Palo Alto Market Conditions July 2015
- Prices lower
- Sales remain high
- Inventory remains low
- Days on market edges up
The Palo Alto real estate market, while still hot, appears to be slowing down a bit. The median sales price fell and homes sold for less than 110% of the average list price for the first time this year. Inventory, while still low was about 20 units higher in the second quarter of this year than during the first three months. Homes stayed on the market longer in July also, although 20 days is not a very long time.
The median sales price in July was $2,602,500, which was 5% or $147,500 lower than June’s $2,750,000. July was still nearly 7% or $164,500 higher than a year ago. The average sale in July was for 109.9% of the list price, just a tick below 110%, the first time this year it has been that low. The average for this year has been 113%. The one price indicator that did increase was the price per square foot, which was $1,513 in July, 5% or $77 higher than June’s $1,436. July price per square foot was 12% or $165 higher than a year ago.
34 sales closed in July, two more than in June, ending a two month skid. July also had five more closed sales than July 2014.
Inventory fell from 57 at the end of June to 34 at the end of July. One year ago, 63 homes were available for sale. Pending sales increased from 33 in June to 50 in July. July 2014 had28 pending sales.
Days on the market, which had been in the low to mid teens for the past four months, increased to 20 days in July. That compares to 15 days in July 2014.
Analysis by Price Range
I want to make note of the fact that late in each of the past several months, pending sales and inventory numbers have been restated (pending sales downward and inventory upward) the following month. With that said, the inventory of homes priced below $2 million fell from 17 at the end of June to seven at the end of July. 16 sales went to contract in July, up from 11 in June. This segment accounted for 21% of Palo Alto’s inventory at the end of July and 32% of its pending sales during the month.
15 homes priced from $2 million to $2,999,999 were actively listed at the end of July, one less than at the end of June. Pending sales increased from 13 in June to 23 in July. 44% of inventory and 46% of sales were in this price range.
In the $3 million to $4,999,999 price range, inventory fell from 14 at the end of June to seven at the end of July. Those seven were 21% of total inventory. Pending sales increased one unit to seven during July, making up 14% of total pending sales.
Seven sales of homes price at $5 million or more went to contract in July, one more than in June. Inventory was cut from 10 at the end of June to five at the end of July. 15% of inventory and 8% of pending sales were $5 million-plus homes.
