5 ms·

Bay Area home sales tank 10 percent in August – slowest pace in 7 years

18 points by smaili 8y ago

r00fus 8y ago
I wonder how much of this is due to recent fires and abysmal air quality... it's bad enough here that if I were still seriously considering moving out of area , I might have made the leap. AQ is so bad I simply don't exercise outdoors as much... and it's not clear when it's going to get better.
- imranq 8y ago
  What stopped you from moving out?
  - r00fus 8y ago
    Massive change for kids, aging parents nearby and friends... not to mention one of us will have to find work wherever the other one goes. It's a big change if you've put down roots.
- NTDF9 8y ago
  > I wonder how much of this is due to recent fires and abysmal air quality... it's bad enough here that if I were still seriously considering moving out of area , I might have made the leap. Wow no! This is one of the financially savviest regions in the world. The prices of homes are far too inflated and the current salt taxes + interest rate increases is causing a lot of hesitation in buyers. One gets trapped with these taxes and mortgage payments. Further, a lot of the increase in asset prices was Chinese investment and immigrants, both drying up. The trend is slowly going down. Why slowly? Because homes are lagging indicators. Make no mistake though, a few IPOs and the asset prices will get some cushion again.
bonniemuffin 8y ago
The headline is written as though the market is tanking, but "the median price for all Bay Area homes sold in August was $830,000, up 12.4 percent annually" -- fewer homes are selling because they're so expensive, but it isn't causing prices to decrease. They're still going up.
Fjolsvith 8y ago
Maybe buyers are buying elsewhere, like out of state.
ummonk 8y ago
Sales volumes are down. Prices aren’t. Sellers are largely waiting things out because why sell now when prices will be even higher in a year. And likewise most buyers have fled the market because the low inventory and price appreciation have made housing options increasingly unappealing.

18 points by smaili 8y ago

I wonder how much of this is due to recent fires and abysmal air quality... it's bad enough here that if I were still seriously considering moving out of area , I might have made the leap. AQ is so bad I simply don't exercise outdoors as much... and it's not clear when it's going to get better.

imranq 8y ago
What stopped you from moving out?
- r00fus 8y ago
  Massive change for kids, aging parents nearby and friends... not to mention one of us will have to find work wherever the other one goes. It's a big change if you've put down roots.
NTDF9 8y ago
> I wonder how much of this is due to recent fires and abysmal air quality... it's bad enough here that if I were still seriously considering moving out of area , I might have made the leap. Wow no! This is one of the financially savviest regions in the world. The prices of homes are far too inflated and the current salt taxes + interest rate increases is causing a lot of hesitation in buyers. One gets trapped with these taxes and mortgage payments. Further, a lot of the increase in asset prices was Chinese investment and immigrants, both drying up. The trend is slowly going down. Why slowly? Because homes are lagging indicators. Make no mistake though, a few IPOs and the asset prices will get some cushion again.

bonniemuffin 8y ago

The headline is written as though the market is tanking, but "the median price for all Bay Area homes sold in August was $830,000, up 12.4 percent annually" -- fewer homes are selling because they're so expensive, but it isn't causing prices to decrease. They're still going up.

Fjolsvith 8y ago

Maybe buyers are buying elsewhere, like out of state.

ummonk 8y ago

Sales volumes are down. Prices aren’t. Sellers are largely waiting things out because why sell now when prices will be even higher in a year. And likewise most buyers have fled the market because the low inventory and price appreciation have made housing options increasingly unappealing.