Silicon Valley's housing market appears to be surviving the pandemic. At the August Aculist Market Minute review, MLSListings Director of Professional Development Mark Messimer described August as "a lively market" in Santa Clara County. Aculist Senior Product Marketing Manager Michelle Ronco said, "August is not traditionally the most voluminous month, but we saw August being spectacular in terms of pricing, in terms of day on market, and in premiums."
Santa Clara County's year-over-year sales volume was up 25 percent in August, with closed sales of 946 compared to 881 in August last year. The August median price of $1.4 million was back to the same median in March, before the pandemic impacted the market.
"Never during this pandemic has the median price been lower than any time last year," noted Ronco.
The August median price of many of the cities in the county increased year-over-year. Among the cities that experienced double-digit percentage increases were Monte Sereno, whose median of $4.2 million was up 42 percent from last year; Los Gatos at $2.3 million, was up 22 percent from last year. The median sales price in Los Altos Hills ($4.4 million), Mountain View ($2.4 million), and San Jose ($1.2 million), were all 19 percent higher than their median price in August last year.
There were 1,130 new listings in August, up from 949 in July, and up by 20 percent from August 2019. Ronco said the increase in listings is a bright spot giving buyers more choices.
Ronco remarked, "It's been a very good August compared to past Augusts in terms of new listings, even with the smoke, with the pandemic, with evacuations."
Homes are not staying in the market for very long, however. The median days on market in August dropped to the single digit figure of nine days, down from 11 in July and 19 days last year. Another positive is the sales to price ratio held steady at 102 percent.
"It's been tough on buyers," said Ronco.
Month-over-month figures have slightly decreased, but this is mostly due to lack of inventory rather than lack of demand. "We're in a pandemic, there's smoke all over, some agents are talking about their drone footage and photos are not what they would have liked, but people are taking these in stride and seeing the value of the different properties and paying obviously good prices and high premiums for properties in Santa Clara County," said Ronco.
"Low rates and tight housing inventory are contributing factors to the median price setting a new record high. The strong pent-up demand, record-low interest rates and a renewed interest in the value of homeownership have definitely bolstered the market," said Mary Kay Groth, president of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors. "People are seeing value in the home. The pandemic has had a big influence in this, since people are staying in their homes more. They see what they would like to improve, and some realize with parents and children working from home, that they need a bigger house and feel it's time to move."
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