I just saw this video from last night's Channel 5 CBS news.  The number of homes in San Francisco going into contract are up.  Perhaps buyers are finally taking advantage of the fact that prices are down, interest rates are great and there are some nice opportunities in the market.

It is great to hear this news, and at the same time, it still feels like we have more inventory and too few buyers.  The data is also a bit skewed, because while sales are up from the fourth quarter of last year, sales in the fourth quarter followed the stock market slide in September.  Many buyers were knocked out of the market, having lost part of their down payments in the market, and Buyer confidence was rocked by the continuous stream of bad news from Wall Street and about the economy.  At the same time, most Sellers were reluctant to acknowledge that the market had changed dramatically and prices needed to reflect the new reality. 

I am hopeful that we have reached or passed the bottom, but the truth is, we won't know if we have hit the bottom until it has passed.  San Francisco continues to be a terrific place to live, it's beautiful, a place where companies who require creative, educated and innovative employees are located, have great food, diversity.  Perhaps we our real estate market is moving in a different direction.