Loading ...Okay, we all know the Pleasanton/Dublin/San Ramon real estate market is struggling overall, but sometimes it is helpful to gain some perspective by looking at how good we have it, relative to some other markets. I have a realtor friend who has a listing in Antioch right now, and her story certainly helps us understand that our market is hot compared to some of the outlying markets in the central valley.
First, some background. Pleasanton currently has 186 detached homes on the market, Antioch has 1069. Antioch had 59 pending sales in October, and Pleasanton had 45.
This particular house in Antioch is just over 2000 sq ft, with 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a 3 car garage. It is a relatively new home (6 years old) in a desirable area by a good builder.
In May, the house across the street from this home sold for $745,000. It was a larger home, with over 2500 sq ft. The subject home was listed in May for $649,000, which seemed like a good price. However, after 2 1/2 months on the market with no offers, the owners lowered the price to $599,000. Still no offers, and very slow activity. The owners have a mortgage balance of about $530,000 on the home, so they did not have much equity. After a couple of months at $599,000, the wife lost her job, and they became extremely motivated to sell. They lowered the price to $449,000, which is far below their loan balance. So it is now a short sale situation, where the bank will hopefully agree to take less of a loan payoff as an alternative to taking the house back in foreclosure. The agent has basically given up, and does not even list a price on the home flyer… instead, she put “call for price”.
The Antioch market is a disaster. By some counts, as much as 40% of the homes for sale are distressed sales, either foreclosures or short sales. On top of this, you have builders with unsold inventory who are willing to give away whatever is necessary to sell their glut of unsold homes. Now this is a tough market.
Compared to this situation, the Pleasanton and Tri-Valley market is doing very well. Our inventory is relatively stable, and although sales levels are down from the summer, there is activity, and some homes are even selling in less than a week, often close to asking price. The intent here is not to rejoice in other people’s problems, but rather to help appreciate how good we really have it here.
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