San Mateo Real Estate - January 2014

Full Year 2013 and January 2014

Inventory levels continue to remain at extremely low levels in the San Mateo real estate market. Prices continued their upward ascent. Here are the highlights for January 2014

• There were just 24 single family homes available for-sale at the end of January 2014 in San Mateo. A year prior there 38 unsold homes. A year prior to that, inventory was above 100 homes!
• Low inventory is limiting the number of sales. There were just 24 homes sold in January 2014, down from 38 homes sold in January 2013.
• Low inventory is also causing buyers to continue to compete over a limited supply of listings. The ratio of sales price to list price ratio was 106.9% in January 2014. This suggests that buyers continue to regularly bid well above asking prices.

Prices have increased by around 20% in the past year, and 30% since reaching bottom in late 2011. The chart below shows 12 month moving averages to smooth out month-to-month fluctuations. Prices have just approximately returned to their previous peak in late 2007/early 2008. However, given the recent run-up in pricing and the lag between when a home is listed and the sales is finalized in the MLS, homes that are now being listed in February and March will probably on average be selling at record levels.

Even though prices are rising and sellers are adjusting their asking prices according, buyers continue to bid above list prices. In 2013, the ratio of the average sales price to list price was 107.1%. This means that on average, every home sold for about 7% more than the final list price. Given average prices above $1 million, this means that on average homes sold for well above $50,000 the final asking price. Of course, not all homes sell for more than asking, even in this market.

In January 2014, the average sold home went for 106.9% of the list price. It was the 24th straight month that buyers on average paid more than sellers were asking.

Sales Down Slightly in 2013, and Particularly Low in January 2014

There were 653 single family homes sold in the San Mateo real estate market in 2013. This is down from the 686 homes sold in 2012. While the home sales were down slightly in 2013, they were actually just above the ten year average. In January 2014, there were 24 homes sold. Sales are typically lowest in the winter months, though 24 sales is on the lower end of normal. There were 38 sales in January 2013 and 35 sales in January 2012.

Sales activity is being held back by a lack of available inventory. There were 692 new listings in 2013. This is well below average. In the past ten years, there were more than 750 new listings each year. On average there were more than 850 new listings. A below average number of listings and an average number of sales is pushing inventory down to record low levels.

Inventory at the end of January 2014 was 24 homes. In the prior two months inventory was at 11 homes and 13 homes. Prior to the past three months, inventory levels had never gone below 34 homes in the past ten years. Inventory levels peaked at above 200 homes in the middle of 2010. The current low level of inventory continues to put pressure on buyers to offer well above asking for the most desirable listings.

By The Numbers - San Mateo Real Estate