You will have read Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman’s post on the new format for Sweet Digs. From now on, this blog will focus on proprietary, leading-edge indicators of what is happening to home prices in the Bay Area with lots of juicy, Redfin-exclusive pricing data.
So do continue to bookmark this page, and for those of you who would like to carry on chatting and exchanging insights and gossip about real estate in the East Bay, and Berkeley and Oakland in particular, please join the conversation on my newly launched blog, Home Girl.
I look forward to your visits and to “speaking” with you soon.
Here’s a fun set of data. Redfin data engineers have dug deep into our market databases to find out which neighborhoods have the fastest price reductions.
For listings with more than one price drop, we calculated the time between each price drop. Then, for each neighborhood, we calculated the median average number of days between successive price drops for listings. Neighborhoods with fewer than 20 reduced-price listings were excluded from the calculation.
Here’s a chart of the top ten neighborhoods with the fastest price reductions:
On average, neighborhoods where price reductions happen the fastest seem to be those with slightly lower prices, both in terms of overall median and per square foot. The average median sold price per square foot of the top ten neighborhoods with the fastest price reductions was $268, while the ten neighborhoods with the slowest price reductions had an average median sold price of $305 per square foot.
It is also interesting to note that the neighborhoods where price reductions happen the fastest also tend to have larger price reductions. Seven of the ten neighborhoods with the fastest price reductions had median total reductions of over 10%, while in the ten neighborhoods with the slowest price reductions, only three had median total reductions over 10%.
Building and Neighborhood:A High style 1600 ft2, 2 bedroom/2 bath condominium in Lake Merritt’s famous landmark Art Deco high rise: The Bellevue-Staten. Located next to the Lake, this condo has a beautiful view of the Lake, the Park and Migratory Bird Sanctuary. The spacious living room has a wood burning fireplace and built-in Bose surround sound. Through the gallery-size foyer is the formal dining room with bronze chandelier and other period details. The kitchen is accented with Old World style woodwork, including the original double parlor doors, European style range hood and glazed cabinets. Tastefully added to this Old World décor are new stainless steel appliances. Another tasteful upgrade is the two baths which have been completely remodeled in elegance and comfort, including fine Italian marble and whirlpool tub.
Coffee Shop of Choice:
There are 2 popular coffee shops within a 5 minute walk. One cafe, The Beat, also hosts poetry reads and live music. The other café, Merritt Station, has a very good wifi internet connection and is located next to Gold’s Gym for those who need a little boost before or after a workout. There are numerous other cafés within a 5 minute drive, including Starbucks and Pete’s.
Favorite Restaurant in the Area:
Luka’s – a trendy spot for the east bay hip crowd is a 5 minute drive. Besides the clientele, the food is fabulous.Another restaurant, Kincaid’s, many would agree serves the best dishes in the east bay. This restaurant is located on the waterfront in Oakland’s Jack London Square shopping/restaurant/marina and is very popular with business and locals alike. Also serves very good appetizers during happy hour and has the most comfortable seating around with views of San Francisco.
Favorite Places to Go:
For hiking and riding my mountain bike, there are adjacent parks a 10 minute drive way in the Oakland hills: Joaquin Miller and Redwood parks. As the name suggests, theses parks are forested with Redwood, Oak, Pine and Eucalyptus with single track and wider fire trails.For an easy going Saturday morning out and about, there is the Saturday farmers market. Five minute walk along the lake and you’re there: An abundance of great food and music.
Best Features of the Home:
Location, location, location…..close to many of life’s necessities conveniences and joys: hiking and biking trails, gyms, restaurants, post office, cross the street from a park and walking path along the water, etc.
Has there been any remodeling since you purchased the home?:
All renovations were made to code with permits in high quality fashion;
New electrical throughout, including new subpanel and dedicated lines
New copper plumbing throughout;
New showers/tile work in both bathrooms and jacuzzi tub installed in the master;
New paint throughout;
All of the wood work (window shutters, window trim and sills, doors) were either painted or stained and clear coated;
Surround sound (monster cable) installed in the living room;
New kitchen appliances, including range hood;
Closet organizer/shelves installed in 2 closets.
