What a January price uptick looks like

Here's a cool trend: We've been noticing a consistent local pricing up-tick across the Bay Area as we've entered 2007.

I grabbed these charts for a client the other day and was surprised how similar they all look. Though the phenomenon is primarily a function of seasonal inventory changes, at least it is evidence that a big cyclical downturn (read: bubble burst) hasn't overwhelmed the market.

Median single family home prices in four sample Bay Area California markets. San Francisco, San Ramon, Santa Rosa, San Mateo

Down from the peak, to be sure, but positive signs nonetheless.

If you're paying close attention, you'll notice the San Jose chart in the right hand column of this blog has not yet turned the corner and is still aiming down. If you're paying really close attention, you'll notice the weekly price number under the San Jose chart has actually been flat-and-climbing in the last few weeks. (That stat feature uses our AltosStats API, pretty cool huh?) What gives with the discrepency? The chart is illustrating a 90-day rolling average. The number is this week's sample. So while we're still below the rolling average, the flattening trends are taking shape in San Jose too.