2007 Round-Up

A belated welcome to 2008 from your favorite intergenerational real estate team. We are rested, nourished, and energized after some fun holiday travel, yummy eats, and a sudden respite from the rain clouds.

A special "thank you" goes out to those of you who bought or sold homes with us in 2007, as well as the many friends and former clients who helped us build our business last year. Your referrals are the the lifeblood of our business. We can't express our appreciation enough. One way we try, however, is to make donations to Ritter Center in Marin County and Glide Memorial Family Services in SF for every opportunity you send our way. We were thrilled to make many donations to both organizations throughout the year. And if the number of calls we've received during the first two weeks of 2008 is any indication, this year will be even better.

While 2007 was a busy year for Next Generation Real Estate, it was not so busy out there in the broader market. The fourth quarter in particular was not kind to sellers. Check out these end-of-year stats for a complete picture. The first number shows the percentage change in the total units sold in 2007 vs. 2006. The second number reflects the Q4 year-over-year change:

San Francisco -9.69% -19.11%
Marin -12.0% -29.0%
Sonoma -23.26% -39.04%
Napa -25.13% -42.02%
Solano -40.02% -48.43%
Alameda -27.53% -42.91%
Contra Costa -29.30% -42.89%

This next set of stats shows the percentage change in the median price in 2007 vs. 2006:

San Francisco +3.25% +4.3%
Marin +4.15% +4.4%
Sonoma -5.91% -13%
Napa +.84% +1%
Solano -8.13% -17.2%
Alameda +1.0% -3.36%
Contra Costa -1.0% -14.35%

As we've noted before, the upper end of the market out-performed the lower end in 2007. This accounts, in part, for why Marin and SF had an increase in median price despite a roughly 10% drop in total units sold.

We think there's good information in the above charts, as well as hints as to where the market may be headed in 2008. Please get in touch if you or someone you know is considering a real estate transaction this year. We'd love to talk about it!

All the best in 2008.