Silicon Valley real estate: ratio sales price/list price - end of the year inventory.

The number of properties available for sale is always smaller around the first of the year, and the market less active as the Holidays take people to other places, both in their minds and physically.

This year for the area covering the five cities of Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto and Menlo Park, we start the year with a total inventory of homes for sale of 37 (24 of those are over $2 million).  This total includes houses, and condominiums/townhouses.

As a comparison, last year we started with a total of 51 properties.  This, coupled with the huge activity I see at open houses, indicates that for a foreseeable future there is a large imbalance between the number of buyers and the number of sellers.

For the area covering the whole County of Santa Clara, we start the year with a total number of properties for sale at: 606…  Last year, we had 751 homes for sale at the beginning of the year.  Even though many areas are not as extreme as around Los Altos and Palo Alto, we still see a strong sellers’ market out here, especially in the entry-level / lower price range.

My monthly market update, accessible in a detailed form on my local newsletter, shows that the average ratio of sales price over list price is lower towards the end of the year (this graph is for the County of Santa Clara):

These are two facets of the local market around the New Year: statistically, properties sell for less of a premium, but the fact is that it is still a very strong sellers’ market.  Many clients ask me why and the answer is not straightforward.  I think that it reflects on the fact that over large numbers, statistically, there may be more properties on the market that must sell, as compared with the rest of the year.  It may also reflect on the fact that the quality of the real estate offerings is lower, and/or there are fewer buyers looking.  Remember, these are statistics.  However what it does not mean is that a desirable property, in a desirable area (schools, prime location etc…) will sell for less, if there is not a “time pressure” factor involved.

Any input on this?  Do let me know,

Thank you for reading,

Francis

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

Offers over asking price in California.

To keep in perspective:

How many houses sell for over their asking price throughout California, over time?  This may answer your questions on this matter:

 

Thanks for reading!

Francis

 

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates
A place worth noting: Our Brother's Home in MountainView

To keep in perspective: Sales Price Graphs 2012-2013

To piggy back on my last blog, let's look at values in our part of the Bay Area of San Francisco (Silicon Valley).

To keep some perspective on the market in our counties, let's look at the graphs (past 2 years) of the average sales price for residential housing (houses, and PUD's combined, which include all townhouses and condominiums),
in the County of Santa Clara first:

(click on the graph to enlarge)

 For this County, the ratio of the Sales Price to the List Price follows the curve below, which shows that from March to May of 2013, the market was the most heated:

 

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Looking at the County of San Mateo, for the same statistics:

 ... and the ratio of Sales Price to List Price, which shows that in that County the market remained even more heated and unbalanced than in the County of Santa Clara, for the 2nd half of 2013.

 

 A few things to note: 

- another thing to remember when looking for a home in both Counties is that as an average, prices are higher in San Mateo County than in Santa Clara County;

- the overbidding was just starting to warm up in 2012;

- finally, something that is noticeable from the stats is that prices did not go down much at the end of each year, from the highs of the middle of the year.  This is somewhat of a new phenomenon that I had mentioned in an earlier blog (last year in November).

 

Interested in local statistics for your own neighborhood, and the value of your assets?  Just let me know, I'll be glad to study it.

 

Thanks for reading!

Francis

 

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates
A place worth noting: Our Brother's Home in MountainView