Your Real Estate Expert for Berkeley and Beyond
“Marilyn is exceptional. Her knowledge base, enthusiasm for her job, professional ethics, organization, sensitivity to our aesthetic requirements, loyalty and gentle perseverance set her apart.”
-- Bill and Carol Seidel
Marilyn Garcia, PhD
Broker Associate, Realtor®
DRE# 02014153
District Homes
1758 Solano Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94707
Direct:
(510) 390-5406
THE OUTLOOK: North Berkeley, Fall 2019 wrap-up
The fall is always an interesting season in our real estate market, because we go from one of the slowest times of the year (just before Labor Day) to one of the busiest times of the year (just after Labor Day). We see what feels like a flood of new listings in September. Inventory though is always tight in North Berkeley, so it was a small flood — there were only 25 active listings all fall. 20 properties sold, of which 4 were condos and 16 were single family homes. The median sale price for North Berkeley in the fall [...]
THE OUTLOOK: Berkeley Hills, Fall 2019 wrap-up
It was another interesting fall in local real estate, and we saw the usual flood of new listings to the market after Labor Day. Even though this happens pretty much every year (because many sellers wait to list until after Labor Day, thinking that August may not be the best time to sell because some buyers are out of town on vacation), it affects perceptions of how the market is doing. There were 73 active listings over the fall in the Berkeley hills, which is up slightly from last fall. 38 properties sold, and 12 properties were withdrawn or expired [...]
THE OUTLOOK: North Berkeley, Summer 2019 wrap-up
After a super hot spring 2019, the North Berkeley market settled down somewhat over the summer. Most properties still sold fast and for great prices, but there were a few that took somewhat longer to sell, and average days on the market overall was up a bit to 19 days. Interest rates though are still fantastic — if you’ve been thinking about doing a refinance, now is a great time to call your favorite loan person! There were not a lot of active listings in North Berkeley over the summer (only 23), and correspondingly not a lot of sales (only [...]
THE OUTLOOK: Berkeley Hills, Summer 2019 wrap-up
The market over the summer in the Berkeley hills was quite good. We all know that prices are determined by supply and demand, and both were in our favor. The supply of homes on the market was relatively low. There were 40 sales and 42 active listings in the Berkeley hills over the summer. The number of active listings was substantially lower than the 73 active listings in the spring, and the 68 active listings last summer. At the same time, demand was strong, helped in part by low interest rates, which are back under 4% in many cases. [If [...]
THE OUTLOOK: North Berkeley, Spring 2019 wrap-up
The local real estate market looked like it was slowing towards the end of last year, but it sure has bounced back this spring! I talked in the last newsletter about the common perception that big IPOs were going to create wealth and boost the market, and that perception may have had some effect. The other significant factor has been interest rates. Rates on home loans have lately been among the lowest we’ve seen since around election time in 2016, after peaking at close to 5% in November of last year. (If you've been thinking about re-financing your home loan, [...]
THE OUTLOOK: Berkeley Hills, Spring 2019 wrap-up
In the Berkeley hills this past quarter, there were 73 active listings, which is pretty typical for the spring season. Between March and the end of May, 45 properties sold, on average after 18 days on the market. The median sale price was $1,475,000, which is up 15% from the slow winter season, but down 3% from last spring. Only one of the sold properties had a price reduction, and 84% of the sales were for more than list price. Among the properties that went over, the sold price was on average 25% above list price. Where reported in the [...]