Autumn through early winter is a key time to buy in San Francisco. From now through early January, buyers tend to drop out of the market as the holiday season creates distractions in people's lives. Of course, inventory also decreases, but what listings there are generally see less interest than in the peak season, often lingering on the market longer or attracting fewer offers. Sellers at this time of year also may be more motivated.

 

This makes the upcoming season an ideal time to land a property around asking price. At this time of year, I see properties with “Offers as they come,” “Price Reduced,” or “Still Available.” These are advantageous phrases for a buyer.  This window is very short, as spring in San Francisco is the most intense both in prices and in numbers of buyers. In terms of San Francisco real estate, when we say spring, we mean beginning in mid-January, and escalating sharply from then. 

I recently wrote a blog post about house appreciation over the past 20 years. I performed the analysis for single-family houses (SFDs), because house inventory has barely changed since 1994, thus it’s a pretty decent apples-to-apples comparison (even though a lot of renovation work has taken place since then). Condo prices have been greatly impacted by tens of thousands of new construction condos in the past 21 years, which would skew the calculations. —>  https://www.dpaulsf.com/2015/10/21/price-appreciation-over-20-years/

Interest rates should stay at the same incredibly low rate throughout the rest of this year.  Many lenders have also reduced their criteria for loans.  I know of a couple of lenders who are loaning 90% of purchase price with no private mortgage insurance. No matter what you bring to the table, there is likely a product out there that can help you land a home.

Are you interested taking advantage of this buying season? Now is the time. Don't let opportunity pass you by. Finding the right place can take weeks or months, so the longer you wait to start, the greater the likelihood you will find yourself back in a hotly competitive market. Let me help you find your home, now.