Where are Homes / Condos Prices Going in San Francisco?

Are you watching the markets, especially right now during the holidays? I'm seeing price drops across the board, in condos found in South Beach to homes in some of the most desirable neighborhoods in the city.

You might recall after Labor Day a huge influx of properties on the market, but not to many motivated buyers jumping into the market this fall. It was slow and many other agents where asking me what I thought. We were all trying to put a pin on what is happening in the market. Bottom line, less buyers that are active, some buyers on the sidelines waiting for a correction.

We are in the correction but lets not over estimate the magnitude of such correction. Lets call it a more balanced marketplace. One which buyers can get good deals and sellers can get realistic values on their homes. We are not anywhere close to what we saw a decade ago, not even close.

Buyers will find very affordable mortgages, less competition and good properties which is healthy for the market. Many of my buyer side transactions this fall were negotiated down on prices. Remember in real estate you make your money on the buy side by buying into whatever equity you can. I do have to say I love it when my appraisals come back higher then the purchase price when representing buyers. That is a huge win!

Sellers can still sell their properties but they simply need to be realistic on values and not over estimate, a cut of 5 or 10% off of inflated values will get the property sold. Just don't be greedy, because greed hurts the marketability of the property if it is listed too high for the demand in the market

I do think once the new year hits, that people will be back in the game as the economy is still rolling along at a healthy pace, fueled by low rates. The market fluctuates up and down during various seasons, and if you are looking take advantage of any dips in the market. I also advise that you should be holding for a longer time horizon, say 7 years.