Number Talk: Bay Area Median Sales Prices

We hear a lot about “median sales price”, but what does that really mean? Well, the median is the middle number of a data set when you arrange it from high to low. That means the median sales price represents the price at which half the properties in an area sell higher and the other half lower.

Okay, so how is that different from the “average sales price”? The average sales price is calculated by adding up all the prices for home sales in a specific area within a specified time frame and dividing that total by the number of properties sold.

Median and average sales can be valuable sets of data for both buyers and sellers in helping them set their budgets. However, it’s important to remember that the average sale price may be skewed due to outliers in the data – i.e.properties sold at prices far higher or lower than typical for the area.

Number Talk: Where Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties meet

Some of the most expensive communities in the country are clustered on the border of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, in the heart of the Peninsula – though both counties contain other, very expensive markets. The charts below offer a look at the combined markets.

As you can see here, the combined median house sales price in Q3 2019 was down 5% from Q3 2018, but still 3% higher than Q3 2017.

A decline in competition for new listings is illustrated in the second chart, as the market turned from a high average overbidding percentage, to an average sales price below list price.

What does this mean for you? Send us an email. We’d be happy to walk you through it.