Robust Housing Market Signals Early Spring

If the start of Daylight Saving Time did not remind you the arrival of spring, the robust housing market should have.

As indicated by the latest home sales report, we have been seeing a healthy rebound of the local housing market after a brief seasonal slowdown at the beginning of the year.

Sales are strong, price is up and homes are selling fast.

In February, 15 single family homes were sold in Los Altos, which is slightly more than those the same time last year but is more than two times that of the month before. More significantly, the median home price, at $1,821,000, represents a 10 percent jump from last year.

In Los Altos Hills, three homes were sold, which is the same as last year but is three times that of January. Its median home price also rose significantly from $2,200,000 last year to $2,850,000.

Now let’s take a look at the average days on market, another important market indicator. In February, it took an average of 19 days to sell a house in Los Altos, compared to 49 days the same time last year. The average percentage of list price received also jumped sharply from 86 percent last year to 103 percent last month. In fact, most homes in Los Altos were sold at over the asking price in February. All these indicate a very strong demand for housing.

All of the homes shown in this article sold above the list price.

By comparison, activities are slower in Los Altos Hills, despite a rise in its median home price. It took an average of 108 days to sell a home. And buyers paid an average of 93% of what the sellers asked.

It should be noted that in spite of the rising demand, inventory was low around the beginning of the year. It partly explains why the sales volume didn’t jump that much on a year-to-year basis.

Springtime is always a busy season for homebuyers and sellers. In the past few weeks, we have been seeing a rise in the inventory, with more sellersputting their homes on the market. Many of these homes did go into pending sale within a week a two, with multiple offers.

It strongly suggests that a solid, healthy housing rebound is ahead of us, and I expect to see an even more robust report next month!

February 2012 Home Sales Statistics

Single Family Residences

City

Sales

Change from last year

Average Day on Market

Median price

Change from last year

% of list price received

Los Altos

15

7%

19

1,821,000*

10%

103%*

LAH

3

unchanged

108

2,850,000

30%

93%

*Sale price is not disclosed for one home. Average/median were calculated based on 14 homes with information available.

 

Source: MLS Listings

Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

 

Winnie Yip Fong, a Los Altos resident and a local realtor, prepares this monthly home sales report to keep readers updated of the local housing market. Email her to winniefong.realestate@gmail.com for any suggestions or comments. You can also follow her on www.twitter.com/SVHomes for more local real estate updates.