Monday, March 13, 2017

Silicon Valley Real Estate Market Update - March 2017

Quick Market Overview: As is usual for this time of year, the number of available homes for sale have increased. While that is the case, inventory was lower by 18.2% in Santa Clara County and 21.7% lower in San Mateo County than at the same time a year ago. Median prices have increased some 16.8% in Santa Clara County to $1,084,000 but only 0.7% in San Mateo County to $1,350,000. Still, San Mateo County has the highest median price of all of California's 58 counties with Marin and San Francisco not far behind. Record median prices for this time of year were seen in February in the Silicon Valley real estate market. Demand continues to outstrip supply in Santa Clara County as 60.9% of homes that closed escrow sold for more than list price inferring multiple offers whereas in San Mateo County, it had an even higher percentage of homes that sold for more than list price of 65.0%.
Nuts and Bolts: Inventory or the amount of homes available for purchase in Santa Clara County was 719, down from 879 or 18.2% from the same month a year ago. Sales (accepted offers  increased 0.5%% in Santa Clara County to 869. In this measure, a downtrend has been in force since 2012!
For San Mateo County, inventory of single family residences stood at just 238 which decreased 21.7% from the same month a year ago. For both counties, the inventory continues to lag below the average for this time of the year placing pressure on buyers as evidenced in the predominance of multiple offer situations and heated competition between buyers.
Sale price to list price ratio shows that for Santa Clara County transactions completed during February, this ratio stood at 103.1% and among the highest for this time of year over the past 17 years! Currently, the highest ratio belongs to the Cupertino/Sunnyvale market area (median price of about $1.77 million) at 107.7%, a continued very HOT marketplace! Following close behind is the Los Altos/Palo Alto market area (median price of about $2.478 million) and the more moderate priced market area of Santa Clara, Willow Glen, Cambrian, Campbell (median price of $1.13 million). They registered the lowest median days on market at just 9 or 10 which means half the inventory disappears in just 9 or 10 days! The coolest market area is South County - Morgan Hill/Gilroy (median price of $730K).
San Mateo County’s ratio overall is at 104.4% with the highest ratio is in the Bay Cities (Belmont, Burlingame, Millbrae, San Carlos, San Mateo) market area (median price of about $1.74 million) at 105.9%. This indicates that this market area is the hottest. The coolest market area is the expensive areas of San Mateo County comprising Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, Hillsborough, Woodside with a median price of about $2.925 million.
As is always the case, market dynamics change and the supply and demand relationships can vary by area. If you would like specific market condition information for your area or neighborhood or a current home value, please feel free to call me, your Remax Agent! And as always, you are welcome to leave your comments or questions. Thank you for reading!