The fall slowdown continued in the Silicon Valley in September, with sales declining and inventory increasing. Even though inventory increased, it remains low, at about 60% of where we were a year ago. Mountain View has only a third of the supply available at this time in 2016.

Inventory rose the sharpest in Los Altos (up 77% from August) and Palo Alto (up 43%). Los Gatos/Monte Sereno was the only community we follow that increased supply.

Pricing remains strong, with the average home selling for about 106% of the list price during September, little changed from August. The median sales price did drop 2% from August but was up 24% from a year ago.

We added Soquel to the list of beach communities we follow, which also includes Aptos, Capitola and Santa Cruz. Trends in inventory and sales reversed themselves from last month. In September, sales increased and inventory decreased.

Overall, inventory fell 15% from August and 7% from September 2016. Soquel saw inventory drop by one unit, while the other cities had increases.

Sales, on the other hand, rose 8% from August but were still 17% lower than a year ago. Homes continued to sell for about 99% of the list price (on average).