The numbers are in from August, and sales of single family homes continue to be on the rise in both Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, the heart of Silicon Valley. And from the Good News for Buyers department, prices have leveled off and even come down in some areas year over year. You can also expect to have a little more time to poke around as properties spend more days on the market.
According to a new report from Freddie Mac, 30-year mortgage rates are projected to gradually decline in coming quarters, which could trigger a surge in buyer demand, primarily from first timers. However, a tight inventory will lead to only moderate sales increases, with prices rising 2.1% in 2024.
Meanwhile, boosted by an “AI boom,” median sales prices in the San José metro area are the first to exceed $2 million, and Silicon Valley’s appreciation rate is among the highest in the nation. Overall, 89% of U.S. metro areas saw year-over-year price gains.
The Silicon Valley housing market continues its long rebound, with May seeing year-over-year increases in sales and median prices for both homes and condos in Santa Clara County. But you’ll need to act fast to have a chance at one of these properties because they’re spending less and less time on the block!
After a cool and frosty winter, the market is experiencing a boom in early 2024. As of February, approximately 56% of home sales were made in less than a month, with a median of 38 days on market. Additionally, 20% sold over list price, 21% were purchased as investments or second homes, 26% were bought by first-time homebuyers, and 33% were all-cash purchases — the highest monthly share of sales in almost 10 years.
If you ever needed a visualization of the rising cost of homeownership, this chart should do the trick. Tracking median house sales price fluctuations by region since 1990, you can see a significant shift to the West and South and away from the Northeast, even as prices have appreciated across the country. Of course, the last spikes we saw in western sales led to the subprime bubble, so it’s good for investors to be cautious.
