In case you missed it, real estate inventory is in short supply, particularly in the Bay Area. That means fewer sellers selling, more buyers bidding, higher offers mounting, and... a partridge in a pear tree?
Looking at this chart, you’ll see that Santa Clara County has 53% less active listings than one year ago — and that was at the height of the pandemic! It’s not much better in San Mateo County, where there are 47% less active listings year over year.
Inventory is tight. That means homes are spending shorter times on the market — and selling at higher prices. If you’re thinking of buying, you’d better be ready to pay well over the list value to get the home you really want. Contact us if you want to learn more.
This house in Los Altos was listed at $4.198M, and we had five offers. We asked you to guess the winning offer, and the closest without going over was… Kyung! We’ll connect with you via email to get you a $20 Amazon gift card. Thanks to everyone who submitted a guess.
So what was the winning offer? $4.7M — more than half a million dollars over the listing price! We were very happy to get our clients a big return on this home. And we wish the new owners well!
When thinking about a real estate market as diverse as the Bay Area, where home prices, neighborhood characteristics, and appreciation percentages vary widely, it’s helpful to look at trends from a higher level.
This chart provides a simplified look at the market for higher-tier homes since 1984, and it’s clear that prices continue to rise over time despite a regular cycle of bubbles and busts.
The three charts below show how real estate market cycles generally move in sync with other economic indicators such as financial markets, employment, and consumer confidence.
It’s important to note that these data points end in 2019 and don’t reflect the crazed volatility created by the global pandemic. As we’ve all seen, the housing market has experienced a complete rebound, but some economic sectors are still struggling to recover.
