Oakland - Berkeley Market Trends Report - February 2021
Inner East Bay Real Estate
Strong Finish to 2020, Heated Start to 2021
February 2021 Report
Our January report focused mostly on 2020’s annual statistics. This report will put most of its attention on quarterly and monthly indicators, which better illustrate changes occurring as 2020 progressed and 2021 began: pre-pandemic to initial pandemic crash through the subsequent market recovery.
In January, new listing activity started to pick up after the typical annual low hit in December. The number of new listings coming on market was approximately 50% higher than in January 2020 - and so was the number of closed sales. The 2021 market is beginning fast and active.
The 2 tables below reflect market statistics and values for Q4 2020 only, for Inner East Bay cities and selected neighborhoods in Berkeley and Oakland. These statistics will often be different than those for the full year 2020.
Median sales values can fluctuate for a number of reasons, and are especially prone to do so in markets with low sales volumes.
A dynamic start to the new year: New listing activity was up approximately 50% in January 2021 over January 2020.
Month by month, year-over-year comparison of home sales volumes - illustrating the initial pandemic crash in activity followed by the market rebound that saw monthly sales volumes climb well above the levels of the previous year. To ultimately peak for the year in December - which is very unusual.
January closed-sales volume was up about 50% over January 2020, and the number of listings going into contract (not illustrated below) was up approximately 56% - tremendous jumps in activity.
The next chart compares the year-over-year change in sales for homes selling for over and under $2 million. Sales in the higher price segment saw a substantial increase, while sales under $2 million saw a small decline. Neither statistic does justice to the rapidly climbing market activity in the last 4 months of the year.
The big jump in high-price home sales was a common dynamic around most of the Bay Area.
Three classic indicators reflecting the strength of the market in the second half of 2020.
Two of the factors behind the housing market recovery were the dramatic drop in interest rates, and the significant rebound in the stock market - especially in the stock prices of some of our local high-tech giants.
