Silicon Valley's Market Continues Its Upward Pace

Some news from the trenches, as of the 2nd week of June:  
At the Los Gatos-Saratoga District Virtual Breakfast Meeting this week, C.A.R. President-elect Dave Walsh was upbeat because weekly market stats he has tracked show the market is continuing on an upward pace. Sellers are returning to the market and buyers are even bidding on homes.

Walsh's data for Santa Clara County shows sales since March have been increasing to an average of 200 a week. Sales dropped to a mere 99 the week after county Shelter-in-Place order was imposed. 

Walsh said, "Our REALTORS® are very good at pulling buyers and sellers together no matter what the situation is, even in a pandemic. Our market is recovering faster than any other market in the state. We all are fortunate to be in Silicon Valley."

Many areas are hot. South County has been "on fire" with its affordable, expansive housing. Walsh said a reason for this is people are gravitating to larger open areas, away from cramped units in cities.

Milpitas has been hot from the start, according to Walsh. Santa Clara, Central San Jose and Sunnyvale "have never retracted and have stayed unbelievably hot with a zero slowdown." Santa Clara had 13 sales last week; its 4-week average is 10 sales. Central San Jose had seven sales last week; its 4-week average is five sales. Comparing last week's sales to their 4-week averages, these cities have exploded: Sunnyvale 19 sales (avg. 7), Cupertino 13 sales (avg. 7), Los Gatos 10 sales (avg. 6), Saratoga 8 sales (avg. 3). Positive changes are seen in Willow Glen, which had 17 sales last week (avg. 7) and Mountain View, 9 sales (avg. 3).

Since Santa Clara County's March 16 Shelter-in-Place order, 2,369 properties have been put under contract. Of those properties, 1,968 were priced below $2 million, 122 were priced over $3-7 million, and six properties sold at over $7 million.

"This tells us there is a lot of confidence in our marketplace, confidence in our consumers that work and live in Silicon Valley, confidence in employers and their stock portfolios. I cannot emphasize it enough. Our market is hot, our market is strong. If you price it correctly, it will sell." Walsh told members.

Thank you for reading,

Francis

Silicon Valley real estate

Trends: Local prices and graphs.
A noteworthy local non-profit event:  Community Services Agency - in Mountain View

Bay Area Real Estate Continues to Demand Top-Dollar

Market Watch | Bay Area Real Estate Continues to Demand Top-Dollar

November 13, 2017    Coldwell Banker  Market News  by Marketing Department

In September, the Bay Area maintained its position as California’s most in-demand region for real estate. According to the September California Association of REALTORS^® report, six of nine Bay Area counties had less than three months’ supply of inventory, and of the six – two had less than a two months’ supply. The report indicated that San Mateo took the No. 1 spot with the highest price per square foot at $883/sq. ft., followed by San Francisco ($875/sq. ft.), and Santa Clara ($687/sq. ft.). Read more about what’s happening from our Silicon Valley offices.

SF Peninsula – Half Moon Bay reported an all-time low in inventory supply. Although this makes the housing market tough for prospective buyers, many were still encouraged by low interest rates. Palo Alto downtown also saw low inventory that led to multiple offers on most, if not all properties.
Redwood City experienced a healthy demand and saw many sales exceeding asking prices. One instance was an uninhabitable house in southern San Francisco that listed for $550,000 and received 29 offers, selling well above the listing price. The luxury market remained active, although properties did not move as quickly.
San Mateo saw an increase in both inventory and prices. The luxury market was active, but slower with properties priced above $2.5 million. 

Silicon Valley 
Cupertino saw an active market, at times with more pending sales than active listings.  Buyers are encouraged to start house hunting as Silicon Valley is a uniquely strong region with exceptional demand. The luxury market remains active with several sales exceeding $6 million.
Gilroy and Morgan Hill saw low inventory and over 65 percent of the 54 available homes sold for over $1 million. Entry-level homes can be challenging to find, although the average list price of Gilroy is slightly lower. Overall, the area remains a sellers’ market with multiple offers and homes selling for above asking.
Los Altos experienced a continued sellers’ market with low inventory and multiple offers on most listings. The average days-on-market remained low, ranging from 13 days in Sunnyvale to 35 in Los Altos Hills. Sellers need to ensure their homes are priced and primed for a competitive sale. And buyers must be prepared with financing and a knowledgeable, trusted agent to represent their best interests. Buyers must also be aggressive as the market is highly competitive and sellers are more responsive to solid offers. The luxury market priced above
$4.5 million in Los Altos is steady and flat. On average, time on market is 44 days. Inventory is steadily increasing and the number of sales in the high-end market is down slightly.
Los Gatos saw a sustained sellers’ market, and luxury activity remains strong and active.
San Jose saw inventory at a record low. That coupled with low interest rates has created an increasingly competitive market for buyers. Even with the strong demand, sellers are encouraged to price their home competitively – at or slightly below market price – to avoid pushback from buyers. Because of the current competitive landscape, buyers should be ready to make an offer quickly because hesitation may cost them a great opportunity.
Saratoga saw multiple offers on most of its listings and a continued sellers’ market.  Buyers who are ready to make a move should have all financing in order. The high-end luxury market experienced an increase in listings with 24 properties for sale in September, a 9.1 percent increase from August 2017, and a 71.4 percent increase from September 2016.

Any questions about your real estate situation? Let me know!
Thanks for reading!

Francis Rolland

Your Home Value?

Trends: Local prices and graphs.

New to the Silicon Valley? This blog's for you!

FUN FACTS

- Silicon Valley has the nation’s second highest concentration of wealthy people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Money Magazine named Cupertino one of the nation’s best places to live in 2012.
- Forbes ranked San Jose No. 6 on its 2011 list of “America’s Safest Cities”.
- The name “Silicon Valley” originally referred to the region’s large number of silicon chip innovators and manufacturers, but eventually applied to all of the tech companies in the area.
- The “mouse” was invented in Silicon Valley in 1963.

See more at: The CaliforniaHome Blog

Francis
Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

Sunnyvale prices, since 2006....

Following up on a few of my last blogs on the surrounding Cities, what happened in Sunnyvale in the past 3 or 4 years?

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here is the graph of average prices since 2006, both for houses, and for the group "townhouses and condominiums".

Click to see larger

In Sunnyvale it turns out that values as an average are still down about 11% from 2006 for houses, and about -15% for class 2 - condominiums.

These are averages, for the whole town of Sunnyvale, and a study of specific neighborhoods to see how they fared through the crisis is called for: not all areas went up or down in the same manner. I am thinking that the areas that have good schools probably did better, as is usual in other Cities.

As far as the price per square foot, here is the evolution, for houses:

and for class 2:

The trend is pretty consistent with the average prices of the first graph - though these graphs are only from 2008 on.

For specific areas let me know and I will try to find meaningful graphs and figures.

Thanks for reading!  --Francis

Silicon Valley real estate
Silicon Valley trends
Selected schools page