Typically real estate slows down in the summertime as families go on vacations, and begin to prepare for the upcoming school year. But this summer has been an exception to the rule. Bay Area home sales and values are continuing to rise, with the strongest sales for the month of August recorded in six years.
Several housing reports released earlier this month provide evidence that the housing recovery we have witnessed here in the Bay Area has spread throughout all 50 states. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index found that home prices in June rose more than 2%, month over month, and 1% from one year earlier— the first year-over-year increase since 2010. The National Association of Realtor’s “Pending Home Sales Index,” a forward looking measure of the housing market— rose more than 12% from July of last year. According to data from the Multiple Listing Service, both home sales and median home sale prices increased tremendously in most Bay Area counties.
• Napa Valley:
• 21% increase in Napa home sales
• 24% increase in median home sale prices
• Sonoma Valley:
• 23% increase in Sonoma Valley home sales
• 14% increase in median home sale prices
• Sonoma County:
• 23% increase in Sonoma County home sales
• 7% increase in median home sale prices
• San Francisco:
• 13% increase in San Francisco home sales
• 8% increase in median home sale prices
• Marin County:
• 34% increase in Marin home sales
• 9% increase in median home sale prices
Record low mortgage rates, low inventory, and a sharp decline in sales of distressed properties are just a few factors contributing to the rising home prices and median home sales in the Bay Area.