San Mateo Real Estate - September 2013

Homes Continue to Sell Quickly, And Above Asking Prices

Almost all signs point to a continued sellers market in San Mateo. The majority of homes are selling quickly and above asking prices. Selling prices are rising. The only hint of a slowdown is that inventory has increased slightly. Here are the highlights for September 2013.

• The average price for September 2013 was $1,087,000. The average price in all of 2012 was $869,000.
• Homes continue to sell quickly; the average home was on the market for just 18 days.
• The sales price to list price ratio was 106.3%, implying that the average home sold for nearly 6% above the final list price. This is the 20th straight month above 100%.
• Inventory of unsold homes increased to 62, which is still low by historic standards, but a slight uptick from recent months.

Prices continue to increase. The chart below shows 12 month moving averages to smooth out month-to-month fluctuations. Prices have increased 15-20% in the past year, and 20-25% since early 2012. All signs point to prices continuing to increase in the past few months. In the past four months, the average price was $1.113 million, the median price was $998,000 and the average price per square foot was $628. In the four months prior to that, the average price was $960,000, the median price was $860,000, and the average price per square foot was $580.

In the current boom, the ratio of the average sales price to list price has been above 100% for 20 straight months as competition has been fierce for many homes, with demand often exceeding our historically low inventory of homes. The ratio was 106.3% in September 2013, the eighth straight month above 105%.

Sales Down Slightly in 2013

There were 48 homes sold in September 2013, up slightly from the 46 homes sold in September 2012. There have been 493 sales in San Mateo in the first nine months of 2013, down nearly 7% from the 528 sales in the first nine months of 2012.

Inventory ticked up slightly in September 2013. At the end of the month, there were 62 unsold homes on the market, the most since last October. While inventory remains extremely low by historic standards the most recent month suggests that we may have reached bottom. Inventory follows a normal seasonal pattern with a typical peak near June/July and a low point near December/January. In the last two months, when inventory would normally have been flat/falling we have seen a rise of 17 homes. At this point, it is too early to definitely say we have seen a shift in the market, but if inventory increases for another month or two it should relieve some of the upward pressure on housing prices in the area.

By The Numbers - San Mateo Real Estate for 2013