Pleasanton Market Update - October is scary, but better days ahead

It looks like a lot more than candy-seeking children were spooked in October. With the wild, turbulent ride on Wall St and the Fed buying bank stocks and short term paper to avert disaster, October saw a lot of home buyers get spooked as well. In the Pleasanton real estate market, activity was down across all sectors of the market, and things got down right scary for a while as many of us saw our investments and 401k accounts take a major haircut. And political uncertainty added to the mix, as fear pretty much trumped everything. The good news? Things started to stabilize towards the end of the month, and the stock market actually bounced back. Thank god, because I was beginning to think hard about selling everything and stuffing the money in my mattress, or buying one of those lots that Eric Estrada is always pitching on late night TV. But bounce back the market did, and with it there seemed to be at least some stabilization, along with millions of simultaneous sighs of relief. And now that the election is past, we can hopefully get back to the job of getting our economy and the real estate market back on track. After all, I seem to remember hearing Obama saying that he is going to end war, eliminate hunger, fix our economy, give everyone free health care, and provide a good retirement for everyone. Heck, I’d settle for fixing the economy.

In Pleasanton, there were 30 pending sales in October, down from a strong 55 pending sales in September. Actually, that is not bad considering the climate of fear that prevailed throughout much of the month. But there is also a growing sense among some of the smart money that we may be closer to the bottom of the real estate market then many people think. And there are some great buys out there. Inventory overall dropped slightly, with 231 single family homes on the market at the end of October, as compared with 236 homes on the market at the end of September. (Click on the graph to enlarge)

In the under $1 million market segment, activity was down strongly. There were 21 pending sales in October, as compared with 37 pending sales in September. Inventory remained roughly the same with 122 single family homes on the market. (click on graph to enlarge)

In the $1 million to $2 million market segment, sales dropped from 15 pending sales in September to 7 in October. No doubt the gyrations in the financial markets had an impact on some buyer’s down payment funds. Inventory remained steady at 78 homes on the market, or a 10 month supply. (Click on the graph to enlarge)

In the luxury home segment over $2 million, there were 2 pending sales in October, as compared to 3 in September. Inventory dropped in this price segment to 31 homes on the market at the end of October, as compared to 37 at the end of September. Certainly some of the sellers decided that this was not the market they wanted to play in, and opted to wait for a better market to sell. Still, there is a 10 month supply of homes in this price segment, and it continues to struggle along. (Click on graph to enlarge)

Hopefully with the election, we can turn the page and get on with the recovery. Opportunity is certainly out there, and smart buyers with stable jobs, good credit, and strong assets are finding the market to be ripe with good values.