Inventory (supply) plummeted in each county (again). Demand crossed oversupply last month and continues to be the case. Even though we've seen a lower price trend, demand has moved ahead of inventory. We'll see if it translates into higher prices down the road. Still, sellers need to be more aggressive as to list prices as the market is lower than the market peak which occurred back in Spring 2018. Buyers have lower mortgage rates that help coupled with lowered inventory, making it more difficult to purchase due to the higher level of competition. Multiple offers occur in about half of the transactions in each county.
Condo and townhouse median price in Santa Clara County settled at $772,000 in January compared to $768,000 last year or a slight increase of 1.0%.
January Nuts and Bolts: Inventory or the number of homes available for purchase in Santa Clara County was 543 (second lowest in the last 20 years!) down sharply from last year of 804 or 32.5%. Closes were 449 and were 4.3% lower than the same month last year when it was 469.
For San Mateo County, inventory of single-family residences stood at 272 versus 334 a decrease of 18.6% from January 2019. Closes were 184 compared to 180 for the same month last year, an increase of 1.0%.
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 100.9% compared to last year's ratio of 99.5%. 47.6% of homes in Santa Clara County that closed escrow in January sold for more than list price compared to 34.6% last year. For San Mateo County, the ratio was 104.7% versus 101.9% last year. The percent sold for more than list price was 53% versus 49% last year.
The hottest market in Santa Clara County again was the Cupertino/Sunnyvale market area with a median price of about $2.100 million) at 106.2% which means that the average closed sale has a sale price 6.2% higher than the list price! It also registered median days on market of 8 which means half the inventory sold in 8 days! The coolest is the South County market area (Morgan Hill, San Martin, and Gilroy) with a median price of about $0.867 million) with 97.3% and median days on the market of 13. Not far behind South County was the Los Altos/Palo Alto market area which had fallen from one of the top hot spots in the valley. Sellers in this market area need to adjust list prices that reflect this reality.
Days of unsold inventory is another key indicator which is the intersection of supply of available homes compared to demand and stands at 35.7 for Santa Clara County and 33 for San Mateo County. The current levels place both counties in a seller's market condition since their levels are below 40. I've seen some so-called experts or recent news articles state that we are in a "buyer's" market, this is clearly NOT the case. Again, sellers need to be careful about their list price and should err more on a lower level lest they get stuck on the market.
The hottest market in San Mateo County last month the Bay Cities (Belmont, Burlingame, Milbrae, San Carlos, San Mateo) market area (median price of about $1.724 million) at 108.2% with median days on market of 9. The coolest is the Expensive (Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, Hillsborough, Woodside) market area (median price of about $3.528 million) at 98.3% with median days on the market of 16.
As always, markets are dynamic and the supply and demand in a particular area or even neighborhood can vary and it does so sometimes quickly. 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 reading
