Living in Contra Costa County

I wanted to compare Short Sale Figures to other type of sales. I selected to look at Brentwood as prices are stable compared to other markets and there are a number of sales this year to compare. These figures are all sales of Single Family Homes in Brentwood this year as of the MLS on May 23, 2009.

Short Sales are only selling for a little more than Bank Owned properties. The banks need to approve short sales and probably will not approve much less than market or what they can get for it if they sell it. Also, on average the Short Sale homes are in better shape than the Bank Owned Homes. Traditional private sales are running a little over 10% higher than Short Sales.

Now the average days on the market for a Short Sale are 71, about 30 days longer than other types of sales. There are several reasons for this; people do not like to make offers on Short Sales, and the banks take a long time to approve the Short Sales. Please note there are a lot more Bank Owned Sales than Short Sales, but at this time there are more Short Sales than Bank Owned homes on the market. Many banks will not approve many Short Sales and the offers fall apart.

If you are willing to make a decent offer and wait you can get a good deal on a Short Sale.

Each home is unique and if you want an evaluation of your home please let me know.

If you are interested in Buying a Home or Selling a Home in Brentwood or anywhere in East Contra Costa County, Antioch, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pittsburg and others please contact me. I specialize in helping buyers of Bank Owned Homes. For regular updates please subscribe to this blog.

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I often tell Home Buyers that homes are like movie theater popcorn. When you go large you get more for your money, at least in terms of unit cost.

My primary market is East Contra Costa County; including the cities of Bay Point, Pittsburg, Antioch, Oakley, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, and other small communities. To demonstrate my point I did a study on the City of Brentwood. My April Market Report on Brentwood, and My March Market Report on Brentwood the Brentwood Real Estate Market appeared the most stable. This is best for looking at large numbers of a longer period. I looked at all the sold Homes in Brentwood this year on the MLS through 4-20-09.

This year there have been a total of 282 Home Sales in Brentwood. The Average Price of these homes was $311,958.00 with a Median Price of $299,500.00. The Average Price per SF is $130.00. The Average Days on Market was 46.

There were only 5 Condos and Town homes sold. The Average Price of these homes was $152,800.00 with a Median Price of $175,500.00. The Average Price per SF is $110.00. The Average Days on Market was 53. This is actually below average and would seem to disprove my theory, except that Condos and Town Homes do not have large lots if they have lots at all. They also have HOA Dues which tends to increase the cost of ownership in other areas.

The Average Price of the homes 1000 SF or under was $123,333.00 with a Median Price of $95,000.00. The Average Price per SF is $154.00.00. The Average Days on Market was 54. This range only included 3 homes this year.

The Average Price of the homes from 1001 SF to 1500 SF was $197,579.00 with a Median Price of $210,000.00. The Average Price per SF is $152.00.00. The Average Days on Market was 62. This range includes 30 homes.

The Average Price of the homes from 1501 SF to 2000 SF was $242,755.00 with a Median Price of $250,000.00. The Average Price per SF is $137.00.00. The Average Days on Market was 45. This range includes 55 homes.

The Average Price of the homes from 2001 SF to 2500 SF was $293,473.00 with a Median Price of $292,000.00. The Average Price per SF is $129.00.00. The Average Days on Market was 46. This range includes 57 homes.

The Average Price of the homes from 2501 SF to 3000 SF was $334,889.00 with a Median Price of $339,500.00. The Average Price per SF is $123.00.00. The Average Days on Market was 39. This range includes 46 homes.

The Average Price of the homes from 3001 SF to 3500 SF was $387,619.00 with a Median Price of $382,500.00. The Average Price per SF is $119.00.00. The Average Days on Market was 46. This range includes 40 homes.

The Average Price of the homes from 3501 SF to 4000 SF was $480,325.00 with a Median Price of $437,000.00. The Average Price per SF is $128.00.00. The Average Days on Market was 29. This range includes 24 homes. The trend seems to be going up with this range, but one home in the range was a luxury home on a 10 acre lot that sold for $1,250,000.00. When that home is taken out of the mix the Average Price is $120.00.00 and the Median Price is $434,000.00. The Average Days on Market goes to 27 and the Average Price per SF is $120.00.

For homes over 4000 SF the Average Price is $463,527.00 and the Median Price is $465,000.00. The Average Price per SF is $109.00. The Average Days on Market is 63.

The Trend is clearly downward in Price per SF as Homes get larger, but the trend is also that larger homes sell faster.

If you are interested in Buying a Home or Selling a Home in Brentwood or anywhere in East Contra Costa County, Antioch, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Pittsburg, Bay Point and others please contact me. I specialize in helping buyers of Bank Owned Homes. For regular updates please subscribe to this blog.

Subscribe to Gene Riemenschneider's East Contra Costa Home Blog by Email