January 2013 — Palo Alto Housing Drought Continues

The rush to close home purchases before the end of the year cleared up the inventory of houses available for sale to levels not seen for a while. In January only 23 homes were listed — a 36.1 percent drop from last year.

With so few homes coming to the market, the prices continued to be driven up. The median price of a single family home went over $2M in January reaching $2,157,000, a 17.5 percent jump from December of 2012 and a 42.3 percent jump from January of last year.

While the Silicon Valley economy continuing to perform and the DOW reaching 14,000 on February 1st for the first time since October 2007 there seems to be no shortage of willing buyers being able to afford homes at the new price levels. A home in downtown area was listed at $1,795,000 and was sold for $2,150,000, a 19.8 percent jump.

What we experiencing now is a strong seller’s market. Multiple offer situations rule the day and buyers are jumping on well prepared homes in move-in condition.

If you are thinking about selling you have to budget both time and money to prepare the home for the new owners. Most probably they will be a family with kids with both parents being working professionals. Making them feel at home will go long way to getting the best price for your property.

Michael Talis is co-owner of TALIS Real Estate.