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Luxury home sales up 27% in East Bay market
Pleasanton boasts 16 $1-million-plus sales in April

by Jeb Bing

The East Bay's hot luxury housing market got even hotter in April with sales of high-end homes surging once again, according to a new report by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, a Bay Area's provider of luxury real estate services.

A total of 133 homes sold for more than $1 million in April, up nearly 27% from the same month last year and nearly 20% from March when 105 and 111 million-dollar properties changed hands, respectively. Last month was the highest level of luxury sales since last June.

The upper end of the luxury market also turned in a strong performance last month with 10 sales in excess of $2 million, more than double March's total of four multimillion-dollar sales and up from six last April.

Meanwhile, the median sale price for a luxury home also rose on a month-over-month basis in April. The median reached $1,275,000, up 2.9% from March. It was exactly the same price as a year ago.

The figures were derived from Multiple Listing Service data of all homes that sold for more than $1 million last month in Contra Costa and Alameda counties.

"The East Bay's luxury market only seems to get hotter as we move through spring and toward the summer months," said Rick Turley, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. "With strong buyer demand and not enough homes on the market to go around, we continue to see multiple offers on many homes and sales over asking price."

In some communities, inventory is down as much as 50% from a year ago. The shortage of listings has also resulted in homes selling faster and over the asking price, on average.

Some key findings from this month's Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage luxury report:

* The most expensive sale in the East Bay last month was a five-bedroom, six-bath 7,746-square-foot home in Fremont that sold for $3,465,000;

* Alamo boasted the most luxury sales with 19, followed by Fremont with 18, Pleasanton with 16, Lafayette and Oakland with 14 each, and Danville with 13;

* Homes sold in an average of just 41 days compared to 57 days the previous month and 48 days a year ago;

* Sellers on average received 99% of their asking price compared to 98.4% the previous month and 98.1% a year ago.

The East Bay Luxury Housing Market Report is a monthly report by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, which specializes in high-end real estate sales.