When I talk to Realtors from most parts of the country, and even from other sections of California, they tell me that real estate sales and prices are flat or down in dozens of metropolitan areas. But there are micro-markets within them are performing very differently: Prices and sales are up this year over last, and plenty of buyers still want to move in.
Kenneth Harney, a syndicated Real Estate columnist,calls them Real Estate Oases - which he describes as neighborhoods and ZIP codes that defy national and regional downturns, and remain in demand as long as the local economy keeps generating jobs and rising incomes. They don't require residents to make long commutes, sit in traffic for hours or worry about gas prices, like the languishing Central Valley.
Typically these are not entry-level, first-time buyer markets, nor do they have lots of new subdivision construction. Educational levels of residents exceed regional norms, local school systems are highly regarded and crime rates generally are low.
Sound familiar?
In the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, the ZIP codes 20815 (Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Md.) and 20015 (portions of Northwest D.C.) are avoiding most of the down-market trends in the larger metropolitan area that surrounds them. My son recently priced homes in the Bethesda market, and prices were still strong, although not as wild as the area where he currently lives...Palo Alto.
Other metropolitan areas where similar patterns can be found are Coral Gables in Florida, and San Francisco, where highly regarded in-town neighborhoods such as Pacific Heights and the Marina continue to outperform the metropolitan area and the state as a whole.
So what does this mean to our clients? Value patterns and sales performances are uniquely localized - right down to ZIP codes, neighborhoods and even individual streets. Smart buyers and sellers adjust their strategies on pricing, timing and bargaining with a micro perspective, no matter what the metropolitan headlines may be.
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