Atherton Market Conditions March 2015

• Pending sales highest in years
• Inventory down
• Low closed sales makes price evaluations difficult
• 2 month supply lowest in at least five years

There continues to be far greater demand than inventory in Atherton, as evidenced by the fact that fewer homes were for sale at the end of, while pending sales matched their five year high. That resulted in their being just over a one month supply of inventory, the lowest in at least five years. The median sales price increased, while the sales price to list price ratio fell.

March’s median sales price was $7,502,500, which was 17% ($1,090,000) higher than February’s $6,412,500 and 43% higher than a year ago. The average price per square foot increased 11% from February’s $1,138 to $1,259. The average closed sale in March was for 97% of the list price. That was the lowest ratio since September 2013. Note that with the low number of closed sales here, prices can be volatile and it is difficult (at best) to draw short term conclusions.

Six sales closed in March, up from two in February but half the level of a year ago. On average, sevel sales a month have closed here in the past twelve months.

13 sales went to contract in March, matching the highest monthly total in over five years (June 2014).   By comparison, only two sales closed in February, three in January and 12 a year ago. Inventory could not keep pace and slipped three units, from 19 at the end of February to 16 at the end of March. March’s inventory was less than half of what it was a year ago (36). The result was that there was only a 1.2 month supply relative to pending sales at the end of March, the lowest level in over five years. This number can be volatile but 1.2 months is still very low here. At the end of February, there was a 9.5 month supply and a year ago, we had 3.8 months.

Homes were listed here for an average of 60 days in March, less than half of February’s 133 days and 22 days less than a year ago. The average for the past twelve months was 64 days.

Analysis by Price Range

One sales of a home priced under $3 million went to contract in March and there were no active listings at the end of the month. February was the opposite, with no pending sales and one active listing. The one pending sale in March accounted for about 8% of Atherton’s total.

There were also no active listings at the end of March in the $3 million to $4,999,999 price range. That’s not to say there was no activity, as five sales went to contract. Again, that was pretty much a flip-flop from February, when there were four active listings and only one pending sale. 39% of Atherton’s pending sales were in this price range.

In the $5 million to $9,999,999 segment, five sales went pending during March, accounting for 39% of Atherton’s total. February only had one pending sale. Four homes were actively listed at the end of March, which was a quarter of the city’s total. That was one more active listing than at the end of February. March’s four homes for sales equated to a 0.8 month supply, down from four months at the end of February.

The $10 million-plus market segment continued to account for the bulk of Atherton’s inventory. 12 properties were for sale in this category at the end of March, 75% of the total. 12 homes were actively listed at the end of February. Two sales went to contract during March, up from zero in February. March’s two were 15% of the city’s pending sales. A six month supply was available at the end of March.