June 2010 was a great month for Rodeo Realty, said Syd Leibovitch, founder and president of the company. The number of sales and total production were good for all levels. And most striking was the number of sales for homes in the $1 million and more category.
High-end sales in 2010 versus 2009 are up significantly, he said, and several homes have sold in the $6 million plus range. These are great signs, because this segment of the market wasn’t very active from mid 2008 to the beginning of 2010.
The California Association of Realtors reported the median price of an existing home in California in May 2010 increased 23.2 percent from May 2009. But Leibovitch said it’s obvious those increases are not sustainable.
Although sales have been moving along at record levels, there’s a bit of grumbling about sales slowing down slightly in the mid-range segment.
With a bit of research it’s evident that listing prices are much higher than previous sales, he said. This might have worked last year when prices were increasing quickly, but it’s not going to work now that prices seem to be leveling off.
As the market stabilizes, listing prices need to be closer to sales prices. The ones who push list prices are the ones who will end up sitting on their homes.