Alameda is Just a Little Different

The SF Gate has run an article the last two day on the home page about how homes sales in the region have soared as prices have dropped. This action is predictable; as people start seeing value and opportunity they will jump into buying. It the marketing world we are teased daily with terms like close-out, liquidation, going-out of business sales and in the home resale market the equivalent is foreclosure.

For those who live in Alameda, or for those looking to buy, the housing market continues to see smaller fluctuations than that of the San Francisco Bay Area Region, the East Bay or Alameda County. I took a look at the overall sales in Alameda and since October 2008 foreclosures accounted for 13% of the sales. For all 2008, foreclosures were just under 7% of all sales.

These are not even close to the numbers reported by the Chronicle:

“Fully half of all existing homes sold in the Bay Area in December were foreclosures unloaded by banks at fire-sale prices. Those sales sent median prices tumbling to new lows and attracted droves of buyers, according to a real estate report released Wednesday.”

The large portion of these buyers is investors looking to build portfolios.

The other reported data point was concerning the drop in Median sale price.

“Every Bay Area county experienced double-digit declines in the median price. The annual drops for existing homes ranged from 11.8 percent in San Francisco to 48.4 percent in Contra Costa County.”

The change in median home sale price in Alameda from December 2007 to December 2008 was about 5%. In month of December the 2007 median sale price was $580,000 and in 2008 it was $560,000.

The numbers in foreclosure heavy areas have depressed the overall number in the region, but it appears for now that Alameda is seeing a decline sales volume and relatively low foreclosure activity.