San Ramon Real Estate Market Outlook & Forecast, 2016 – 2017

If you’re thinking about buying a home in San Ramon, California, you probably have a lot of questions about the local housing market. What kinds of trends are we seeing right now? What are home prices doing? What’s the long-range forecast for the San Ramon real estate market, through 2016 and into 2017?

We’ve rounded up some information that will shed some light on these and other questions about the San Ramon real estate market. Let’s start with current housing trends that are affecting our area.

Current Real Estate & Mortgage Trends

Home prices in San Ramon have risen steadily in recent months, at the time this article was published. According to the real estate information company Trulia, the median sales price for homes in San Ramon rose by 4% over the last year or so (July 2015 – July 2016).

Zillow reports an even bigger gain, using a slightly different metric. By their analysis, home prices in the area rose by 5.2% during the 12-month period mentioned above.

The median home price for the San Ramon real estate, as of July 2016, was around $930,000. That’s a composite of the median price figures presented by Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com and other sources (all of which are in the same ballpark).

As of July 2016, there were 327 homes listed for sale in San Ramon, on Realtor.com. Playing around with their price parameters gave us a pretty good idea where the middle of the market is. By entering $945,000 as a maximum price, those 327 listings were split in half — almost exactly. So that appears to be the midpoint for the San Ramon real estate market in summer 2016, as far as listing prices go.

Mortgage rates are still driving demand within the local housing market. According to the weekly mortgage industry survey conducted by Freddie Mac, the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage has hovered below 3.5% for the last three weeks (as of July 20, 2016). It was around 3.42% when this article was published. The 30-year rate average has remained below 4% all year. These historically low rates entice home buyers and strengthen demand for housing.

San Ramon Housing Market Outlook for 2016

We’ve looked at some of the current trends for the San Ramon housing market. But what about the future? What should home buyers and homeowners expect over the coming months, and into next year? It’s obviously harder to predict future real estate trends than to analyze the past. But there are a few predictions out there you might find useful.

The real estate information company Zillow has a team of economists that analyze housing markets across the country, with an emphasis on home prices. As mentioned earlier, they’ve reported a home-price gain of 5.2% in San Ramon, over the last year or so.

Looking forward, however, their San Ramon real estate forecast is more modest by comparison. The company’s economists expect home prices in the city to rise by only 0.5% over the next 12 months (roughly, July 2016 – July 2017).

In their words: “San Ramon home values have gone up 5.2% over the past year and Zillow predicts they will rise 0.5% within the next year.”

Granted, this is just one real estate market forecast, and it’s based on their proprietary Zillow Home Value Index. So maybe we shouldn’t get too hung up on the exact numbers being used here, but instead focus on the general trends and outlook. And their outlook is this: San Ramon home prices will rise more slowly in 2017 compared to 2016.

This mirrors the general cooling trend being reported elsewhere in the Bay Area. In May of this year, MarketWatch did a story on this very subject. In it, they quoted Redfin’s chief economist Nela Richardson, who said:

“Now we are seeing this white-hot market start to cool and contract … the price drop is not about inventory; it’s about buyers fed up with high Bay Area prices and crazy competition.”

Disclaimer: This story contains real estate market forecasts and predictions for San Ramon, California in 2017. Such forward-looking statements were provided by third parties not associated with our company. We have simply compiled the research and commentary of others, as an educational service for home buyers in San Ramon.