Home Sales Still Strong in Key Areas
The housing slowdown isn’t being felt in some of the most desirable areas of the country.
For instance, in Ross, Calif., about 18 miles north of San Francisco, real estate practitioner Tracy McLaughlin says, “It’s supply constrained.”
Other metropolitan areas that continued to post gains in home prices nearly every month are Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Charlotte, N.C. In Charlotte, home price growth has averaged a steady 7 percent over the last five years.
In San Francisco, prices have declined slightly, but demand remains strong.
“The market is very strong,” says Richard Weil of Hill & Co. in San Francisco. “We don’t have any inventory. It comes down to that.”
Weil says houses in the $3 million to $5 million range are taking a little longer to sell. But those shopping for homes priced at $6 million or more are largely unaffected by the market downturn.
Source: Reuters News, Jim Christie (03/18/20) and San Francisco Business Times, Mark Calvey (02/28/08)
