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 & the Berkeley Hills, 2024 wrap-up and results from Q4
Looking back on the Berkeley real estate market for 2024, mortgage rates continued to be the big story. The Federal Reserve cut its federal funds rate target three times in the last portion of 2024, by a total of 1%. Mortgage rates reached their lowest level of the year in September, in the low 6% range, right around the time of the first Fed rate cut. Since then, though, despite two more Fed cuts, mortgage rates have climbed back up to almost 7%.
What happened? Mortgage rates declined through the middle of 2024 in response to lower inflation, moderate economic results, and the expectation of Fed cuts coming. Expectations about inflation are not as optimistic now (because tariffs tend to put upward pressure on prices, among other reasons), and there is less expectation of additional Fed rate cuts in 2025.
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North Berkeley
FULL YEAR, 2024: With rates fluctuating, housing prices were mostly stable over the year, but the North Berkeley market still did pretty well. The median sold price in North Berkeley was $1,750,000 in 2024, which was up 9% from the previous year, but average sold price per square foot was down by 1% to $979. There were 103 active listings, and 91 properties sold, with only 2 needing price reductions. On average, homes sold within 17 days, which is fast, even for this area. 91% of the sales were for more than list price, which means that there were multiple interested buyers for almost every North Berkeley property on the market. Cash sales were significant, with 32% of Berkeley’s transactions in 2024 being all-cash—matching a 25-year high. In North Berkeley, the percentage of cash sales was even higher: 46%.
FOURTH QUARTER ONLY, 2024: By the 4th quarter of 2024 (October through December), interest rates were heading back upward. There were 25 sales in North Berkeley in the 4th quarter. The median sold price was $1,650,000 (up 13% from Q4 2023), and average sold price per square foot was $949 (up 1% from Q4 2023).
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Berkeley Hills, third quarter 2024 results:
FULL YEAR, 2024: Results in the Hills for 2024 were also decent, but there were some mixed results. Average sold price per square foot was up slightly (by less than 1%) to $870, but the median sold price, $1,575,000 in 2024, was down 9% from the previous year. There were 176 active listings, and among the 133 properties that sold, 22 needed price adjustments—18 reductions and 4 increases. Homes in the hills sold on average in 30 days, which is somewhat on the high side for our area, reflecting those 22 properties that needed to adjust strategy. Still, 79% of the sales were for more than list price, so there were multiple interested buyers for most of the hills properties too. 29% of the sales in the hills were all cash in 2024.
FOURTH QUARTER ONLY, 2024: For the 4th quarter, there were 39 sales in the hills. The median sold price was $1,550,000 (up less than 1% from Q4 2023), and average sold price per square foot in the 4th quarter was $814 (down 1% from Q4 2023).
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It doesn’t seem like we are going back to the extraordinarily low mortgage rates of the pandemic era any time soon, and buyers are starting to get that message and adjust to the new normal. It seldom works to time the market, especially in our area, where inventory is low and competition is high!
