January marked a turnaround in inventory for most Silicon Valley area cities. Mountain View and Sunnyvale, in particular, posted strong gains. Sales, however, were weak in January. That was anticipated with the very low inventory level we entered the New Year with. We expect to see sales pick up as we progress into the first quarter. Prices were mixed during January, with half the communities seeing gains in the median sales price and the other half declining. The sales price to list price ratio was above 100% for half the cities and below for the other half. On average, the ratio was 99.7% for all eight cities, down from 101.3% in December.

Mountain View and Sunnyvale each had gains of 83% over December’s month-end supply. Menlo Park, Palo Alto and Saratoga also had double digit gains, while inventory was flat or down in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Los Gatos/Monte Sereno.

With the low sales numbers, drawing conclusions on pricing is difficult. As stated, it was a mixed bag in January. The market is spotty, with quality homes in good locations still seeing strong demand. Los Altos, Menlo Park, Mountain View and Sunnyvale all had average sales prices that were higher than their average list prices.

In the beach communities of Aptos, Santa Cruz and Capitola, inventory was down 5%. Homes for sale increased in Santa Cruz but declined in the other two cities. Sales fell during January, a result of season trends and low supply. Even so, more sales closed in January than did so a year ago.

The sales price to list price ratio increased in all three communities, while the median sales price increased in Aptos and Capitola. Time on the market decreased from December by nine days, on average, to 52 days during January. That was about the same as a year earlier.