When determining whether a market is a buyers’ market or a sellers’ market, we look to the Months of Supply Inventory (MSI) metric. The state of California has historically averaged around three months of MSI, so any area with at or around three months of MSI is considered a balanced market. Any market that has lower than three months of MSI is considered a seller’s market, whereas markets with more than three months of MSI are considered buyers’ markets.
Since inventories have been building in the East Bay, while demand has been stagnant, this means that the number of months worth of inventory on the market is steadily increasing. Typically in the East Bay, we see inventories build throughout the summer, and with 2.2 and 2.5 months' worth of single-family supply on the market in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, respectively, we could see these markets flip to buyer's markets.
Looking to the condo market, with 4.7 and 3.9 months of supply on the market in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, buyers retain most of the bargaining power, making it a great time to be a condo buyer in the East Bay!