I have been getting lots of questions lately about the state of the market, with people mentioning news articles that cite slowing. Our local market was not quite as crazy over the summer as it was over the spring, and that seems to be continuing into the fall. However, the spring was sooooooo crazy, that even with a little cooling, the market is still very solid.
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BERKELEY HILLS
There were 96 active listings in the hills for the summer 2021 season (June through August), and 66 properties closed escrow. These numbers are up from the spring, which is not surprising — a big upward surge in prices generally inspires some sellers who were on the fence to list their properties. Properties sold on average after only 14 days on the market, which is quite fast.
The median sold price from June through August in the hills was $1,600,000. This is down a bit from the spring, but up 11% from last summer. A whopping 86% of the sales were for more than list price, which goes along with the low number of days on the market — most properties sold as soon as offers were accepted, with multiple offers. The average successful overbid was 20% over list price, and 10 of the sold properties went for 40 to 60% over list price.
The average sold price per square foot was $886 over the summer, which, like the median sold price, is down slightly from the spring, but still up 14% from last summer. As always, there was a big range. On the low side, three properties sold in the $400s per square foot (these were all large homes; the smallest was over 3600 square feet). 17 properties sold between $1000 and $1150 per square foot, and only two sold for more than $1150 per square foot. The highest sold price per square foot was $1562, for a property on San Luis. That property had many features that correspond with high price per square foot in our market: it’s a small (1184 square feet), architect-designed mid-century property, in the lower hills, on a larger lot, with panoramic views.
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NORTH BERKELEY
There were 41 active listings in North Berkeley for summer 2021, and 34 properties closed escrow. These numbers are up from the spring, and there were also a relatively high number of condos and townhouses on the market over the summer. Properties in North Berkeley sold on average in 20 days on the market.
The median sold price from June through August was $1,582,500 in North Berkeley. This is up slightly (0.2%, or $2,500) from the spring, and up 20% from last summer. 71% of the sales were for more than list price, on average 29% above list price for those that went over. Six of the sales were for 40% or more above list price, up to a high of 67% over list.
The average sold price per square foot was $943 over the summer, which is down slightly from the spring, but still up 6% from last summer. There was a big range here too (similar to the hills). One large home (over 4000 square feet) sold for $418 per square foot, at the low end. 14 of the sold properties went for over $1000 per square foot, and of those, two went over $1500 per square foot. One was a 3-bedroom house on Virginia, which sold for $1505 per square foot, and the other was my two-bedroom listing at 1726 Francisco, which sold for $1586 per square foot.
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So far this fall, we’re still seeing good buyer interest, with multiple offers on many properties— not as many offers per property as in the spring, but still enough to get great results for sellers. For buyers, it’s still a quite challenging market.
