Palo Alto Real Estate Prices Are Stabilizing While Pace of Sale Accelerates

Palo Alto real estate prices started to stabilize—the April median sold price did not change since March and increased by a relatively moderate 10.1 percent from the same month last year.  However, the median listing price continued to grow, suggesting sellers’ price expectations remain quite high.  It jumped 9.9 percent since March and 37.4 percent relative to April of last year.

The demand for homes remained very strong and average Days on Market (DOM) declined to 13 days, the lowest number since May of 2012 when homes were on the market for an average of 11 days.

Inventory remained extremely low at .6 of a month. Another way to look at the cost of housing is price per square foot.  In April, this metric reached a record level of $1,213 per square foot, a 6.5 percent increase over the previous month and a 23.1 percent increase from a year ago.

A number of smaller homes that were sold recently like 2951 South Ct. (1 bed., 1 bath.) or 733 Colorado Ave. (2 bed., 1 bath.).  These sales helped to drive the price per square foot up.

Market conditions are very favorable to sellers and more and more home owners are recognizing this fact.  The number of new listings in April increased to 58, a dramatic improvement from 9 new listings in December of 2012.  But with 48 new contracts accepted during the same period, this influx of inventory won’t last long.

Month, Year  Listed Sold  Median Price  DOM
January 2013     23    14      $2,250,000       38
February 2013   38     16     $2,330,000       19
March 2013       38     29     $2,200,000       16
April 2013         58     43     $2,200,000       13

Month, Year Listed Sold  Median Price  DOM
April 2010       56      32     $1,650,000        34
April 2011       69      63     $1,620,000        34
April 2012       66      37     $1,998,000        14
April 2013       58      43     $2,200,000        13

Michael Talis is co-owner of TALIS Real Estate.