For the first time in 21 months, the median price for a home in the Bay Area topped $400,000. Last month, according to DataQuick, the median was $410,000, up 20 percent compared with last May. Tax credits, low interest rates and ample supply helped fuel the $500,000 plus market.
Nicole Tucker is a broker in Contra Costa County, where median home prices jumped 25 percent since last May.
"Buyer, consumer confidence is definitely at a high compared to where it was in months and years past and I think that's a large contributor up and above the tax credit, which I think ignited the activity," Tucker said.
Wendy Connelly and her husband sold their townhome in just three weeks. It was listed at $625,000. Now, the Connellys are packing up, taking their profits and moving to a bigger single-family home in Danville.
"The interest was still relatively low and housing prices were on their way back up, so it was a good time to sell and it was still a good time for us to buy as well, so everything came together at once," Wendy Connelly said.
But some sectors of the market are not doing as well. In inland areas, sales have actually dropped as the inventory of low-cost foreclosures became depleted and tax credits expired. In February 2009, foreclosure sales peaked at 52 percent of the Bay Area market. In May of this year, they dropped to 27 percent.
