Burlingame Real Estate - January 2013

Inventory Plummets

The level of available inventory in the Burlingame real estate market, which fell during 2012, has plummeted to historic depths in the beginning of 2013. At the end of January 2013, there were 14 unsold homes, compared to 35 homes for sale at the end of January 2012. Inventory is even lower than 2004 and 2005, during the height of the prior real estate boom.

Low inventory is frustrating buyers and delighting sellers. The average sales price in 2012 was $1.37 million, but prices are clearly on an upwardly trajectory. In the last six months, the average selling price was nearly $1.5 million, and every month was above $1.4 million. The average price per square foot was just under $600 in 2011. It has been above $600 each of the last 13 months. The twelve month moving average is over $660 for the first time since early 2009. In general, price levels are back to where they were in late 2008/early 2009, erasing much of the downturn that we saw in recent years.

Interestingly, after eleven straight months of being at or above 100%, the average sales price to list price ratio was below 98.9% in January 2013. A ratio above 100% is a sign that buyers are regularly bidding above asking prices. There were only 10 sales in January, so we are dealing with very small sample sizes, but this could be a sign that sellers who recently listed were a little ahead of the market. With newspaper headlines touting a 'red hot' real estate market, some sellers take that as a license to price overly aggressively. We will keep track of the market to see if there is a cooling, but to-date, we have not seen it.

Sales Activity Strong in January

There were 10 homes sold in Burlingame in January 2013. In 2012, 270 homes sold, the most in any year since 2005, and well above the recent low of 2008. Simple math dictates that because of low inventory, sales will be dampened in 2013, unless there is a flood of new listings sales levels. January was little help to prospective buyers, as only 11 homes were newly listed. Inventory is usually replenished to begin the year, but if only one more home is being listed than is sold, inventory will not rise (as some listings are pulled off the market and not sold).

Recent Home Sales in Burlingame

Below is a selection of recent Burlingame real estate sales, sorted by area of Burlingame. The beginning of the year is typically a slower time, so there have not been many recent sales. Notably, six of the ten sales were for less than the list price. In 2012, it was rare to see a majority of homes selling for less than the list price in any given time period (though once again, a caution is in order for the small sample size of 10 homes).

None of the homes sold for less than $550 per square foot. With some exceptions, if a buyer is looking for a home of at least 1,500 square feet, it is probably going to entail a purchase price of at least $1 million in Burlingame.

By The Numbers - Burlingame Real Estate for 2012 and January 2013