San Mateo Real Estate Newsletter

Home prices have stabilized in San Mateo County and average prices started rising not so much due to homes actually increasing in value, but more due to luxury homes starting to move again and skewing the average.

Meantime the Dow Jones has recovered remarkably since the crash of January 2009, but has corrected slightly in the past month. Once again there is a decent convergence between the average single family home price in San Mateo County and the Dow Jones.

The sale Price for all San Mateo County Single-Family Homes vs. the Dow Jones Index monthly average

SAN MATEO COUNTY
INVENTORY , CLOSED SALES, NEW LISTINGS
& DAYS ON MARKET

While prices appear relatively stable in San Mateo County, inventories have never been higher. June’s inventory calculation had 1,978 homes for sale in San Mateo County, that is 14% higher then last year’s peak, but only 1% higher then the peak experienced in 2008. While Year to Date (YTD) sales are about 10% higher then sales in both 2008 and 2009, new listings are about 13% higher YTD as compared to last year. Obviously the market has not been able to absorb the extra inventory and this could put pressure on prices if this same pattern continues.

The great news for sellers recently has been interest rates. If buyers qualify, there are some fantastic financing opportunities out there.

	Current Inventory	Closed Sales	New Listings	Sales YTD	Listings YTD
This Past Month	1,978	447	766	1,989	3,974
Decade Average	1,440	525	786	2,428	4,155
% Diff	37%	-15%	-3%	-18%	-4%

SAN MATEO COUNTY Graph 1 plots monthly Inventories, Closed Sales and New Listings. This graph is an excellent visual for determining the strength of the real estate market.	Graph 1—Monthly Inventories, Sales and New Listings for Single-Family Homes in San Mateo County

SAN MATEO COUNTY Graph 2 looks at the same type of data as Graph 1, but it compares it from a seasonable point of view. It compares the numbers for the identical month over past years	Graph 2—Inventories, Sales and New Listings for Single-Family Homes in San Mateo County for a given month

SAN MATEO COUNTY Graph 3 is a cumulative look at Year-to-Date statistics for Closed Sales vs. New Listings.	Graph 3—Total Single-Family Homes Sold & New Listings Year to Date in San Mateo County

REDWOOD CITY
INVENTORY, CLOSED SALES, NEW LISTINGS

Redwood City’s real estate market appears to be a bit healthier then San Mateo’s overall. Prices have been stable and rising with the luxury market once again getting some traction. But the significant difference has been that Redwood City’s inventory has not reached new highs. It remains about 10% below the record set in 2008. This is in part due to the fact that closed sales are 21% higher YTD over last year while new listings are only 11% higher. With sales growth outpacing new inventory, Redwood City is not suffering from the same inventory bubble as San Mateo County overall and should see less negative price pressure.

Overall in Redwood City, while the luxury market has begun moving, it is still a slower market. Homes priced below $1.5M have been on the market for 71 days while homes priced above that are at 88 days. These numbers also demonstrate the continued cherry picking by buyers, while overall active homes have been on the market 73 days, homes that sold in June were on the market only 51 days. An indication that better homes are being bought up quicker while others stagnate.

Overall pricing patterns for June appear to show that successful sellers, on average, lowered their initial list price by about 4% to attract buyers and then accepted an offer 3% below the final list price.

Average Monthly Stats for Single Family Homes in Redwood City