I'm noticing a shift in the markets that I want you to be aware of. What was a buyer's market at the low and middle ends has now become a sellers market once again. the issue is that there is very little inventory and any property that is any good is receiving multiple offers which in most cases is driving the sales price up. This may indicate a short term or a long term trend. At this time I don't know which. What I do know is: that on Saturday a property in Walnut Creek on Molly Lane in a short sale situation received 4 offers as soon as the price was reduced; that a home on 67th Street in Berkeley last Thursday received 4 offers, all but one well above the list price in a standard (traditional) sale situation; that an REO (banked owned) home on San Jose Street in the Richmond Annex received 15 offers within the first few days of being on the market and that these offers were submitted to the bank last Saturday.
What can be gleaned from my experiences is that many individuals who consider themselves first time buyers are currently priced out of the market. Have they missed their opportunity? Perhaps. I can't predict the future so I don't really know. I keep hearing about another 2 million homes that are REOs and will be coming on the market soon. But this rumor has been out there for months now and I haven't seen its fruition. If the banks actually do own these large amounts of homes and are holding them back out of fear of flooding the market then now is the time to begin releasing them, now, while the tax credit is still available, now while there are still first time buyers who have a renewed hope of owning a piece of the American Dream.
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