Five Bay Area cities top list of most home sales above asking price

In what will surely come as no surprise to home shoppers in the Bay Area, a new report found the list prices aren’t always what the properties sell for. In fact, five California cities were among the 10 metros with the largest gaps in asking-to-selling prices.

An analysis from online lender Better Mortgage found that San Francisco had the second-highest ratios between list prices and sale prices, behind only Española, New Mexico, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. San Jose was third, Oakland fourth, San Rafael eighth and Santa Cruz 10th.

In the case of San Francisco, the average sale-to-list ratio was 108 percent, and 71 percent of homes sold above asking price. The analysis used November 2021 figures from Redfin’s Data Center.

“This isn’t the least bit surprising,” wrote Khadeejah Johnson, head of brokerage for Better Mortgage, in an email to the Chronicle. “The Bay Area is home to some of the most competitive housing markets in the country, driven by historically low inventory levels and supply chain issues causing new construction delays and higher costs.”

The soaring home prices have much to do with not nearly enough homes on the market. In January, only 486 San Francisco homes went on sale, 42 percent fewer than in the same month last year. Indeed, every city in the Bay Area experienced at least 40 percent fewer listings.

“Home builders are trying to catch up on a backlog of homes that won’t come close to meeting demand,” Johnson said to the Chronicle.

[San Francisco Chronicle] — Gabriel Poblete

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