Hillsborough Real Estate - October 2013

High Selling Prices Continue

Prices have risen and continue to increase in the Hillsborough real estate market. Highlights as of September 2013:

• The sales price to list price ratio was 101.2%. This is the second highest monthly level since mid-2005.
• The average price per square foot of $823 was the seventh straight month above $800. The average price per square foot for all of 2013 has been $825 and it will almost certainly end above $800. The previous annual high was $791 in 2007.
• The eleven homes sold in October 2013 were on the market for an average of just 22 days. This was a bit of an outlier. In most months, the average home sold was on the market for closer to 60 days. However, a significant number of homes do sell in less than a month. It is just that in most months there are often a few homes that have been on the market for over 100 days.

Prices continue to rise in the exclusive town of Hillsborough. In the past 12 months, prices have increased by around 20%. All signs suggest that prices are at record levels. The average price for 2013 has been over $3.5 million. The previous high was $3.0 million in 2008. The median price for 2013 has been over $3.2 million. The previous high was just under $2.8 million in 2008.

The typical pattern for Hillsborough is for the average home to sell for slightly less than the asking price. Even when the market favors sellers, the ratio of sales price to list price is less than 100%. In nearby areas, the ratio regularly goes above 100% when it is a sellers market. October 2013 was a bit unique because the ratio was 101.2%. This was only the second month where it was above 100% since early 2008. It was the sixth highest ratio in the past ten years. It is likely an outlier, but if we see a couple of months in a row above 100% it could signal a shift in sentiment in Hillsborough.

Sales About Even With Last Year's Pace

Through the first ten months of 2013, there have been 121 homes sold, just about even with the 124 homes sold in the first ten months of 2012. Sales have been rising for a few years since reaching a low of 94 homes sold in 2008. In 2012, there were 145 homes sold.

Across San Mateo County, inventory levels in the real estate market are at historic lows. However, this is not the case in Hillsborough. For example, in neighboring Burlingame inventory was at just 22 homes in October 2013, compared to a ten year average of 43 homes. Similarly, for all of San Mateo County, inventory levels are less than 700 homes, versus an average of more than 1,200 over the past ten years. In Hillsborough, there were 53 unsold homes at the end of October 2013. This is compared to an average of 55 homes for the past ten years.

By The Numbers - Hillsborough Real Estate for 2013

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