In last month’s look at Berkeley’s November real estate market, we saw how strong Berkeley’s real estate market was, and took the liberty of blaming the vegetarians.
Alright, so maybe that was a tad gratuitous.
Looking at December’s market, however, we see numbers every bit as stunning. So if the hot market really does result from vegetarians laying off their turkeys, that works again for Christmas. Now in January, Berkeley is sporting an unheard of .8 months of inventory (i.e., just over three weeks). Seventy-one units sold in December, which is actually up 18% from last December’s 60 units. (These hardy Berkeley herbivores apparently didn’t get NAR’s memo that resale home volume is supposed to be down 25% this year).
The average home sold in Berkeley in December for $790,497, a tasty 3.6% more than the average list of $762,497. (Real estate “bubble” junkies who might want to insist on finding the storm cloud in front of Berkeley’s silver lining will note that last year Berkely sellers sold their homes for 10% more than list, not a “measely” 3.6%). The median sale price in Berkeley in December, 2005 was $730,000.
Appreciation from last year on a cost per square foot basis was 6.9% from December to December.