Over, Under, At – SF Home Sales: February 9 – 15, 2009

Welcome back to the “Over, Under, At” weekly feature. It’s a simple breakdown taken from MLS data that shows the number of closed sales that sold Over Asking Price, Under Asking Price or At Asking Price. 

*Just a reminder that new construction sales are rarely included in this list since they don’t get posted on the MLS.

Happy Monday folks. Sales are still kinda sad this week.  Single family homes sales increased, condo sales decreased and TIC’s stayed the same (one closed last week, one closed this week.)  But, these are still most likely sales that went into contract in 2008 since a typical escrow these days is 30–45 days with longer escrows being more and more and more common.  And I’m hearing about a lot of new construction sales going into contract, but those won’t show up in this report so we can’t comment on them (but I do know that sales are happening). And of course, one thing I can’t help but comment on is how many properties are selling UNDER the asking price.  In face, MOST are under asking.  But asking price is really, just a marketing tool.  What this tells me is that the strategy of listing low to create a marketing buzz doesn’t work nearly as well anymore – unless the seller is willing to list REALLY low to create an auction type atmosphere.  Case in point: the one single family home that did sell over asking was listed at $399K and sold for $530K because the seller was willing to let the market determine the properties true market value.        

Keep in mind that these reports are meant to be helpful for potential buyers and sellers – but to really understand the pulse of the SF real estate market, talk to a local real estate agent. We’re in the trenches and these closed sales went into escrow a month ago (sometimes less, sometimes more). We are much better in tune with what’s going on in the market TODAY and can give you much more in depth information than any set of statistics can. If you need advice from a San Francisco Realtor, feel free to contact me. I’m always happy to talk real estate.

Here’s a quick breakdown of closed San Francisco home sales for the week from February 9 – 15, 2009: 

Single Family Homes - 12 Homes Sold

Condos/Lofts/Co-ops’s - 10 Homes Sold