Yesterday, Thursday, May 27th, 2021 I held my first broker’s open since before the Shelter in Place took effect on Monday, March 16th, 2020. I have to say it felt amazing to be mingling with my fellow local Realtors again! I used to love doing broker’s open houses because it feels like you are hosting a party. Friends and colleagues you’ve known for years drop by, and in this case many I hadn’t seen since BC (Before COVID). We still wore our masks, but there was no mistaking the glow in our eyes at seeing each other out and about again.
I was holding open 366 Arias Street in Terra Linda. We are offering the home at $1.249 and we are hoping to get a good offer quickly. Things have slowed down a bit in the past month. Showings are down and it seems like some buyers who have missed out on homes in multiple offer situations feel beaten and bruised and aren’t jumping at another chance to fall in love and get crushed again. I can relate, I’ve seen it happen a lot over the years and it’s very sad.
One of the brokers at my open yesterday pointed out that it’s just, “June Gloom”. He thinks the best months to sell with the most activity are March, April and May. There is something to that, however typically we see a lot homes go in contract in May and close in June. I think July and August can be a little slower months. Many Realtors and their clients go on vacation and start thinking about ‘Back to School’.
I happen believe that July and August are great opportunities to sell precisely because Realtors are inclined not to put homes on the market during those months. I’ve sold lots of homes in July and August. We see less inventory, which means less competition among sellers, and buyers with fewer choices. I don’t think summer vacations and ‘Back to School’ preparations take two months, although I’d personally love a two-month vacation!
There’s no big vacation in my near future as interest rates remain historically low and are keeping the current crop of buyers hungry for homes. The market should slow a bit though. It can’t just keep going up and up and up with never ending multiple offer scenarios. At some point it has to at least become a little more balanced between buyers and sellers.
Meanwhile there are some homes in some neighborhoods that are attracting multiple offers and serious over bidding. Everyone is talking about the double A-frame Eichler in upper Lucas Valley that sold 5/25/21 for $3.6 million after being priced at $3.1. There’s a new listing at 404 Nova Albion for $1.95. I represented the previous sellers and we got $1.2 with $100,000 overbid from the investors who have fixed it up very nicely and are flipping it. I hope they get it! It’s not just remodeled Eichler homes in the 94903 market seeing demand surges. I have buyers who recently considered making an offer on 56 Woodside Dr in San Anselmo. The sellers were asking $1.795 and got 21 offers, so we didn’t bother writing.
It would be nice to see things return to a little more normal levels of activity. More so than ever before I’m sensing there are a lot of people with access to a lot of money and they are ready to use it to buy property. On the higher end of the market this affluent buyer pool appears poised to keep bringing the rest of the market up along with it. It’s great news for sellers, not so much for the buyers.