SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – If you are thinking about buying a home in the Bay Area suburbs, now is the time.
Seems like it would be just the opposite due to the impact of COVID-19.
A pair of realtors explain why that is not the case.
While the local economy struggles to get back on track during the COVID-19 era, the Bay Area real estate market is hotter than ever.
“My word or phrase is counterintuitive. Who would think in the middle of a shelter-in-place that the Bay Area real estate market would have the highest sales volume in 10-years and that’s what we’re looking at,” William Doerlich said.
William Doerlich of Realty ONE Group Today says one reason buyers are taking advantage of historically low-interest rates.
“If I can get an interest rate at 3.0 let’s go,” Doerlich said.
Homebuyers, many of whom work in the tech industry, are leaving the city and going to the suburbs.
“If you can pick where you want to live and you know you got a shelter-in-place, and you know you need to work at home and you need that zoom room,” Doerlich said.
Before they get to the suburbs, some home buyers are stopping to look at Oakland, says Sandi Porter of Berkshire Hathaway Homes.
“Interest is hot in Oakland,” Porter said.
She says that includes fixer-uppers as well as turnkey properties even in deep East Oakland.
“People want to come to deep East Oakland because these are nice neighborhoods, neighborhoods where people thrive,” Porter said.
The higher-priced Bay Area real estate market is also doing well.
“For example, in the Pleasanton area, Ruby Hill, average days on the market is like 10 to 12 and these are homes that we are looking at in the $2-million range,” Doerlich said.