The San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday addresses overpriced California homes.
“The old adage that you can use sales comparables from up to three months ago is lost in this transitional market,” Congi said. “We really need to get sales comparables from properties that are in escrow within the last 30 days.”
California prices must really be dropping fast. Three months still works fine here. I haven’t had to use 30 days or less for comps since the boom when prices were increasing so fast a sale 30 days earlier wasn’t usable.
Congi recommends the 10 percent rule. “The general logic is that if the house has been on the market for four to six weeks without an offer, you can rest assured your are about 10 percent over the value. If you reduce the price on your house by bits and pieces, you get stale.”