How’s The San Mateo County Real Estate Market?
The quick answer is it’s improving – slowly and steadily. Newly initiated sales of single family homes in September 2009 climbed to 790 reflecting a 51% increase in the number of pending sales when compared to September 2008. 790 newly initiated single family home sales represent the largest number of pending sales San Mateo County has seen since January 2006. More good news: the average price continues to climb and more San Mateo County homes were sold in September 2009 (380) than in September 2008 (298).
How Does San Mateo County Compare Nationally?
Compared to national statistics, The San Mateo County real estate market is showing very favorable numbers. The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) reported that August 2009 home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.1 million units, down from 5.24 million in July. Yet, San Mateo County home sales continue to trend upwards.
Even with historically low mortgage interest rates and the $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers, much of the U.S. is burdened with huge inventory backlogs and unprecedented unemployment. San Mateo County is fortunate that none of these factors burden the area and consequently the current inventory of unsold single family homes (1,544) is modest at best. At the current sell through rate, San Mateo County has less than two months inventory available for purchase.
When Does the Market Favor Sellers?
When we compare the number of new listings vs. the number of new sales under contract (aka pending sales), we see a growing positive divergence with pending sales exceeding new listings by 178 units. Generally, a market becomes stronger and more favorable to sellers as the delta between pending sales and new listings grows.
Without a doubt, current figures pale when compared with the boom times of 2005-2006, but with every boom comes a bust. All and San Mateo County is no exception.
Where is the Strongest Activity in the San Mateo County Real Estate Market?
Currently, the San Mateo County home resale market is more balanced than at any time this decade. While the average price now exceeds $950,000, the median price hovers slightly less than $700,000 (actual $698,500). These prices reflect strong activity in the lowest price quartile – the least costly homes on the market – where home buyers compete vigorously with investors seeking bargains.
The San Mateo County Real Estate Market is Unique
It’s important to note that San Mateo market activity is not indicative of any other part of the state or the country. A unique set of circumstances exist here that don’t exist in other areas. That said, it is most likely that San Mateo County will begin to see various segments of the market exhibit a variety of levels of strength and weakness.
Trying to Sell Your San Mateo Home?
Remember that selling a home is part beauty contest and part price war. Home buyers in San Mateo County are among the most savvy and aware consumers in America and they are expecting value for their money. Take advantage of the resources and information readily available to price your home accordingly.
Complete Copy of The San Mateo Real Estate Price Report
To download the a copy of the San Mateo Real Estate Price Report, click on the Adobe PDF logo below.
Need Help Selling Your San Mateo County Home?
Check out our Stress Free Listing – Home Marketing System for the easiest way to sell your home in today’s market. Then, contact us at (650) 655-2500 or info[@]RayChelRealtyGroup.com to set up an appointment with our Listing Specialist to learn how the Stress Free Home Listing program can work to get your home sold!
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- San Mateo Real Estate Price Report – August 2009
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Raymond Stoklosa, Broker/Co-Owner
Chela Stoklosa, Realtor/Co-Owner
I’m trying to parse this report, but it’s not very helpful. In this market, it appears that the low end us moving like hotcakes, but the high end is frozen. I’d love to see these San Mateo stats broken down by price range rather than all lumped together so I can figure out what to do about my specific house purchase.
Tubby, You are correct about the composition of the market. The lower end is booming and the higher end is lagging a bit behind. This market report is meant to be a general overview of the San Mateo County market as a whole and may not be as helpful to you if you have identified an area you would like to live or targeted price range. We are working on some neighborhood specific market reports that will be posted in the next few weeks.
As you mentioned, the County report as a whole is not as useful to a buyer who has narrowed down the geographic areas they’d like to live. As such, we provide our buyer clients with a detailed, targeted market report of only the areas which they are considering to show them what is going on in that specific geographic area. Once they have identified a property, we prepare another detailed market report for the specific property so they know what other buyers were willing to pay for nearby homes. In this case also, the county numbers would not be useful because it gives no indication of what is going on near the property.
We’d be happy to sit down and talk with you about your buying situation and how we may be able to help. If you’d like to discuss this further, please contact me at rebecca[@]RayChelRealtyGroup.com or (650) 655-2500.