Report: Contra Costa County Home Prices Still Rising in 2020

New reports and data have come out over the past few weeks, giving us more insight into Contra Costa County home price trends in 2020.

Let’s start with the good news. Home values in Contra Costa are still rising, as of late summer 2020, and they show no sign of falling any time soon. That’s based on two reports published over the past month, one of which just came out today.

The home-price forecast for Contra Costa County will likely bring a continuation of this trend, with house values rising on a wave of strong demand from Bay Area buyers.

That’s the short version. Now, let’s take a deeper dive into the latest home-price trends and statistics for 2020.

Related: Contra Costa housing market forecast

Contra Costa County Home Price Trends in 2020

The real estate market continues to surprise analysts and economists, performing strongly despite the COVID-19-related damage to other areas of the economy. And the housing market in Contra Costa County, California is no exception to this trend.

In fact, if you look at current real estate activity in the area, you might think a pandemic had never even happened. The real estate market continues to march along.

The housing market in Contra Costa County (and much of the Bay Area) is fairly hot right now, with motivated buyers trying to outfox one another for limited supply. As you might have guessed, this is pushing home prices higher across the county.

According to an August 31 article from The Mercury News:

“Median home prices for single family homes in the Bay Area rose 8.6 percent from last year, led by soaring prices in Contra Costa and San Mateo counties.”

The above quote was based on a report provided by the real estate data firm DQNews, which is owned by CoreLogic. According to that report, the median selling price for an existing single-family home in the nine-county Bay Area region climbed to $950,000 in July of this year.

A more recent report, published by the California Association of REALTORS® (C.A.R.) on September 17, showed a similar trend for the Contra Costa housing market. It showed that the median sale price for existing homes in the county rose by a whopping 19.7% in August 2020, compared to a year earlier.

Home sales within Contra Costa rose by 11.3% during that same 12-month period, according to C.A.R. This shows that there is still strong demand from buyers in the area.

Broader Bay Area Also Doing Well

So that’s a roundup of the latest home price trends for Contra Costa County, as we head into the fall of 2020. Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, house values across the county continue to climb.

The broader Bay Area is also showing continued strength, in terms of both home sales and prices. According to the September C.A.R. report mentioned above:

“…almost all major regions [of California] posted double-digit price increases from last year. San Francisco Bay Area had the highest median price increase, rising 18.7 percent from last year…”

When the coronavirus first took root in the U.S., there were fears of a housing market crash or collapse. Clearly, that hasn’t happened. This is partly due to the real estate market’s overall strength and stability going into the pandemic.

It’s also a reflection on how the mortgage and real estate industries have adapted and evolved with the public-health crisis.

‘Active Listings’ Are Way Down from Last Year

Another key trend from the latest C.A.R. report has to do with “active listings.” These are homes that are currently listed for sale. And that trend can be summed up with two words — steady decline.

The number of active real estate listings has declined in Contra Costa County and all of the other counties that make up the Bay Area. Across the Bay Area, listings dropped by -37.1% from August 2019 to August 2020. This is largely why home prices are still rising in the area, despite the challenges in other areas of the economy.

In short: A lot of people want to buy homes right now, but there are fewer and fewer properties available for purchase. That’s driving strong competition among buyers and boosting sale prices.

First-Time Buyers Giving the Market a Boost

We’re also seeing an increase in the number of first-time home buyers within Contra Costa County and elsewhere across the nation. This too seems counterintuitive, given the COVID-19 situation. But there’s no denying the data.

According to a statement issued by Freddie Mac on September 17:

“Despite the recession, the very low mortgage environment has spurred many first-time homebuyers to jump into the real estate market. In August, first-time homebuyer activity rose 19 percent from July to the highest monthly level ever for Freddie Mac.”

Housing demand appears to be strong across most demographics, including first-time buyers. And this comes at a time when inventory is very tight. It is these two factors — soaring demand and tight inventory — that are boosting Contra Costa County home prices in 2020.

What does the future hold? What’s the long-range forecast for house values in Contra Costa and the broader Bay Area, as we close out 2020 and move into 2021? That’s hard to say, given all of the uncertainty still in the air. But based on current supply-and-demand dynamics, it seems likely that prices will continue to climb for the foreseeable future.

Need a loan? Bridgepoint Funding is your local mortgage company. We are based in Contra Costa County and proudly serve the entire Bay Area. Please contact us if you need a mortgage loan to make a home purchase, or if you’d like to refinance your existing loan!