The Hillsborough real estate market, found in the midst of the larger San Francisco Bay Area housing market, saw an increase in median price along with a decline in the number of units sold. According to an October 21, 2010 report from the Contra Costa Times, “For the fourth-consecutive month, Bay Area home sales slowed in September at a time when super-low mortgage rates aren't turning many lookers into buyers. But while home sales were almost 20 percent lower from a year ago, the median price in the nine-county Bay Area was almost 10 percent higher in response to more sales of higher-end homes and fewer sales of foreclosed properties, said a report released Thursday by MDA DataQuick of San Diego…In the Bay Area, some 6,334 new and resale single-family houses and condominiums closed escrow last month, a drop of 5.4 percent from August, and a 19.6 percent fall from September 2009, said the report. Last month, the median sales price for a Bay Area home was $395,000, up 2.6 percent from August, and 8.2 percent higher from September 2009. The slowdown in sales comes at a time when interest rates are at historic lows, although on Thursday they edged up a tad to an average of 4.21 percent for a 30-year-fixed-rate mortgage. Last week, rates were 4.19 percent, the lowest since records were kept, going back to 1971.”
This positive news for Hillsborough homes for sale was echoed in an October 21, 2010 article in the Los Angeles Times. The report by Alejandro Lazo stated that “Bay Area home sales extended their slump for a fourth straight month in September and prices were mixed in the nine-county region. A total of 6,334 new and previously owned houses and condominiums were sold last month, a 5.4% drop from August and a 19.6% decline from September 2009, according to real estate research firm MDA DataQuick of San Diego. It was the slowest sales pace for any September since 2007. “The sidelines are getting awfully crowded in this housing game,” DataQuick president John Walsh said. “They’re lined with people who have the ability to buy now but are waiting for the right moment, and with people who have the means but lack job confidence.” The median home price for the region was $395,000, a 2.6% increase from $385,000 in August and up 8.2% from $365,000 in September 2009.”