Experts Predict Cooling Off For South Bay Housing Market In 2020

CAMPBELL (CBS SF) -- Despite somewhat dire predictions by the real estate website Zillow about the future of the Bay Area's housing market in 2020, several realtors contacted by KPIX 5 says they see a possibility of a slight slowdown rather than a crash in the coming year.

"Right now, the sellers are willing to negotiate. And you can buy a nicer home at a fair price without having to overbid," said Sandy Jamison, the incoming president for the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors.

That is a change compared to recent years when buyers often found themselves in a bidding war, offering thousands above the initial asking price just to be competitive. It appears the pendulum has swung in the direction of buyers.

"You still see it every day -- people who get a property for under the asking price. You can't come in at $100,000 or $200,000 off the asking price, but there's still some wriggle room," said realtor Darius McClelland.

The shift in the market may be causing sellers to adjust their expectations, pricing their homes competitively.

"Two weeks is pretty good in my opinion," said Rayquan Abyah who sold his town home in South San Jose around Christmas.

Abyah is moving to Tucson, Arizona. He says he made sure his home was in top-notch condition and priced it aggressively but fairly in order to entice buyers.

"The seller is always going to be at a little bit of a risk, right? So I didn't want to be greedy. I just wanted to sell for a decent price," Abyah said.

The Santa Clara Association of Realtors says the housing market slowed down towards the end of 2019. The median price of homes sold in Santa Clara County in the third quarter of 2019 was $60,000 less than the year before.