Weekly Market Activity Report
Week of October 2-8, 2006

Something must be afoot. Eleven offices reported increasing sales activity---a number we haven't seen in many a moon. Most offices (20) saw steady activity and only one showed decreasing activity.

Are buyers beginning to sense that it is time to move with no guarantees that interest rates will remain low and that well priced and merchandised properties will not sit on the market?  Or are sellers becoming more realistic in their pricing?   We are seeing a number of price reductions. Are sellers becoming more flexible in their negotiation?   I think it is probably all of the aforementioned. This is a good sign for both buyers and sellers. 

More listed properties are expiring and not being re-listed allowing inventories to modulate. There has been a pick up of the number of offices (65%) reporting multiple offers---most of these transactions receiving 2-4 offers and sometimes selling at full price and in some cases a little below listed price. It is still important that sellers realize that pricing and merchandising are essential to attract offers and most significant that offers are going to take some time to negotiate. 

An interesting phenomenon is that the highest end of the market is moving.  We had a $19 mil. sale on the Peninsula and two $10 mil transactions in San Francisco---reaffirming that those with significant resources are still bullish on real estate.

Open house activity is steady.  Still seeing the best activity on those homes opened for the first time. Buyers are still being deliberate in their decision making process---making sure they feel confident that the properties they are writing on have long term value.

Here are the numbers for the week:  Twelve offices reported increasing listing inventories, 15 steady and 5 decreasing---11 offices saw increasing sales activity, 20 steady and 1 decreasing.

Avram Goldman
President and COO
Coldwell Banker SF/Bay Area