Zip Code Spotlight – 94530 – El Cerrito
This post first appeared in the September edition of Cirios Trends: Getting to the Bottom of the Housing Market
This month’s zip code spotlight shines on 94530, in El Cerrito, CA, located about 5 minutes north of Berkeley. Schools are excellent and 
crime is low, especially when compared to El Cerrito’s neighbor to the north, Richmond. El Cerrito has two BART stops which boast a ride of just over 30 minutes to San Francisco. Furthermore, El Cerrito’s location in the northern part of the East Bay makes
weekend excursions to Napa or Tahoe a breeze.
Most homes in El Cerrito are selling in the mid to low $500,000 range. At this price, one can buy a nicely appointed 3 bedroom home on a 6,000 square foot lot, making it considerably more affordable than many other parts of the Bay Area.
As can be seen in the graph below, prices in El Cerrito have come down around 25% since the peak of the market in 2006. This downward trend, unlike many areas, has been slow and steady. As with any local market these days, the trick is to identify areas where price declines are leveling off.
As we have consistently noted here at Cirios Real Estate, “picking the bottom” of any given market is an impossible feat. But there can be tell tale signs buried deep within the data that the team at Cirios can help you decode. Looking at the graph, the green line shows Days on Market, a very simple indicator of how “hot” a given market is. The lower the days on market, the “hotter” the market as
buyers snatch homes up more quickly.
In 94530, there has been a slowly increasing trend in Days on Market since the peak in 2006. This is to be expected, as essentially all US real estate markets exhibited this trend. The interesting part of this graph comes at the end, where a distinct downturn in Days on Market can be seen. While this trend has only lasted for a few months, it may be an indicator that this market is “heating up.” As the graph clearly shows, Days on Market can be a fairly volatile indicator (largely due to seasonal effects), so this blip downward could be just that, a blip. But by closely monitoring indicators like Days on Market, the team at Cirios can help get you into the home you want at the right time.
Tags: Cirios Trends, days on market, el cerrito