Oscar Myer Weiner

Oh, I wish I was an Oscar Myer weiner,
that is what I truly want to be, ee, ee,
oh, if I was an Oscar Myer weiner,
then everyone would be in love with me. 

Are you old enough to remember the advertising jingle “I wish I was an Oscar Myer weiner”? This comes to mind when thinking about putting a house on the market right now, the first week following the Labor Day weekend. This is the traditional start of the Fall real estate season, when the market wakes up after its two month (July and August) holiday. But there is a big cloud hanging over the market, in the form of low consumer confidence and the still-lingering effects of the sub-prime mortgage collapse. Many neighborhoods have experienced near-zero sales in July and August, so the backlog of unsold houses will join the numerous new listings that are likely to come on the market in the next two months. By definition, when supply is high and demand low, prices get very soft. So it’s not exactly a great time to sell. Unless….

Unless you live in one of the few neighborhoods in where demand has kept steady and prices continue to rise, even dramatically. Yes, they do exist. I’m speaking of the North Berkeley flats, as well as lower Rockridge. These two neighborhoods have defied all reports of doom and gloom, with multiple offers and huge overbids reminiscent of the glory days of the not-so distant past.

So instead of wishing to be a hot dog, but to the same tune: “I wish I was a North Berkeley or Rockridge listing….”

-Brett Weinstein