Depending on the statistic, these charts will reflect trends in the Inner East Bay or for Alameda County. The Inner East Bay is comprised of the cities of Oakland, Piedmont, city of Alameda, Berkeley, Albany, Kensington, El Cerrito and Richmond.
Generally speaking, market activity – as measured by the number of listings going into contract – continued to pick up rapidly in May, bouncing back from the steep plunge following the first shelter in place orders. However, activity in May, which is typically among the busiest selling months of the year, remains well below May 2019. Still, with the easing of shelter in place, as well as the market learning to adjust to new circumstances, it is expected the recovery will continue to surge closer to normal. In fact, based on the strength of buyer demand, some analysts believe the coming months may be busier than in 2019, as sales activity that would have occurred in spring gets pushed into the summer instead.
Interest rates hit another historic low at the end of May.
Some of the more rural and suburban counties have been rebounding more quickly than counties with large urban areas (Oakland, SF, San Jose), which were most impacted by COVID-19. There may be a number of factors at work, which are discussed in a chart within this report. But it is still too soon to reach definitive conclusions about any major demographic shifts: County trends may well merge together again as the recovery continues.
Note: Any statistics derived from closed sales – such as median sales prices, sales volume and days on market – reflect the state of the market 3-6 weeks ago when the offers were negotiated and accepted. They are lagging indicators, and May closed-sales data to a large degree reflects the much softer market in April.
