Redwood City Market Conditions December 2014
- Inventory? What Inventory?
- Inventory lowest in over 10 years
- Pending sales lowest in five years
- Prices rise on strong demand and no supply
Redwood City had a grand total of nine homes on the market at the end of December. I looked back 11 years and that was the fewest during that period. Sales felt the pinch, dropping to a five year low. With demand remaining very strong here, there was only one for prices to go and that was up.
The median sales price in December was $1,252,500, which was 5% or $60,500 higher than November’s $1,192,000. It was 18% or $190,500 higher than December 2013’s $1,062,500. The median sales [rice for all of 2014 was $1,144,000, a 17% increase from 2013 and a 54% increase from 2010.
The average price per square foot increased $9, from $728 in November to $737 in December. December was 21% or $130 higher than a year ago. The average sales price was 107.4% of the list price in December, up from 105.5% in November and 101.7% a year earlier.
36 sales closed during December, the fewest since January 2013’s 28. By comparison, 43 sales closed in November and 46 a year ago.
As previously mentioned, inventory was lower than perhaps ever in Redwood City, with only nine homes actively listed. That was a 64% drop from 25 in November, which was already low. December had half the inventory of a year ago. 25 sales went to contract in December, the fewest since there were 24 in January 2009. Less than a two week supply was on the market at the end of December, down from 0.6 months at the end of November.
Properties were on the market for an average of 28 days in December, up a little from 25 days in November and 44 days a year ago.
Analysis by Price Range
While inventory fell across market segments, the sub $750,000 category declined the most, from six homes at the end of November to only one at the end of December. That was 11% of Redwood City’s total. Five sales went pending in this segment in December, down two from seven in November and eight less than December 2013’s 13. December’s sales accounted for 20% of all pending sales in Redwood City. Those changes left less than a week of inventory in this category at the end of December, compared to 0.9 months at the end of November and 0.6 months a year ago.
Three properties priced from $750,000 to $1,499,999 were actively listed at the end of December, down from eight at the end of November and four a year ago. 15 sales went to contract in this price range in December, 10 less than in November and eight less than in December 2013. 33% of Redwood City’s inventory and 60% of its pending sales were in this price range. Inventory relative top pending sales fell from about nine days at the end of November to about six days at the end of December.
Homes priced at $1.5 million and up made up 20% of Redwood City’s pending sales in December and 56% of its inventory at the end of the month. Five homes were on the market in this segment at the end of December, less than half November’s 11. Five sales went to contract in December, down from seven in November. 1.0 month of inventory was available at the end of December, down from 1.6 months at the end of November.
