A Year in Review

Market Update
Author

Kyle Paquin

Published

January 4, 2024

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Congratulations to the entire real estate industry for making it through 2023. It was a slow year for everyone, especially appraisers. Let’s review what happened this year.

  1. Prices rose from the grave in January, peaked in April and basically stayed about the same for the rest of the year.

  2. Volume (Total Amount) of sales peaked in May and stayed steady until November

  3. Days on Market fell from January to May and slowly climbed through December

Mortgage and Me

This section is the summary of the ongoing sitcom, “Mortgage and Me”, where you get news of what the banks are doing and how it affects us all.

Mortgage Rates: Dropping like a Rock

Mortgage rates fell hard this past month. A welcome sign to everyone that 2024 will be more of a normal year. While this may not be a boon to overall inventory, transaction volume (the amount of sales per day or week) will surely increase. That’s good news for everyone.

Refinance Volume: Slight Rebound

Rate cuts and refinance volume are happy partners. We saw 6 months of declining stats get reversed in about 2 weeks time. That last dip was from the holidays but we will see an increase through the spring in loan volume of all kinds.

East Bay Area Market Update

2023 ended in a much better place than the year prior. Though there were about 17% less sales, the median price was higher and homes took less time to sell. That’s a healthy market and sends good signals that 2024 will be better than 2023. Prices have generally held steady since April in most markets. The lack of volume is making pricing even more difficult than before.

East Bay Area December Yearly Trends
Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano
2022 2023 % Change
Median Price 800000 867538 8.4%
Average Price per SF 532 578 8.6%
Number of Sales 1317 1094 -16.9%
Median DOM 28 18 -35.7%
Copyright © EBValueReport.com

Need a Referral?

I have a growing list of local professionals who can service your needs, send me an email if you need someone to help a client with:

  • Home Loans

  • Construction

  • Commercial Brokering (Sales and Leasing)

  • Estate Planning

  • Rural or Out of Area Appraisal

  • Window Treatment Cleaning

Services for Agents

Pre-Listing Appraisals

With today’s market, every listing is precious. Don’t go into a sale blind, call us for a pre-listing appraisal today and say GOODBYE to the real estate grind.

Measurement Services

The county says “this” and the owner says “that.” You don’t want to get to the end of the sales process only to discover the size is quite different. For a nominal fee, any new listing can have an “Appraiser-certified” statement of Square footage [SqFt] complete with a floorplan. Give yourself and your clients peace of mind with our reliable and accurate measurement services.

Divorce/Estate Appraisals

If you have client that needs appraisal work for estate, taxation or ligation purposes, we can help! Our firm services the East Bay Area, but we have a wide network of referrals and resources available for your clients.

About the Author

My name is Kyle Paquin.

I have been a Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser since 2015 within the East San Francisco Bay Area. My firm provides expert valuations on residential properties in the region and we specialize in ADU valuation and advanced market analysis. I have a passion for teaching and appraiser education which has led me to develop instructional courses for the Real Estate Appraisers Association (REAA). I currently live in Benicia where I operate a mid-term rental ADU with my wife and child.

The divide between agents, appraisers and lenders is not healthy for our clients. I aim to bridge the gap between us all so we can serve the market with a higher level of trust, integrity and knowledge. The mission of this blog is to provide greater clarity into how the East Bay Area markets are moving on a monthly basis. If you like this work or think that it sucks, please let me know.

My contact information

Office #: 925-937-3307

Email: office@valuableappraisal.com

Website: https://www.valuableappraisal.com/

Thanks for reading this market update