Favorite Room:
The spacious living room overlooks the park and lake. The original parquet wood floors are in beautiful condition and the wood burning fireplace is in great working condition. The surround sound setup rounds out a good environment whether relaxing in solitude reading a book and enjoying the view or hosting a party.
Most Romantic Spot:
The Master Bath has been completely renovated and features a whirlpool tub and glass block-style shower with high end fixtures and fine Italian marble tile. Great spot to dim the lights, light the candles and break out the vino.
What’s in the neighborhood?:
The neighborhood vibrates with many colors and conveniences, including workout gyms, yoga centers, a childrens’ playground, banks, Trader Joe’s, restaurants of all cuisines and the Lakeshore weekly farmers market within walking distance of the condo and across the street from the Grand Lake Theatre. As well, there are miles of East Bay park trails a short 5 minute drive away or even more conveniently located, a trail for the biking, walking or jogging enthusiast which circumvents the lake and is located just steps from the Bellevue-Staten condo building. Around the corner from the Bellevue-Staten is the Bellevue Club with swimming and workout facilities.
What you will miss most:
The evening walks along Lake Merritt in the best weather the Bay Area has to offer.
Today Redfin is launching the new Sweet Digs, Analytical Edition. We’re proud to introduce Tim Ellis as the curator of this new effort. Tim will bring the same independent, data-driven perspective to Sweet Digs that first established him as a pre-eminent real estate blogger, but with pricing data that only a broker—and sometimes only Redfin—can access. He will be joined by other bloggers providing real-time insights on how contracts are being negotiated in neighborhoods around the area.
Sweet Digs is still a work in progress so if you have ideas about the types of posts you’d like to see — or if you’d like to contribute an analytical post of your own — just drop me (glenn at redfin dot com) or Tim (the_tim at thatchmound dot com) a line or leave a comment below. Thanks for all your support, and we look forward to hearing from you!
Regards, Glenn Kelman, CEO Redfin
I’d like to thank Glenn and the good people at Redfin for giving me the opportunity to delve into real estate data and share insights with readers from around the country. To kick things off, let’s take a look at which cities and towns have the most price reductions.
The following charts show the percent of MLS, FSBO or REO listings that were price-reduced at some point before leaving the market (either sold or removed unsold from the market) in the past 90 days. Cities/towns or neighborhoods in which the number of homes taken off the market was too small to provide believable estimates are excluded from ranking.
First up are the top ten cities with the most price-reduced listings:
Of the 133 cities/towns we ranked in the Bay Area, only 3 had a price-reduced ratio of sixty percent or more, while 30 came in with fifty percent or more. The south bay dominated the top ten most price-reduced list, with neighboring Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties taking seven spots. The remaining three cities in the top ten are over in Contra Costa County.
Here are the top ten cities with the least price-reduced listings:
In general, the cities that make up the top ten least price-reduced list are much closer to the bay, which is not particularly surprising. Even with BART, commuting from way out of town to the city centers can’t be fun, so I would expect demand to be stronger closer in, resulting in fewer sellers that need to drop their prices.
Getting a little more granular, let’s look at the top ten Bay Area neighborhoods for price reductions:
34 of the 156 neighborhoods we ranked in Redfin’s Bay Area coverage area had a price-reduced ratio of fifty percent or more. The top neighborhoods for price-reductions are much more geographically diverse than the top cities, with Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Almeda, and Solano counties all making appearances.
Lastly, let’s take a look at which neighborhoods had the least price-reduced listings taken off the market:
Neighborhoods with fewer price reductions tend to be considerably more expensive than those with the most price reductions, with median sold prices averaging twice as high. For example, the median price per square foot in San Jose’s The Village (the top price-reduced neighborhood) is currently $262, but in Berkeley Hills, at the bottom of the price-reduced list, the median price per square foot is $429.
