Burlingame Market Update July 2011 – Strong Summer Selling Season

After a relatively slow start to the year, sales have picked up in recent months in Burlingame. There were 24 single family detached homes sold in July, and 82 in the May, June and July timeframe. Through the first seven months of the year, there have been 128 sales, up five percent from the same period last year and 42% from the same period in 2009.

Inventory remains tight in Burlingame, as is typical for the city, where properly priced homes do not sit on the market for long. The number of homes that have come onto market as new listing this year is the same as the prior year. With an uptick in sales and no increase in new listings, inventory has decreased on a seasonal basis. At the end of July 2011, there were 50 homes actively on the market in Burlingame. Inventory normally increases in summer, along with sales activity. However, last year at this time there were over 70 homes for sale. Less supply is positive for sellers who benefit from fewer competing homes for sale.

Price levels are holding steady and there is more activity in the higher end of the market. Median selling prices for each of the last four months have been above $1.25 million, after only crossing that mark in two of the previous 12 months, indicating that higher priced homes are accounting for a bigger share of sales. The price per square foot has averaged $585 in 2011, which is about the same as 2010.

Whereas buyers were often successfully bidding under asking prices in 2009 and 2010, more and more homes are being sold above their asking price. The sale price divided by list price has averaged 100% in 2011, and was at 102% in July meaning that homes sold on average for more than their list price.  The “normal” rate varies by area. In Burlingame, it had been averaging 97% for the past two years.

By The Numbers - Burlingame July 2011