Los Altos Hills Market Conditions October 2015
- Market slows some
- Demand uneven
- Inventory increases
- Homes on market longer
Last month, I indicated that September is typically when the real estate market slows some headed into the fall and winter but that did not occur in Los Alto Hills. Well, the delay was only one month, as the market did slow down in October. Demand was still there, particularly for lower priced homes, but was uneven. Some areas and homes saw more activity than others. In general, homes were on the market longer and sold for less relative to their list price. Inventory has been creeping up the past few months and is higher than it has been for a couple of years.
October’s median sales price increased 24% from $3,426.000 in September, to $4,248,000. However, with only five closed sales, mix is a bigger factor in the median price than would be the case with a larger sample size. The price per square foot was $1,211, down a little from September’s $1,203 but was higher than October 2014’s $1,101. The biggest pricing change was in the ratio of the sales price to the list price, which fell from 110% in September to 98% in October. July was the last time this ratio was below 100%.
Only five sales closed in October, down from nine in September and 13 a year ago. That still wasn’t the fewest sales this year, which was three during July.
46 properties were actively listed at the end of October, up from 41 at the end of September. 35 homes were on the market a year ago. Pending sales were unchanged from September at 10, one less than a year earlier. A 4.6 month supply relative to pending sales was available at the end of October, up from 4.1 months at the end of September.
October’s closed sales were on the market an average of 34 days, up from 15 days in September but less than the 39 days it took to sell homes a year ago.
Analysis by Price Range
Six homes priced under $3.5 million were on the market at the end of October, unchanged from the end of September. Five sales went to contract in this segment during October, two less than in September. A 1.2 month supply was available at the end of October, up from 0.8 months at the end of September. Half of all pending sales were priced below $3.5 million, while only 13% of inventory was in this segment.
39% of Los Alto Hills’ inventory and 40% of pending sales were priced from $3.5 million to $4,999,999. 18 homes were actively listed in this price range at the end of October, one more than at the end of September. Four sales went pending during October, two more than in September. That dropped supply from 8.5 months at the end of September to 4.5 months at the end of October.
22 properties priced at or above $5 million were actively listed at the end of October, four more than at the end of September. Those 22 homes made up 49% of all inventory here. Only one sale went pending in this segment during October, the same as the past three months. That one sale was 10% of the city’s total.
