from last month. Sale-to-list price is 101% for single-family homes and 106% for condos in Berkeley (a 12-month high), which means buyers are often having to pay over the listing price to ensure it is them not someone else closing escrow on their dream house.
Cases in point: many homes sold in October in Berkeley at or above asking price.
The 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom mid-century modern home at 1642 Stannage Avenue was listed on September 13th for $549,000 and closed escrow six weeks later at $578,000.
The 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom Craftsman bungalow at 1509 Holly Street in the Northbrae neighborhood went on the market on September 15th for $825,000 and sold on October 28th for a hefty $75,000 more, at $900,000.
And at the top end, several homes achieved full-price sales — see 2826 Webster Street ($1,685,000), 2910 Avalon Avenue ($2,100,000) — or more, for instance the historic Victorian at 1330 Albina Avenue which changed hands on November 3rd for $50,000 over its not-too-shabby $2,500,000 list price.
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