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.

From the trenches: real estate in the Silicon Valley - 2nd week of October 2016

Market Watch - Coldwell Banker.

...Silicon Valley 

– It has been a relatively quiet two weeks, according to our Cupertino manager. Open house traffic is steady.

Our Los Altos manager sees continued signs of seasonal adjustments although inventory is low as summer comes to a close and we move into fall.  New inventory has slowed of late.  This lack of inventory has had a direct impact on those homes which had been "lingering" on the market and agents have seen additional price reductions on homes with higher than average DOMs (days on market).  Sellers are still wishing to “test the market” by bringing their homes on at higher prices than previous sales and pendings.  However, this pricing strategy has proved to be risky, given that many buyers' expectations are that they will still need to offer over the asking.  As a result of this type of pricing strategy agents are seeing a “self-fulfilling prophecy” with these homes having little to no activity. These homes end up stagnant and linger on the market, eventually having to lower their price to generate activity. To the contrary, there has been strong activity with properties in move in condition and priced to sell.  These homes are still receiving multiple offers that typically achieve a sales price that is over asking.  This was the case with one of our recent listings, which had 24 offers.  In short, we have experienced a slowdown of homes coming on the market over the recent weeks.  And those that are coming on, when priced to induce offers, are being absorbed quickly.

The Los Gatos market under $2.5 million continues to be extremely competitive.  The market over $2.5 million is a tad slower but great properties over $2.5 continue to sell. 

The San Jose Almaden market had an average number of sales for the month with 40, which is down from 44 in August and flat with the 39 sold in 2015.  Prices were up with the median sales price at $1,320,000 for the month, up 7.8% from the previous month and 3.5% higher than the previous year.  Blossom Valley had a strong month in units sold with 94 closings, up from 88 last month and 86 last year.  The median home price of $751,250, up 4% from last month and last year at this time.  

Cambrian had a big jump from last month with 86 closings, 20 more than August and 4 more than 2015.  The median sales price was $937,500, up 3.9% from last month but down 1% from September of 2015.  

Santa Teresa had a lower number of units sold at 27, down 6 from last month and down 13 units from September of 2015.  The median sales price of $750,000, down 4.5% from last month but up a whopping 11% from September of last year. 

Willow Glen got a surge of new listing inventory this past week, going from the low 60’s count to 83 active listings. Agents are reporting slower traffic at open houses, particularly if the property has been on the market more than 2 weeks. However, some properties are still selling quickly with multiple offers, but typically the offers are at or just slightly above the list price.

Thanks for reading! 
Francis


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

Coming soon: Shredding and E-waste day, organized by
Coldwell Banker in Los Altos Oct.29, 2016
Please contact me for more details.              

First-time home buyers

First-time home buyers make about a third of all home buyers, nationwide, according to the National Association of Realtors. 

The median age of a first-time buyer is 31, (making about $70k), while the median age of a repeat buyer is 53, (making nearly $100k).  It is safe to say that they do not have the same priorities.

While first-time home buyers usually settled in the past for a cheaper “starter home”, there are signs now that more want to have a home for the long term, holding back for a home that will work for them for a much longer time.  70% are willing to wait, rather than settle for that cheaper, smaller house with some repairs. 

Since we have been faced with a severe scarcity of “starter homes” for sale, compared with a few years back, the price tag of those properties went up drastically.  It is possible that first-time home buyers find that the price is not worth it any more and prefer to wait for more savings to buy a larger first home that will serve their needs for many more years.

Per the Residential Specialist (trsmag.com) the main home features that first time home buyers like most are, in order:

- updated kitchen and bathrooms (81%),

- an open floor plan (59%),

- low maintenance characteristics (43%),

- walkable communities (36%),

- energy efficiency (20%),

- cell phone service and wifi access (19%).

Those feature preferences are definitely evident in our market in the Silicon Valley, and with the exception of the last one, I think the order is pretty much the same.  Here, phone reception and wifi access is also close to the top of the list in my experience.

Thank you for reading!

Let me know if I can be of assistance to you, or someone you know, with real estate questions.

Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates
A worthy local non-profit to remember: Community Services Agency in Mountain View

News from the trenches .... in the Silicon Valley.

Taking the pulse of the local offices, and managers and agents in the local cities.  It does not get more "down to earth" and "raw" than that!   ;-)

SF Peninsula – Listing inventory is steadily increasing in the Burlingame area, and so are sales, according to our local manager. Across the hill in Half Moon Bay, there has been a continuous increase in inventory. Our local manager provided this update for the area of Half Moon Bay, El Granada, Montara, Moss Beach, and Pescadero market update: The average listing price is $1,428,716, highest listing price is $3,388,888, and the lowest listing price is $699,000. Pending Average listing price is $1,372,445, highest listing price is $1,988,000, and the lowest listing price is $785,000. Sold average listing price is $1,062,552, the sold price is $1,071,980, days on the market is 14 days. ...  Our Menlo Park manager said the local market is steady but cautious. No throwing money at houses now like caution to the wind. She adds that sellers are more likely to look at a pre-emptive offer now realizing that we could be close to the ‘top of the market’ if anyone can really see that without it being behind them.  Our Redwood City-San Carlos manager reports lots and lots of frustration out there for everyone (sellers, buyers, agents). It’s a definite alteration in the market (which was needed). Only the ideal homes with the ideal location and the ideal price are selling quickly. All the rest are remaining on the market with very little, if any, showings. The San Mateo market has slowed down, our local manager says. Our Woodside-Portola Valley manager says that
Woodside continues to be a good/bad market. It is a month to month thing. Big buyers are out there but always waiting for the RIGHT house. The market is feeling cautious, she notes.

Silicon Valley – Our Cupertino manager says homes are staying on the market longer and need to be priced right. Open houses are spotty. That can be a good thing because agents have more chances to engage visitors in conversation, and perhaps get new clients. She adds that the luxury segment has been slowing. In the Los Gatos area, competition remains heavy for entry-level homes listed under $2,000,000. More inventory is hitting the market in the $2,000,000 plus range. Our San Jose-Almaden manager says we’re starting to see an increase number of active listings as well as a lower number of homes pending in Santa Clara County. The available inventory is actually higher than the number of available in 2014. Not surprising were the lower number of units sold for May. There were 35 properties sold in Almaden for the month which is down 25% from last month and 18% from the previous year. Blossom Valley was slightly better with a total of 101 homes sold for the month which is down 8.5% from the previous year. Cambrian was almost flat, with 78 properties selling for the month which is just down 2.5% for the previous month and year. Santa Teresa had 27 homes sold which is down 16% from the same time last year. Willow Glen had a sleepy Memorial Day week. Sales were slow and not many new listings came to the market. The following week things started moving again we had one of our better sales weeks and listing inventory is back up to 92 units. We are still hovering at 3-4 year highs for active listing inventory. The local market seems to be driven mainly by price point. Anything under or around the $850,000 price point is drawing lots of attention and still attracting multiple offers well over list price.

It is my experience that in Los Altos / Mountain View / Palo Alto the market is a little slower like elsewhere, but still quite active: anything priced right is selling quite well, even if sometimes it is not right away (like the first week).  I think the consensus is that prices are going to be flatter unless the property is among the most desirable in its category (and not overpriced).
The least expensive house in Mountain View sold in April for $1,050,000.
The least expensive house in Palo Alto sold in February for $1,325,000  (with a lot of 2,875 sq.ft.).

Thanks for reading, and hoping each finds his/her own area in the above ;-)
Francis

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

non-profit organization worth noting: Partners for New Generations.

Los Altos Below-Market-Housing Update

Los Altos will soon have 17 additional BMR units:

As read in an excellent recent article in the Town Crier by Staff Writer Alicia Castro, Los Altos will soon have 17 additional below-market-rate apartments at the "Colonnade Los Altos" at 4750 El Camino Real (in front of the recently remodeled San Antonio shopping center).  Currently the City has 105 affordable multiple-family BMR units, including 32 rentals and 22 senior units, and 44 second-living units, according to the city's planning services manager, David Kornfield.

 

The requirements for people applying for these below-market units are as follows:

“Very low income” requirement is $37,250 for 1 person to $57,450 for 5 people.  “low income” requirement limits the range from $59,400 for 1 person to $76,400 for 3 people. (based on the County’s median income of $106,300 for a 4-person household).

 

The deadline for preliminary applications was extended to the end of July 2015 in order to allow more eligible applicants to participate.  Preference is given in the selection process to salaried employees of the city, the schools and fire department serving Los Altos residents.  Some preference is also built-in the selection process for Los Altos residents and workers.

More info on this subject in the Town Crier of July 8, 2015.  To submit a preapplication for the lottery process, and for full details on the program, go to: www.leaselosaltos.com/affordable-housing-information  

 

Francis

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

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

Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos …

We know that the market is very localized, and that even within a City the market is markedly different from low-end to high-end, from an area to an other, and of course whether it is a house or a condominium.
How does it look all combined??

This is the way the market looks for these 3 Cities combined, houses and condominiums and townhouses, all together, over the past 2 and a half years.

Some will describe it as “definitely hesitant”,

Some will say it is “getting better”,

Others will say that the worse was in mid 09.

It is difficult to interpret such graphs because a low average price per square foot can just mean that more properties of a larger size sold that month, and the median and average price mean something different, - although the curves are fairly parallel. This is a summary of many individual stories.


But one thing is certain, the market is alive and kicking here, and in most of the Silicon Valley.

Also, let’s remember that about 35% of houses sell for over asking price in the County, and a good 30 to 35% of sales are cash sales, with no loan involved … We are fortunate.

Curious about your City, or your zip code? Let me know, I can help ;-)

Francis

Silicon Valley Real Estate

Local market trends

useful links

Remember: our Free E-Waste Collection and Shredding Event,
on: 10/22/11, Sat.  9 am to 4 pm for E-Waste Collection
10 am to 2 pm for Shredding.
address:  161 S. San Antonio Rd, Los Altos, CA 94022