Quick Market Summary: Year over year decreases continue in Santa Clara County as the median price decreased 5.4% from last year to $1,230,000 and now shows a 2.4% decrease since October 2017. Not so in San Mateo County which saw a decrease of 0.9% to $1,580,000 but a two-year increase of 3.6%. Overall, demand continues below supply which puts downward pressure on prices and makes for listings staying on the market longer BUT the trend shows signs of changing or at least stabilizing. Sellers need to be more aggressive as to list prices since the market peak in Spring 2018 as buyers generally do not submit offers well below list price but rather wait for sellers to reduce the list price. Buyers have a few important considerations to think about -- declining or low mortgage rates, decreasing inventory this time of year as we get into the Holiday Season, prices that have decreased and off the all-time highs reached last year. These are helping buyers purchase more home with a smaller monthly payment -- which is to say that there is more value than last year.
October Nuts and Bolts: Inventory or the number of homes available for purchase in Santa Clara County was 1,099, down significantly from last year of 1,393 or 21.1%. Closes were 875 slightly more than 0.7% from the same month last year when it was 869. Inventory levels have been about flat and hovering at low levels for the past three years.
For October results, we see that Santa Clara County and San Mateo County median prices for single-family residences are lower than the same month a year ago. For the two-year period, median prices for Santa Clara County stood at $1,230,000 versus $1,260,000 and San Mateo County stood at $1,580,000 as compared to $1,525,000.
Condo and townhouse median price in Santa Clara County settled at $790,000 in October compared to $900,000 last year or a decrease of 12.2%.
October Nuts and Bolts: Inventory or the number of homes available for purchase in Santa Clara County was 1,099, down significantly from last year of 1,393 or 21.1%. Closes were 875 slightly more than 0.7% from the same month last year when it was 869. Inventory levels have been about flat and hovering at low levels for the past three years.
For San Mateo County, inventory of single-family residences stood at 496 versus 545 a decrease of 9.0% from October 2018. Closes were 388 compared to 394 for the same month last year, a decrease of 1.5%.
Sale price to list price ratio, a key market condition indicator, shows that for Santa Clara County transactions completed during the month, this stood at 100.2% compared to last year's ratio of 101.9%. 40.5% of homes in Santa Clara County that closed escrow in October sold for more than list price compared to 54.0% last year and 75.4% in October 2017. For San Mateo County, the ratio was 104.0% versus 106.0% last year and 58% of the closings sold for more than list price versus 68% last year.
The following graphs of Median Days to Sell for Santa Clara and San Mateo counties for single-family residences. Data is from MLSListings.com transactional information and covers the date range from January 2002 through October 2019. Please notice that for the past 6 years or so the indicators have been in relatively narrow ranges but on the low side meaning that sellers generally have had the advantage. Most news/online articles on this topic will have you believe we're in a buyer's market but were are not.
The following graphs of Median Days to Sell for Santa Clara and San Mateo counties for single-family residences. Data is from MLSListings.com transactional information and covers the date range from January 2002 through October 2019. Please notice that for the past 6 years or so the indicators have been in relatively narrow ranges but on the low side meaning that sellers generally have had the advantage. Most news/online articles on this topic will have you believe we're in a buyer's market but were are not.
The hottest market in Santa Clara County again was its most expensive as the Los Altos/Palo Alto market area with a median price of about $3.230 million) at 103.0% which means that the average closed sale has a sale price 3.0% higher than the list price! It also registered median days on market of 16 which means half the inventory sold in 16 days. The coolest is the South County market area (Morgan Hill, San Martin, and Gilroy) with a median price of about $0.900 million) with 98.6% and median days on the market of 25.
Days of unsold inventory is another key indicator which is the intersection of supply of available homes compared to demand that is flat or slightly up and stands at 41 for Santa Clara County and 43 for San Mateo County. The current levels place both counties in a balanced market condition since their levels are above 40. Again, contrary to recent news articles which state that we are in a "buyer's" market, this is clearly NOT the case.
The hottest market in San Mateo County last month remains the North Cities (Brisbane, Colma, Daly City, Pacifica, San Bruno, South San Francisco) market area (median price of about $1.150 million) at 108.2% with median days on market of 13. The coolest is the Coast (Half Moon Bay, El Granada, Moss Beach, Montara) market area (median price of about $1.100 million) at 98.9% with median days on the market of 21.
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 770 have done so) or follow me on my Twitter Page. Thank you for your i
