Open Listings refutes reports of San Francisco housing market slowdown

Dive Brief:

Real estate marketplace Open Listings reported that, contrary to a Redfin report last month, the falling prices in San Francisco belong mostly to homes — particularly condominiums — listed at $3 million or more.
Open Listings said that while the median home sale price did fall 1.8% for the year ending March 2016, that figure could be skewed by the mix of homes sold.
The competition for single family homes — which represent 60% of the market — at all prices is still high, and selling prices for homes and condos less than $1 million — which represent 30% of the market — have exceeded asking prices by 11.7% in the last year. On the other hand, the selling price of luxury condos more than $3 million, 2% of the market, is 2.7% less than the asking price, according to Open Listings.

Dive Insight:

In the Redfin report, Chief Economist Nela Richardson said that Redfin offers encountering competition in that market have decreased 17% from March 2015, a metric which she interpreted as being more reflective of "buyers fed up with high Bay Area prices and crazy competition" rather than low inventory.

However, Open Listings said competition is still rising, as are prices, for all but that $3 million-plus segment of the market. In fact, in April 2016, the median sales price of $1,285,000 was an "all-time high," 23% higher than March 2016 and 6% higher than April 2015. Sales volume, the company said, was down 23% year over year.

While there are discrepancies between data companies, no one is disputing the fact that the majority of San Francisco Bay Area real estate prices are increasingly out of reach for potential buyers. In fact, a recent Bay Area Council survey found that one-third of current San Francisco area residents were planning to leave the area because it was so unaffordable. Community leaders have called on business and local officials to try to stem the out-migration by building more housing and investing in transportation systems that will reduce commuter frustration.

Meanwhile, a March Beacon Economics report found that, between 2007 and 2014, California lost residents to less expensive surrounding states by the hundreds of thousands, largely due to surging housing costs.