The beginning of the year always brings excitement to the home buying market. With the holidays over, it inspires a flood of Buyers to hit the open house circuit and search for their new home. 

Last year, that was met with unseasonably high inventory in Lamorinda as Sellers kept listing homes straight through the holidays and into the new year. 

In the first month of 2021, six homes over $2.5 million sold in Lafayette. 

In the first month of 2022, only three homes sold over $2.5 million in Lafayette. 

The 50% drop in luxury inventory has been met with another new trend - unprecedented demand from Buyers looking to purchase in this price range. 

Despite the recent dip in the markets, many Buyers have decided to leverage their stock portfolio to become all cash Buyers. Others have benefitted from the increased equity in their current home which has allowed them to have higher down payments or use a bridge loan to bring more cash to the table. And, with work from home continuing, people are still looking for bigger houses that can accommodate a true live/work/play lifestyle. 

For Buyers, this might not seem like great news. But here are some more stats to consider. Of the three homes that closed in January 2022 over $2.5 million, our team was involved in two of those sales. 

We have other good Buyer news for the month of January: 

• We helped one of our clients go into contract on a home that will close over $6 million that we found for them off-market. 
• We helped a family win in multiple offers on a home in Happy Valley that was listed at $4.9 million and was extremely competitive.
• Another Buyer of ours just beat out 15 other offers on an investment property in Alamo. 
• One of our Sellers was just able to get into contract on a purchase yesterday in Moraga Country Club where there has been very little inventory for the past several years. 

I point this out not to brag, but rather to reassure our clients that our agents know how to aggressively maneuver in the current environment to place our clients at the top of the pile. Our connections with top agents, developers, and a wide network of contacts in the community, allow us to be one step ahead of the market.  

For Sellers, this means it is a unique time to market your home to a wide range of Buyers. If you are on the fence or know someone who is debating whether to wait or sell, we’d recommend acting quickly before rising interest rates and a volatile stock market thin out the Buyer pool. 

Dana & Team