The median price for a new home in California’s Bay Area was $845,000 in October 2018, up 3.7% from September and up 9.3% from October 2017, according to a CoreLogic report. This marks the 79th straight month where prices have risen in the Bay Area on a year over year basis, but the second month where price growth has fallen below 10% YOY, following 13 months of double-digit growth.
The number of homes sold last month totaled 7,158, up 20% from September but down 6.5% from October 2017. According to data from Compass’s Patrick Carlisle, active listings and price reductions rose greatly on a year-over-year basis throughout the bay area, with price cuts up to their highest October level since 2012.
Part of that is seasonal, said D.J. Grubb, president of Grubb Co. Realtors in the East Bay. “The jet takes off in February, levels off in spring, and we sit at that level through the year. Sellers don’t realize that,” Grubb said. “They think they can get the trajectory in October and November (that they got in the spring). They can’t.”
So why are median prices still going up? Because the median is the point at which half of homes sold for more and half sold for less, it can be skewed by changes in the mix of homes — higher or lower end — that sell each month, Carlisle said.
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