Inventory Shortage Slowing Sales and Boosting Prices in Bay Area

Bay Area homebuyers continue to scour the landscape for homes on the market, crowding open houses, fighting each other in multiple-offer situations, but often coming away empty handed due to the severe shortage of listings. Lack of inventory continues to have a significant impact on the housing market, slowing sales and driving up prices of what few properties are for sale.

DataQuick, the La Jolla-based information services firm, reported this week that lack of inventory contributed heavily to a six-year low in home sales last month. A total of 4,963 new and resale houses and condos sold in the nine-county Bay Area last month, the lowest for any February since 2008.

But what’s been bad news for buyers has been good news for those savvy homeowners who do decide to list their home right now. Lack of inventory (and competition from other sellers) has been driving up sale prices rapidly. In some cases, prices are near or above their all-time highs once again.

The median price paid for a home in the Bay Area in February climbed to $540,000, up 2.9 percent from $525,000 in January and an amazing 33.3 percent from $405,000 in February last year, according to the DataQuick report. On a year-over-year basis, the median has risen the last 23 months, with gains above 20 percent for the last 16 months.

“At some point rising home prices will trigger a more significant increase in the number of homes on the market,” said John Walsh, president of DataQuick. “It’s just a question of when.”

That’s what agents – and their buyers – are asking as well. Here’s the DataQuick report and the sales and price chart is below:

 

 via California Home


Janice Lee
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