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Published April 23rd, 2014
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The Real Estate Quarter in Review
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| By Conrad Bassett |
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The first quarter of 2014 showed a continued fast pace in activity on the residential side of Lamorinda real estate. Supply has increased a little but most of the homes that have recently come on the market have quickly gone pending. Closed sales are down in numbers but only because the supply has been down. The average sales price continues to increase in Moraga, Orinda and Lafayette versus the same period last year.
Per Contra Costa Association of Realtors statistics reported from Jan. 1 through March 31, 48 single-family homes closed in Lafayette which was a decrease from 55 one year ago. Sales prices ranged from $681,000 to $3.375 million and the average number of days on market was 39, versus 40 days a year ago, and 41 days in 2012. The average sales price was $1,323,841 up from $1,283,618 in the same period in 2013 and continuing the upward trend from the $971,889 in the first quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2011when it was 973,341.
In Moraga the number of single-family closings was 25, consistent with the 1Q2012 when 23 closed and 1Q2012 when 21 closed. Prices ranged from $525,000 to $2.23 million. The average sale price was $1,151,360, a slight increase from the $1,137,226 in the first quarter of 2013, and again a huge increase from the same quarter in 2012 when it was $959,857, and from the $823,931 in 1Q2011. The average marketing time was 19 days ... almost half as few as the 34 days in 1Q2013. In the first quarter of 2012 it was 72 days.
In Orinda the number of single-family closings was 36 versus 33 in 1Q2013 and 24 in 1Q2012. Sales prices ranged from $700,000 to $2.11 million with an average price of $1,128,161, down a little from $1,151,882, a year ago. In the first 90 days of 2012 it was $934,541. In 2011 it was 894,857. It took an average of 28 days on the market to sell a home, the same as the first quarter of last year; it was 67 in the identical quarter in 2012.
In the first quarter of this year, Lafayette homes sold at $524.42 per square foot; Moraga at $461.83, and Orinda at $494.85. To this point in 2013, the average price per square foot in Lafayette was $440 per square foot, Moraga was $424 and Orinda was at $439. In the first quarter of 2012, Lafayette detached single-family homes sold at $384 per square foot, Moraga homes sold for $388 and Orinda was at $379. In same quarter in 2011, these amounts were $384, $374, and $366, respectively.
In the condominium/town home category, Lafayette had eight closings up from zero in the period last year. They ranged in price from $500,000 to $781,236. Moraga had 10 ranging from $245,000 to $765,000 and Orinda had three - $710,000 and $735,000 and $850,000.
As of April 10 there were 82 homes under contract per the MLS in the three combined communities with asking prices of $350,000 to $3.75 million. A year ago there were 88 pending homes with asking prices of $341,000 to $3.95 million. Two years ago on the same date there were 127 homes under contract with asking prices of $149,000 to $3.69 million. It should be pointed out that there is only one pending "Potential Short Sale." A year ago there were 13; and 23 in 2012. There are no pending sales that are REOs (bank owned properties) at this time.
Inventory has finally increased however, as there are 117 condominiums, town homes and single family homes on the market. A year ago there were 70, so we are closer to the 115 that were available at this time in 2012.
There are 43 Lafayette properties currently on the market versus 31 properties on the market in April, 2013 and 61 properties in April, 2012. Asking prices in Lafayette currently range from $495,888 to $7.75 million. Of these, there are no distressed sales - attempted short sales or REOs. In Moraga, buyers have their choice of 24 homes or condos versus only nine a year ago. They are listed between $669,000 and $3.5 million. There are no short sales or REOs listed in the MLS.
In Orinda there are 50 on the market, versus 30 a year ago. The list prices range from $695,000 to $6.3 million. There are no short sales or REOs.
As is the case nearly every quarter, the most active sales are in the more "affordable" price range. At the high end, seven homes sold above $2 million in the three communities combined. A year ago there were nine. There are 35 currently available above this amount in the three communities combined.
Interest rates continue to be attractive and many corporations continue to relocate families both in to and out of the area. The real estate markets in San Francisco, the Peninsula, and the other side of the hill in Oakland and Piedmont have been even more active so there has been some spillover effect where buyers are willing to make longer commutes in order to find more "affordable housing." Of course, Lamorinda and affordable housing are seldom mentioned in the same breath.
Other factors of note are that there is now some new construction in Orinda and Lafayette that has added some supply and the completion of the new bore for the Caldecott Tunnel in the non-commute direction has had some effect.
Lastly, it is important to look at what homes are selling for versus their list prices. Often homes come on the market at unrealistic prices, and they do not sell, but in the first quarter of this year many homes have had multiple offers and have sold at or above the list price.
Of the 48 single-family home sales that closed in Lafayette in the first quarter of 2014, 32 sold at or above the list price. In Moraga, 19 of the 25 sales were at or above the asking price and in Orinda, 23 of the 36 sold at or above the final listing price.
This will typically happen when a house goes pending in the two weeks on the market. Of the 82 currently pending sales in the three Lamorinda communities combined, 54 went pending in 15 days or less. The actual average days on the market would be markedly lower but most agents are setting up marketing plans where they hold the home open to the public and to brokers and follow with an offer date in a week or so after exposing the property to the market - pointing to a high likelihood of a continued trend in homes selling above the asking price.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA