Real Estate Price Seasonality - Bay Area of San Francisco

Santa Clara County:  As I regularly do every year, I look at the evolution of real estate prices from month to month, and compare that with the year prior.

I just finished putting down 2017 and 2018 on graphs, and until the end of February 2019 - shown below:

Click to see larger.


Several remarks:

We had a feeling in 2017 that prices were not slowing down during the usual slow periods of the year: in summer, and in winter.  Well it shows clearly here that July and August did not go down in value (whether it is in average, or as a median price), and hardly came down in Nov. and Dec.

This is to be compared with last year in 2018 which everyone identified as a "slower market": indeed, after May 2018 prices started to go down a bit, with a verifiable dip in July and August (showing a month later when properties close), a typical regain in activity in September, and then a continued soft market after that.  The end of 2018 was definitely a good time to get in the market.

February is showing us that, with the help of low mortgage interest rates, the market is picking up.

Currently, these gentle interest rates along with a fairly low inventory of homes for sale contribute to a rise in prices - right on cue... statistically.

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Thank you for reading,
Francis

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Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates   (pretty stable, and low.. )

Perspective on the Real Estate Market - Silicon Valley - USA

A perspective on the real estate market in the US, and in the Silicon Valley - the Bay Area of San Francisco.

As I update this amazing graph every year around the month of April - May, I cannot stop being amazed at the evolution of prices in our corner of the world.
This graph makes me think somewhat about the technical progress of the past 3 decades  - also unique to our generation.  Although obviously it is not in direct correlation to scientific discoveries, since it is a reflection of other factors like supply and demand, economic upticks and downturns and geographic particularities, the graph is as extreme in its own way, and covers a time frame that is the same.

Click to see a larger graph.

What happens after the end of 2016?  For now the market is still a strong sellers' market in most of the US regions. 
Nationwide the median home value is now higher than right before the "Big Crisis", at $198,000, according to the April Zillow® Real Estate Market Reports (Svenja Gudell article).
However, let's not forget that this is not true of all of the US: in 17 of the 32 largest metropolitan housing markets prices are still below-peak (like in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Miami).

Here in the Silicon Valley the market remains very much a seller's market. At this point, I believe the annual appreciation will be easily around 6-8%.  The areas with the lowest average prices may even show a higher rate of appreciation.  Multiple offers are the norm, and cash is king...

Thank you for reading,
Francis

Trends: Local prices and graphs.
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