How Strong is the Bay Area Market?

We’re topping it off with charts this week! For those of you who are just here for the graphs and data, I will not be offended if you leave off after you’ve digested the data below:

We’ve had a strong market for longer than normal this cycle. But San Francisco is always last in and first out when it comes to a slump. Forecasters say that the market should remain strong through 2020. In the meantime, the chart below indicates a slight dip in some Bay Area markets.

The good news in the next chart? While we sometimes fall harder, we come back stronger relative to the national market.

Five cents worth of advice:

1. Don’t try to time the market. Wondering when we’ll peak or if we’re peaking will exhaust you. And you’ll never know the answer until the moment has come and gone. 
2. Think of the home you buy as a place to live first and an investment second. There’s so much more to owning a place than the dollar payout at the end, like you get to paint the rooms any color you want, never worry about the rent going up and finally get a dog!
3. Plan to stay at least seven years. Over my 30+ years of selling, I’ve always seen the market run in seven year cycles from peak-to-peak. I’m especially aware of this because I have a knack for buying at the top. We purchased our current home in 2009, just a few months before the market melt-down. There was some slippage in value after we closed, but today it’s worth 35% more than what we paid for it.