I mentioned in the last newsletter that there have been some rumblings of changes in the market, with higher inventory spreading out the buyer pool.  This was true again over the summer in the hills.  We had 68 active listings over the summer, compared to 66 last summer, 63 in summer 2016, and only 41 in summer 2015.

Happily there were also lots of sales over the summer — 61 properties sold in the Berkeley hills. The higher number of properties competing for buyers did show in prices somewhat.  The median sold price for the summer was $1,375,000, and the average sold price per square foot was $713.  Both of these numbers are down from the spring, but the good news is, they are both a good bit higher than last summer.  Median sold price is up 15% from a year ago, and average sold price per square foot is up 9%.

The average number of days on the market crept up slightly relative to the spring and to last summer, but was still only 19 days, which is nothing to complain about.  7 of the 61 sold properties had price reductions before selling, but on the flip side, 80% of the sold properties went for more than list price.  For those properties that went over, the average was 19% above list price.

The average number of offers, where reported (remember, our MLS does not require agents to share information on the number of offers; it’s optional) was 4.  Most properties had 1, 2 or 3 offers, 4 properties had between 4 and 8 offers, and 3 properties had 10 or more offers.  Not surprisingly, the properties with the double-digit number of offers were the ones that were priced very low relative to value, so they attracted lots of attention.  It’s an interesting market lately, and an especially tough one for buyers to navigate.  We have some homes listed at or near market value, and others at the same time that are using the low-list-price strategy.  Each of these can make sense in the right situation.

Overall, the market was a bit less crazy over the summer than it has been for the last few years.  Buyers are a little more cautious, and they have had more properties to choose from.  In this environment, smart pricing and smart preparation are more important than ever when selling, to ensure that your property compares favorably to other homes on the market.