Eight months into the COVID-19 pandemic and Santa Clara County's housing market continues to show strength and stability. In fact, at no time during the pandemic has Santa Clara County's median price been less than the previous year's median price, according to data from MLSListings. In October, the county's median sales price hit a high of $1,450,000.
In the latest MLSListings and Aculist Minute Market video on the county's October housing market, MLSListings Director of Professional Development Mark Messimer described Santa Clara County's housing market as experiencing "continued growth in a steady environment."
Michelle Ronco, senior product market manager with Aculist, said the strength of the single-family market much resembled that of the strong 2018 market. "Sales numbers bottomed out in April, and ever since then we've seen it very steady and very strong," remarked Ronco.
Santa Clara County had 1,072 closed sales in October, up 31 percent from 819 sales in October 2019, and up 8 percent from 991 sales in September. October was the third straight month of sales increases. Sales volume was up 42.7 percent year-over-year and up nearly 5 percent month-over-month.
"It's really impressive what happened in October in terms of closed sales, prices and even listings," said Ronco.
Home sales continue to close quickly. Days on market in October stayed at just 9 days, and the county sales-to-list price ratio was at 103 percent, an increase from 102 percent last year, and the highest for the county since March of 2020.
Most cities in the county saw year-over-year and month-over-month price appreciation. Saratoga's median price in October was $3,337,500, up 26 percent from a year ago and 8 percent from September. Monte Sereno's median price of $3,367,500, was up 23 percent year-over-year and up 10 percent month-over month. San Jose's October median of $1,289,444 was up 20 percent from October 2019 and up 3 percent from September's median.
A few cities saw year-over-year price corrections. The October median prices of the cities of Palo Alto ($2,827,500), Los Gatos ($2,110,000), Mountain View ($2,110,000) and Morgan Hill ($1,017,500) dropped 12 percent, 11 percent, 4 percent, and 2 percent, respectively.
In terms of closed sales, majority of the cities saw double-digit gains. Los Gatos had 53 in October compared with 30 last year, while Saratoga stayed the same with 26 sales.
At a time when the market typically sees listings trending down, new listings in the county increased to 1,271 from 1,245 in September. Other than a slight dip in August, new listings have been increasing every month.
"With inventory being super tight, it's great to see these new listings coming into the market," said Ronco.
There were no year-over-year decreases in new listings in any of the cities in the county in October. Listings were up 27 percent in Los Gatos, up 21 percent in Saratoga and up 29 percent in Monte Sereno.
Homes are generally not seeing price decreases either. The cities that had top sales-to-listing price ratios were Sunnyvale at 106 percent, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Campbell, Milpitas and San Jose at 104 percent, and Los Gatos, Los Altos, Mountain View at 103 percent.
For the month of October, both Ronco and Messimer summed up Santa Clara County's housing market as "impressive," with the numbers continuing to be "steady, stable and strong."
MLSListings is the multiple listing service of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors. In addition to Santa Clara, the MLS home counties include Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo and Santa Cruz. These real estate markets were all "red-hot" in October, as well, demonstrating that even with a pandemic raging into the fourth quarter, the Silicon Valley housing market continues to thrive.
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.