The shortage of inventory and intense competition among buyers are sending home prices on an upward trend rather quickly. Silicon Valley is a case in point. The region has experienced some improvement in single-family home sales from the previous month, though sales still lag from the same time last year. Home prices, on the other hand, continue to increase year-over-year and month-over-month.
According to the California Association of REALTORS® (C.A.R.) March sales and price report, Santa Clara County's year-over-year single-family home sales in March was down 11.7 percent from March 2012, but rose 43.3 percent from February. On the other hand, the median price of a Santa Clara County home continues to increase. The March median of $730,000 is 27 percent higher than the March 2012 median of $575,250 and 3 percent higher than the February median of $710,000.
In San Mateo County, year-over-year home sales were down 17 percent, but sales increased month-over-month by 43.4 percent. Yet the median price of a San Mateo County home jumped 34.5 percent, from $677,900 in March 2012 to $912,000 in March 2013. The March median was up 14 percent from the February median of $800,000.
C.A.R. reports March statewide closed sales of single-family homes totaled 417,520. Closings were up a slight 0.1 percent from a revised 417,310 in February but down 4.9 percent from a revised 439,260 in March 2012.
The statewide median price of an existing, single-family detached home rose 13.7 percent from February's $333,380 median price to $378,960 in March, the highest month-to-month increase since 1979, when C.A.R. began tracking this data. The March median home price was up 28.2 percent from $295,630 in March 2012. It was the 13th consecutive month of annual price increases and the ninth consecutive month of double-digit annual gains.
"The shortage of inventory is impacting sales and home prices. There's intense competition among buyers and even agents are experiencing the stress. They put in a client's offer, sometimes multiple times, and get rejected over again. We're seeing home prices rising, yet inventory of homes is not rising fast enough, so fewer homes sold has brought down total sales," explained Carolyn Miller, president of the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR).
Miller said homes are selling at an even faster rate than the month before. Days on market in Santa Clara County are now down to 18, compared with 21 in the previous month and 24 in March of the prior year. They were at 19.7 in San Mateo County in March, down from 20 in February and 25 last year.
The Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) is a professional trade organization representing over 4,000 REALTORS® and Affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. SILVAR promotes the highest ethical standards of real estate practice, serves as an advocate for homeownership and homeowners, and represents the interests of property owners in Silicon Valley.
The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.
Variations of this article have appeared in local area newspapers.
For further information, please email or call the SILVAR office at (408) 200-0100.