Buying a Home in Walnut Creek In 2022: An Updated Market Analysis

Is 2022 a good time to buy a home in Walnut Creek, California? What is the Walnut Creek real estate market like 2022? In short, what do home buyers need to know before entering this market in search of a house?

Today, we will provide an updated analysis and outlook for the Walnut Creek housing market through 2022 and into 2023. This report is designed to give home buyers a better sense of current market conditions in the Walnut Creek area, and how those conditions might affect them when buying a home.

Home Prices Soar in Walnut Creek, California

As of February 2022, the real estate market in Walnut Creek, California remains highly competitive due to tight inventory conditions. In fact, current supply levels within the housing market are lower than they’ve ever been before. As a result, home buyers have to compete fiercely with one another, which in turn drives up home prices.

And speaking of prices, let’s start with that metric.

According to the real estate data company Zillow, the median home value for the city of Walnut Creek, California rose by nearly 17% over the past 12 months alone. This was reported in late February 2022. At that time, the company estimated the median price point to be around $1,153,000.

As we have reported previously, forecasts for the broader Bay Area real estate market predict that prices will continue to climb steadily through 2022 and into 2023. Walnut Creek will likely follow this trend as well, given the current supply and demand situation.

So that’s the first thing you should know about buying a home in Walnut Creek in 2022. Prices have risen substantially and are expected to continue climbing over the coming months. This means that home buyers who postpone their purchases until later in 2022 could encounter higher housing costs, compared to those who buy within the next two or three months.

Supply Shortage Continues Into 2022

Home buyers who are planning to buy a house in Walnut Creek, California during 2022 should also be aware of the current inventory shortage. This is something we’ve been dealing with for many months now, all across the San Francisco Bay area. Inventory is especially tight within the East Bay, including the city of Walnut Creek.

At the start of 2022, the Walnut Creek real estate market had roughly a 0.5-month supply of homes for sale.

That’s an extremely low level by historical standards. And it reinforces something we have already known. There just aren’t enough homes for sale within the Walnut Creek housing market to meet the demand from buyers. As you would imagine, this is largely what’s driving those steady home-price gains mentioned earlier.

Tight inventory conditions have also made things more challenging for home buyers in the Walnut Creek real estate market. Given the current supply shortage, it’s not surprising to see that many buyers are making offers for more than the original list price.

In fact, in January of 2022, more than half of all homes sold within Walnut Creek ended up selling for more than the list price. This indicates a highly competitive real estate market where buyers are constantly striving to outfox one another.

Bay Area Population Trends Not a Factor

As we explained in a previous blog post, there has been a trend toward people leaving California for more affordable housing markets elsewhere in the country. And here in the Bay Area, we saw a bit of an “exodus” during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

But those trends haven’t really affected the Walnut Creek estate market much. The population within Contra Costa County has been more stable over the past couple of years. In fact, the latest data suggests that the population might have actually increased in this area.

As a result, housing market demand among home buyers within Walnut Creek remains fairly high. This, combined with the low inventory situation mentioned above, makes Walnut Creek one of the most competitive real estate markets in the Bay Area.

Bottom Line for Walnut Creek Home Buyers

We covered a lot of information here. So let’s wrap up with the most important takeaway message.

Anyone who is planning to buy a home in Walnut Creek, California during 2022 should be prepared for stiff competition. An ongoing supply shortage has created some additional obstacles for buyers, especially those with smaller budgets.

To be clear: this doesn’t mean it’s impossible to buy a home in Walnut Creek. Far from it. Recent sales figures show that there have been many purchases made in recent months. It just means that buyers have to bring their ‘A’ game when entering the Walnut Creek housing market in 2022.