Feeding Frenzy in Fremont

OK, I admit it — sometimes I’m just too impressed by what one can do with aliteration to think things through. When I was a kid the other kids would accuse me of being aliterate. At least I think that’s what they said.

So I’m not sure if there’s really any kind of feeding Frenzy going on in Fremont, but boy it made a good title. Less poetically, one might say that Fremont’s real estate market is down like everyone else, but holding its own considering what other areas are seeing.

Appreciation from last July to this July has been low, with the median sale price up 5.03%, the average up 2.4%, and the sale price per square foot rising a mere 1.8%. And unit volume is way off, down 42% from last year’s 270 units to a total number sold this year of 157. Inventory is somewhat high by bay area standards, at 3.8 months — in other markets this would hardly be considered a disaster.

Strangely enough, however, this year’s expired numbers (26 total, 16.6% expired to sold ratio) are actually better than last year’s (47 total, 17.4% ratio). Perhaps more than anything else this points up how hard-wired the human brain is to expect regularity in the data. Sometimes the data have other ideas.

The average home sold in Fremont in July for $456 per square feet, listing for $698,901 and selling for $696,856. The median sale price was $680,000.

Fremont Real Estate Market Update

The real estate market in Fremont slowed only slightly from last year compared to the slowdown we’ve seen in other markets.

According to statistics culled from the BayEast MLS (the source of all of our statistics, by the way), the average home in Fremont sold in June for $718,513, just barely below the $719,932 average list price. The median price was $660,000.

What we say about appreciation depends on what number you like, or we could hedge our bets and call it flat. Based on sold price per square foot, the average home sold for 2.68% more than it did last June, however, the median price was down 1.86%. There’s certainly not much difference for those who may have bought at the height of the price curve, banking on appreciation. If that’s what you did, you’ll get it, but I hope you have a lot of patience.

Most metrics show the slowdown to be moderate, as we said before. Unit volume is down 20.2% (as opposed to 25-50% in other areas), and expireds only rose from a total of 31 to 41. The expired to sold ratio is currently at 17%, which is still quite low. Inventory is also low at 2.4 months.

Fremont Market Update - May 2006

Fremont’s real estate market in May defies a neat characterization, but it’s safe to say it’s slowed slightly from last year. Fremont is still showing positive appreciation, however, and not all the numbers are as dramatic as they are in other markets (see our recent report on Oakland, for example).

For example, average days on market are up to 22. By any objective standard, that’s a pretty quick selling time. The news only looks bad when compared to last year’s average for Fremont of 12 days on market. Likewise, homes are still selling for fairly close to list price. With the average list price at $704,754 and the average sale price at $702,717, Excel blithely commits a rounding error and calls that “100%”.

Moreover, few listings expired this year — and the ratio of expireds to solds is only 10.9% compared to last year’s 9%. In an “off market” the number can climb as high as 50% or more.

In addition to surviving the so-called “bubble” fairly well, Fremont sellers are still enjoying some appreciation — albeit fairly modest. The average price appreciated 6.9% in May to May, the median 2.3%, and average sold price per square foot appreciated a more respectable 11.6%.

Fremont Real Estate - Market Update

The average home sold through the MLS in Fremont California in March of 2006 listed for $692,800, and sold for 99.3% of list, at $688,017. The median sale price was $669,000. Appreciation was 6.6% over last year on a cost per square foot basis.
Although average days on market increased in a fairly dramatic way from 11 days to 23, other indicators were less troubling. Unit volume is down only 25%, from 260 units sold last March to 195 this March, and because the number of expireds actually decreased, the expired to sold ratio has remained steady at a low 8%. Inventory remains low at 1.9 months.

Fremont Real Estate Market Update

Fremont experienced good sales numbers for residential housing sales in January, but the market slowed somewhat from last year. 114 residential units sold in January, down 22% from the 146 units sold in January of 2005. The median sales price was $635,000. The average home listed for $659,441, and sold for $648,253, or 98.3% of list.

Appreciation was moderate. On a cost per square foot basis, homes appreciated 7.3% from January to January.

Days on market are up, from 15 days on average last year to 28 days this year, and the expired to sold ratio has also grown, from 10% to 25%. There is currently 3 months of inventory.

Fremont Real Estate Market Update

Fremont’s real estate market in December cooled slightly from last year, but so have markets everywhere. To me, writing about the decline in the Bay Area real estate market is a lot like trying to pick out the ugliest woman at the Miss USA Pageant. Even the bad news looks pretty good.

Specifically, 169 residential units sold in Fremont in December of 2005, down 28.5% from last year’s total of 233. Expireds were up from 17 to 32. This means the ratio of expired to sold was up from 7% to 19%, but 19% is hardly a tragegedy. Similarly, days on market are up from 15 to 24, but 24 is pretty good compared to most markets.

The average home sold through the MLS in Fremont in December listed for $668,634, and sold for $663,718, or 99.3% of list. On a cost per square foot basis, homes appreciated 12.6% from December to December. Inventory is very low at just over two months.

Real Estate Market Report, Fremont California

Fremont real estate in November of 2005 was strong overall, but shows more signs of slowing from last year than neighbors to the northwest like Oakland, Alameda, and Berkeley. A total of 157 residential units were sold through the MLS in November, a considerable slowing in unit volume from last November’s 245 units. Inventory remained fairly low however at 2.1 months. Morevover, days on market are still only 21 days — though admittedly that’s a rise from last year’s figure of 17 days on average.

The average home sold in Fremont in November was approximately 1553 square feet and sold for $676,980, or 99.5% of the average list price of $680,224. The median sale price was $640,000.

Appreciation in Fremont was comparable to other areas we’ve considered. Sold price per square foot has risen 13.1% since November of last year, from $388 last year to $436 this year.

Fremont Real Estate Market

October’s real estate sales in Fremont were down from the same time last year, but inventory remains low at 2 months worth. The average home in Fremont listed in the MLS for 676,166, and sold for slightly more than list, at an average sale price of $677,573. Days on market were unchanged from last October, at an average of 17 days.

Price appreciation was strong from last year. The average home sold last year for $567,939, so the October to October average price increase was 19.3%, or 22.4% when adjusted for square footage.

Fremont Real Estate Market Update

Bubble my eye!

Fremont’s real estate market sizzled in September 2005, with that combination that sellers love — tasty high prices and low inventory. The average home in Fremont sold for $710,406, a 25.6% increase from the $565,666 average of a year before! The median home sale price in September of 2005 was $670,000.

Overall unit volume is down somewhat for this September at 259 units sold, as opposed to last year’s 316 units sold. Days on market have remained at last September’s extremely low average of 16 days.

Fremont’s inventory numbers are the lowest for any market we’ve examined so far. With 421 active residential units and 259 units sold last month, we have only 1.65 months of homes in inventory.