Menlo Park Market Conditions January 2014
Menlo Park Market Update January 2014
The median sales price in Menlo Park for January was $1,618,003, which was $834,033 higher than a year ago. Inventory and sales have been declining since the middle of 2013, with sales declining a bit more rapidly than sales. Some highlights of the current market include:
– Both sales and inventory have fallen since mid-2013
– The median sales price has consistently been above year ago levels ($800,000 higher in January)
– Median sales price above prior year for 11 of past 12 months
– Average sales price was 108% of the average list price in 2013
– Months of inventory has been rising lately
As can be seen in the chart below, the inventory of single family detached homes in Menlo Park fell form 41 in October to 16 in December before increasing to 20 at the end of January. January’s inventory was still below the level of January 2013, when there were 23 active listings. Sales that went pending followed pretty much the same pattern, although the January increase was greater for sales than inventory. 29 sales went pending in October, nine in December and 19 in January. The following table shows the relationship between inventory and sales for the past 18 months. While there have been changes from month to month, the average number of months of inventory was 1.7 for both 2013 and 2012.
The median sales price has not always increased from month to month but has consistently been higher than the level of the prior year. The median sales price for January 2014 was $1,618,013, which was $271,967 lower than December’s $1,890,000 (14%) but was $834,033 higher than January 2013’s $784,000. While January 2013 was not representative of the year due to the fact that there were only four closed sales, the fact is that the median sales price has been higher than the prior year for all but three of the past 21 months. The chart below shows the upward trend in the median sales price.
The average sale here has been for more than 100% of the list price for every month since September 2012. For January 2014, the average sale was for 108% of the list price. For all of 2013, the ratio was 106%, compared to 102% in 2012. The average price per square foot, like the median sales price was more volatile but has consistently been higher than the prior year. The average price per square foot in January was $800, which was $57 (6%) below December’s $857 but was $164 (26%) higher than the price from January 2013 ($636). January’s closed sales were listed for 19 days, which was below the average for 2013 of 26 days.
Price Range Analysis
The mix of homes priced under $1 million sold and for sale has been fairly consistent. 25% of Menlo Parks’ inventory was in this segment at the end of January and December and 22% at the end of January 2013. 21% of the sales that went pending in January were in this price range, compared to 22% for December and 33% for January 2013. There are consistently between three and six homes available in this segment. Sales that went pending during a given month peaked at 22 in April 2013 and bottomed out in November with only one. There were four in January.
There has been more volatility in the mix of homes priced at $1 million and higher. 40% of Menlo Park’s inventory at the end of January was priced from $1 million to $1.999 million, not much different than December’s 38% but higher than the 26% recorded a year ago. The number of sales that went pending during a month was even more volatile, ranging from 47% in January to 11% in December and 58% in January 2013.
Homes priced at $2 million or more accounted for 35% of Menlo Parks’ inventory at the end of January, compared to 38% at the end of December and 52% at the end of January 2013. For January 2014, 32% of the sales that went pending here were priced at $2 million or more, down from 67% in December but higher than the 8% mix from January 2014.
