Los Altos Hills Market Conditions August 2015

• Closed sales jump after steep drop in July
• Prices remain strong
• Demand high

Closed sales jumped from three in July to 11 in August, tied for the second most this year. While it is difficult to compare prices to July due to the low sales volume that month, August’s prices were strong, evidenced by the 108% average sales price to list price ratio. While some other local markets may have begun to show some softening in August, that does not appear to be the case here.

August’s median sales price was $3.4 million, $100,000 or 3% higher than in July and more than $300,000 or 12% higher than a year ago. The average sale in August was for 108% of the list price, up from 99% in July but below August 2014’s 112%. The average for 2015 so far is 104%. The price per square foot in August was $1,087, 30% higher than in July ($836). July’s number was very low and likely a bit of a statistical aberration due to the low number of sales that month.

Eleven sales closed in August, up from three in July. August’s 11 sales tied it with June for the second most closed sales this year, exceeded on by 12 in April. Eight sales closed in August 2014.

Note that in each of the past several months, pending sales and inventory numbers have been restated (pending sales downward and inventory upward) the following month, so we need to take caution with the following data. Inventory fell by seven units in August, from 42 at the end of July to 35 at the end of August. Pending sales increased from only two in July to 14 in August. That left a 2.5 month supply relative to pending sales.

August’s sales were on the market an average of 24 days, compared to 82 days for July’s ales and 30days a year ago.

Analysis by Price Range

We have changed the price ranges in Los Alto Hills beginning this month. Due to the sharp rise in prices over the past year, there have been fewer and fewer homes price below $3 million. Accordingly, we have changed the lowest price segment to homes priced below $3.5 million.

Nine homes priced under $3.5 million were for sale at the end of August, down from 12 at the end of July. August’s nine homes represented 26% of Los Altos Hills’ total inventory. Eight sales went pending in August, four times July’s two. August’s sales in this segment were 57% of the city’s total. At the end of August, there was a 1.1 month supply of homes for sale.

In the $3.5 million to $4,999,999 price range, 13 properties were actively listed at the end of August, down from 17 at the end of July. Five sales went to contract in August, compared to none in July. A 2.6 month supply was on the market at the end of August. 37% of Los Altos Hills’ inventory and 36% of pending sales were in this price range.

There was no change in the inventory (13) or pending sales (1) of homes from July to August in the market for homes priced over $5 million. This segment made up 37% of inventory and 7% of sales.