Berkeley: Top of the Market Feels the Pain

Looking at two homes that were recorded as having sold last week in Berkeley—2957 Avalon Avenue for $3.1m and 22 Tanglewood Road for $2.3m, both, coincidentally designed by the eminent Berkeley architect Walter Ratcliff—it’s tempting to conclude that this category of “super homes” is immune from the real estate downturn. After all, they both sold, and quickly—neither was on the open market for more than a few weeks.

But look more closely and the indications are that even at the very highest end, the market is suffering.

The five-bedroom home with luxurious grounds and paneled library at 22 Tanglewood sold for $2,300,000, a whopping $650,000 (or 22%) less than its asking price of $2,950,000.

Just around the corner, the 5-bedroom home at 2957 Avalon (pictured right) sold for $100,000 under its $3.2 asking price. A mere bagatelle when you’re in this price league, it is true, but the last two homes that sold just this summer on this prestigious street in the Claremont neighborhood went for well above asking price. (Number 2940 for $2.2 million, 10% over its asking, and 2934 for 40% over asking at $4,050,000.)

Meanwhile two other premium homes are that are currently on the market are singularly failing to sell. Another Ratcliff home, at 2 Somerset Place, (pictured above) can’t find a buyer even after reducing its price from $3.2m to $2.9m, while nobody is rushing to pay the highest price tag around — $4.5m — for 2 Westminster Drive in Oakland’s Claremont Pines neighborhood.

It seems even the rich can hurt.

[Source for homes sold data sfgate.com.]