What Kind Of Market Are We In?

Sellers market, buyers market, normalizing market, stabilized market... where are we now? Well, it depends on who you ask, for there are many differing opinions rattling around out there, a true indication that things are definitely changing in the marketplace.

The real estate market is regarded as an "imperfect" market, because home prices vary astronomically at times according to many factors such as location, improvements, school districts, size, style and many others. The values of these homes are determined by both buyers and sellers... by what the buyer is willing to spend on a specific property as well as what a seller is willing to accept.

In Alameda, as well as other cities around the East Bay, we are seeing that, if a home is priced below market value, interest is increased, thus creating a buzz surrounding the property and ultimately culminating in multiple offers on the home. Quite reminiscent of the bidding wars of the last few years, however, different in that the bidding now is starting at a lower price. Inventory is low, which means that buyers are still having to compete for well-priced properties, therefore it can't really be referred to as a buyers market. And we aren't seeing the price point peaks that we were seeing a couple of years ago, when buyers were forced to forgo contingencies and inspections with their high priced offers. So, a sellers market it definitely isn't. So what is it? I think it is a normalizing market. Sellers are still on occasion getting top dollar for their property, but oftentimes buyers are holding the cards.

Inventory is not high enough for there to be a glut of homes where buyers can just take their pick, but if they play their hands right, buyers can walk away with exactly what they are wanting. And at a price that is, by the Bay Area benchmark - and the rest of the country notwithstanding - reasonable.