Bay Area Home Prices Climb as Competition Skyrockets.

If you’ve made an offer on a Bay Area home in the past month, there’s a good chance that you’ve found yourself shoulder-to-shoulder with several other eager buyers. This increased competition has been a blessing to home sellers, who have capitalized on the rise in demand by raising prices. The latest figures reflect this trend: In May, the average home sold for 17% more than a year ago (the highest in over a year), and closed for $25,000 above the asking price.

With numbers like these, you would expect homeowners to be racing to put their homes up for sale, thereby replenishing the market—but this has not entirely been the case. In fact, between April and May, there was a very slight decrease in the number of new properties placed on the market, leaving Bay Area inventory to dwindle to a 13-month record-low. One of the more popular explanations for this phenomenon is that many homeowners are still waiting for housing prices to climb to their pre-recession levels, restoring any equity that was temporarily lost.

But those prices are certainly getting close and, as some homeowners hold their breath, we might see housing prices continue to climb as buyers compete for the shortage of homes on the market. In turn, higher prices will encourage owners to put their homes up for sale, adding to the inventory and providing prospective buyers with greater flexibility than they might currently be experiencing.

In the meantime, prospective buyers can still find parts of the Bay Area that are relatively “cool” (as we previously wrote regarding the Richmond Waterfront).

Many homeowners are trying to read the market and wait for the “perfect time” to sell their home, thinking that timing is the most important factor in selling a house. But it’s equally important to hire representatives who can make your home stand out by marketing it in the best possible light and developing a strategy that is tailored to your home. Remember: It may be a hot seller’s market, but the right team can help ensure that you take full advantage of this and get the most money for your home.