Cheshire Cat Photo Blog(...said the Cat: 'we're all mad here....')

Last month was the hottest August for Bay Area home sales in 6 YEARS!

A grand total of 8,579 homes of all types were sold in August in the region, up 14% from August of 2011, according to DataQuick, making August the 11th straight month that sales have registered a year-over-year increase. The median price also increased 11%, to $410,000, and the asking prices on many homes were getting bid upward 3-10%! Anywhere from 5 to 20 bids come in on a single home!

Although August’s median price was the highest for that month since 2008, it was down a bit from July and June, according to DataQuick’s Andrew LePage. But he said prices typically drop in August, adding that the overall trend looks positive.

Among existing single-family homes, sales jumped more than 12 percent from a year ago to 6,200, and the median price increased about 6 percent to $435,000. The median price was $650,000 in San Mateo County, $600,000 in Santa Clara County, $430,000 in Alameda County and $312,000 in Contra Costa County.

Low mortgage rates and a willingness of buyers to purchase more expensive homes has pushed more buyers into the market, and there appears to be a decreasing number of foreclosed homes being offered at a discount, which pushes the prices up. MercuryNews.com notes:

Craig Gorman, of Intero Real Estate Services in San Jose, said he recently got 15 offers on a residence in Palo Alto.

“The house was a tear-down I had listed for $1.29 million, and I sold it in a week for $1.76 million,” he said. “With a lot of the homes now I would say, minimum, you’re getting eight offers. Plus, I just heard of a deal the other day where they had 50 offers.”

Gorman added that many people snapping up expensive properties — including the Palo Alto home — are foreign investors who are especially eager to buy in Palo Alto, Los Altos and San Mateo.

Since DataQuest began tracking the market in 1988, 9,638 homes of all types have sold on average during the months of August — 1,059 more than last month. And while the median price plunged to a low of $290,000 in March 2009, its peak of $665,000 in June and July of 2007 remains well above the current median price of $410,000.

So the housing market still has a good way to go before it is back to normal, but it is moving in the right direction for recovery.

-Bill at

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