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over the fall in the Berkeley hills, which is up slightly from last fall. 38 properties sold, and 12 properties were withdrawn or expired from the MLS before selling.  (If you’re wondering what happened to the other 23 listings that didn’t sell or expire, they’re either pending sales, or they are still on the market.)

The median sale price for the hills in the fall was $1,414,000.  This is down 10% from the summer, but up 4% from fall 2018.  Two of the sold properties had price reductions.

The average sold price per square foot in the fall was $730, which is down 5% from the summer, but up 1% from last fall.  The highest sold price per square foot was $1,196 for a home on Glen Avenue with a detached cottage unit that I don’t think was included in the square footage. The lowest sold price per square foot was $481, for a large (over 3000 square feet) home on Latham Lane that needed some work.

Overall, this data reflects a little bit of softening in the market.  On the positive side, 82% of the properties went over list price, and those, on average, sold for 16% above list.  The sold properties were, on average, on the market for 19 days.

We’re now in the slowest season of the year for real estate.  There’s very little on the market at the moment, as is typical.  There are still buyers out there, but a rainy day and a partially dormant garden is not the best time to sell most properties, so there’s not much for them to choose from.  Things will start picking up again in January, and sellers thinking about timing need to weigh the benefits of waiting until the busiest part of the spring, against the greater competition from other listings at that time.