DataQuick: Bay Area Home Sales Sink to Lowest Level in Two Decades

DataQuick, an agency that tracks and reports on real estate activity, released its numbers for the Bay Area this afternoon. For the most part, things were not pretty.

5,014 homes were sold in the greater Bay Area last month, which is the slowest September on record since DataQuick started keeping track in 1988. This number is down 31% from August (7,299 homes sold), down 40% from September 2006 (8,374 homes sold) and way, way down from 2004, which was the best September on record (12,868 homes sold). Jumbo mortgages were also off, with 1,935 being funded in September (compared to 3,762 in August).

According to the DQNews:

“A lot of escrows just didn’t close in September because the buyers couldn’t get financing. Some of those sales might close this month or next, but many of the deals are going to be put on hold or die on the vine. Jumbo financing has become more available the last few weeks, but lenders are being more cautious than before, and the loans cost more,” said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president.

As usual, San Francisco remained relatively unscathed by the meltdown occurring all around it. Though SF sales were down 17.3% compared to September ‘06, the other 8 counties comprising the Bay Area did much worse. Marin was next best with a 32.5% YOY decline and Contra Costa fared the worst, registering a whopping 48.7% YOY decline. SF (along with a handful of other counties) also managed to post a modest increase in median price compared to last September.

Anecdotally speaking, I have yet to see any evidence of a slowdown in the neighborhoods I’m currently shopping in SF and Oakland. As recently as this week, properties I’m interested in have received multiple offers and sold for significantly over their asking price.

If all these numbers and percentage marks haven’t given you a headache, there’s plenty more great data in the DQNews release, which can be found here.

And, for those of you more visually inclined, here’s a photo representing my take on the current state of the Bay Area housing market:

Image credit: tlindenbaum via Flikr