Source: Wikipedia.
Huge Drop in Inventory
A year ago today Oakland had 647 homes listed for sale, but today that figure is just 415. This means total inventory for Oakland has dropped by a huge 36 percent so there are a third fewer homes listed for sale in Oakland today than there were a year ago. The inventory figure has even dropped by 4 percent from last month when 434 homes were listed, but at least inventory is higher than it was a couple of months ago – around the beginning of the year Oakland had only around 300 homes listed for sale.
Huge Spike in List Prices
So how has this affected list prices? Well, unsurprisingly list prices in Oakland are experiencing a huge spike. One year ago we were looking at a median list price of $285,000. This price point is roughly in line with what’s expected in Oakland during the busy summer real estate season, but now median list price has increased by a huge 40 percent to $399,000. This was almost the highest median list price in five years if it hadn’t been for an even higher figure last month. One month ago the median list price for Oakland was $415,000 so at least we’ve had a drop of 4 percent from last month. Perhaps list prices will now even out a little as it’s hard to imagine the Oakland real estate market can sustain such high list prices.
The median price per square foot has also shown similar changes. This stat is often a little more accurate than list price as it takes into account the fact that not all homes are the same size and that larger homes will usually be listed for more. One year ago the median price per square foot in Oakland was $215. That figure rose to $293 last month and has risen a further 4 percent to today’s figure of $304 per square foot, which is a 41 percent increase from last year.
Homes Are Selling Extremely Fast
Despite real estate prices in Oakland going up by so much homes are selling extremely fast. This is good news for Oakland because it means the higher prices are being absorbed by the market right now, though how much longer will that continue if prices rise even more? The lower inventory is also helping – there are fewer homes listed for sale so that means anyone who has to move right now is competing with other buyers. If you have several buyers all interested in the same house it’s going to sell quickly and probably for more money.
This is all great news for sellers as Oakland is most definitely in the midst of a seller’s market right now. For buyers it’s not so good. Unless you have to move it would be better to wait this out and see if the median list prices start to fall again.
Mortgage Rates Rising
Another problem is rising mortgage rates in California and the country as a whole. We’ve been spoiled with such low rates over the past six months that increasing rates now could come as a shock to anyone hoping to buy a home with a great long term low rate. Since the low point at the end of 2012 rates have been mainly heading upwards and have now exceeded what they were this time last year. Rates are actually heading toward 4 percent with another rise today to 3.92 percent for California, and 3.90 percent for the national average.
