Diablo Valley Real Estate as 2021 Begins
Our January report focused mostly on 2020’s annual statistics. This report will put most of its attention on quarterly and monthly indicators, which better illustrate changes occurring as 2020 progressed and 2021 began: pre-pandemic to initial pandemic crash through the subsequent market recovery.
In January, new listing activity started to pick up after the typical annual low hit in December. Closed sales volume in January skyrocketed by over 60%.
Around the county, generally low inventory levels of listings on the market have played a large role in the heat of the market. Listing activity has simply not kept pace with buyer demand.
The table below reflects market statistics and values for Q4 2020 only, which will often be different than those for the full year 2020.
Note that it is not unusual for more expensive markets to have softer supply and demand statistics – such as higher average days on market figures, and lower percentages of listings accepting offers within the period – though this is not always the case.
The next chart compares the year-over-year changes in sales for Contra Costa homes selling for over and under $2 million. (Luxury home sales in the county are almost wholly concentrated in Diablo Valley and Lamorinda.) Sales in the higher price segment saw a huge jump, while sales under $2 million saw only a small increase. Neither statistic does justice to the rapid acceleration in market activity occurring in the second half of the year.
The big surge in high-price home sales was a common dynamic around most of the Bay Area, but especially pronounced in Diablo Valley.
Luxury home sales by quarter:
Luxury home sales by city and price segment:
The 3 classic market indicators following all tell the same story of a market heating up very dramatically in the second half of 2020.
Two of the factors behind the housing market recovery were the dramatic drop in interest rates, and the significant rebound in the stock market – especially in the stock prices of some of our local high-tech giants.
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