Quick Market Summary: Because of the incredible "double ramp up" of prices in the latter part of 2017 and early 2018, we'll see year over year decreases for a while. So for February results, we see that Santa Clara County median prices are 13.5% lower than in February 2018. Similarly, San Mateo County median prices have dropped 12.6% from the same month a year ago. Median prices for Santa Clara County stood at $1,200,000 versus $1,388,000. In the context of looking at the past two years we've seen the median go from $1,100,000 in February 2017 to $1,200,000 or a two-year gain of 9.1% -- not too bad. For San Mateo County the median was $1,520,000 versus $1,740,000 in the same month a year ago. Inventory has jumped by over 50% in each county and we've seen the median days on market much higher than a year ago which translates in longer times to sell. Demand continues below supply. Buyers take note -- a little longer time to sell in some areas and a stable mortgage rate environment mean better advantages with less competition or fewer offers on average per listing. Sellers need to be more aggressive in pricing and not think of last spring's price level spike which became the top in the market in March/April. Condo and townhouse median in Santa Clara County reached $825,000 in February compared to $840,000 last year or a decrease of 1.8%. In this tempered environment 50.4% of homes in Santa Clara County that closed escrow in February sold for more than list price compared to 83.7% last year and 64.7% in February 2017. It was 60% in San Mateo County versus 79% last year.
February Nuts and Bolts: Inventory or the amount of homes available for purchase in Santa Clara County was 969, up from 615 or 57.6%. Sales (accepted offers) were 928 down 1.9% from the same month last year when is was 946.
For San Mateo County, inventory of single family residences stood at 404 versus 264 or an increase of 53% from February 2018. Sales (accepted offers) were 326 compared to 358 for the same month last year, a drop of 8.9%.
Sale price to list price ratio, a key market condition indicator, shows that for Santa Clara County transactions completed during February, stood at 101.3% compared to last year's ratio of 112.1%.
The hottest market in Santa Clara County belongs to the Cupertino/Sunnyvale market area with a median price of about $1.903 million) at 103.9% which means that the average closed sale has a sale price 3.9% higher than the list price! It also registered a median days on market of 9 which means half the inventory sells in just a bit over one week. The coolest is the South County market area (Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy) with a median price of about $0.830 million) with 99.5%.
Days of unsold inventory and another key indicator which is the intersection of supply of available homes compared to the demand, moved up a bit and stands at 36.5 for Santa Clara County and 43 for San Mateo County. These are substantially higher than last year's figures of 22.8 and 26, respectively. This places Santa Clara County squarely in a seller's market condition since the level is below 40. San Mateo is in a balanced market condition overall since the level is between 40 and 80. Above 80 represents a buyer's market in most areas.
The hottest market in San Mateo County remains the North (Brisbane, Colma, Daly City, Pacifica, San Bruno, South San Francisco) market area (median price of about $1.050 million) at 108.6% with a median days on market of 14. The coolest is the Coast (Half Moon Bay, El Granada, Moss Beach, Montara) market area (median price of about $1.363 million) at 97.4% with median days on the market of 14.
As always, markets are always changing and the supply and demand in a particular area or even neighborhood can vary. If you would like specific market condition information for your area or neighborhood or a current home valuation, please feel free to call me, your RE/MAX Gold Agent! You are welcome to leave your comments or questions or contact me directly at my website. Check out and “like” my Facebook Business Page (over 775 have done so) or follow me on my Twitter Page.Thank you.
