Alameda Real Estate: By The Numbers

It is amazing that 2008 is rapidly coming to a close. We are now midway through the fourth quarter of 2008, and before the new year starts, I wanted to take a look back at a couple of third quarter housing reports produced by online real estate valuation estimator Zillow and online residential real estate brokerage ZipRealty. Both companies produce housing reports that track the market, home values, sales and inventory and wanted to look at these reports and see what it means for Alameda.

Zillow reports, in their Real Estate Market Report, that Alameda experienced a 1.3% decline in pricing from the prior quarter. The year-over-year change was a -7.8% in value to Alameda homes. The good news is Island has not seen the same decline as the national average 9.7%. Zillow reports that the San Francisco, CA Metro Area has current index of $567,000 which is a one year change of -14.4% compared to Alameda’s index of $600,000 to the -7.8% change in the 12 months prior.

Prices in Alameda have taken a hit in the macro but the good news is the Island has held up well during the real estate downturn. Taking a look at the ZipRealty Quarterly Housing Report, reveled that sellers in Alameda are accepting offers about 98% of the list price.

City	Zipcode	Sales	Ave List Pirce	Ave. Sale Price	%
Alameda	94501	101	$651,473.47	$637,765.89	97.90%
Alameda	94502	33	$743,346.94	$733,665.15	98.70%

Looking at the report, this shows that Alameda is doing well for the Bay Area. The Bernal Heights neighborhood in San Francisco was tops in the Bay Area with offers on average at 103% of list. Eleven zipcodes were below 95%, at the bottom was the Green Valley area of Fairfield at 92% of list.

Sales from September to October are up, but the average sale price and average price per square foot declined. Although it is not a trend, I think that it shows that people (buyers) are starting to find prices that are attractive. Not so good news if you are selling.

I guess it is tough to swallow the fact that housing market continues to decline. Even though Alameda is not suffering like the rest of the country or even parts of the Bay Area the number show that 21% of Alameda's listing are either a foreclosure or short sale. With the traditional slow home sales period approaching during the holiday season, it will be interesting to see what happens to inventory over the next couple of months.

Weekly Inventory Report -- Total Alameda Inventory

Data Pulled November 15, 2008 at 7:30 AM

Total Listings: 183

Single Family Residences: 108

Condominiums: 44

Multi-Family: 31

Short Sales: 21

Foreclosures: 17

Highst List Price: $1,995,000

Lowest List Price: $210,000

Note: The lowest list price was $165,000 for a houseboat at Barnhill Marina. I did not include it as the low listing, because it is not on land. There are three house boats included in the numbers.

With the housing market being so tough, I thought a little humor for Monday is appropriate. So Welcome, to 94501 Real Estate!