Santa Clara single family home inventory dipped below 90 homes this week, the first time since April of 2007. Sales are 25% up from last year and the number of new listings have not been able to keep up with the rate of sales. This has resulted in lower inventory and multiple offer situations and some price appreciation.
Total home sales this year so far are 561 homes compared with last year around this time of just 457 homes, which is approximately a 23% increase over last year. Here is a quick look at what has been happening in August sales compared to last year’s August numbers.
| Week | Santa Clara | Week | Santa Clara | ||
| Of | Active | Pending* | Of | Active | Pending* |
| 8/17/09 | 87 | 13 | 8/18/08 | 219 | 19 |
| 8/10/09 | 92 | 16 | 8/11/08 | 220 | 12 |
| 8/3/09 | 95 | 20 | 8/4/08 | 217 | 13 |
| 7/27/09 | 103 | 21 | 7/28/08 | 221 | 12 |
| 7/20/09 | 103 | 25 | 7/21/08 | 213 | 12 |
I imagine listings will start to eventually come up due to anticipated pent up sellers, nonetheless will that number overwhelm the current buyers in this market? And foreclosures – are they just waiting to flood the market like so many think? Highly unlikely in my opinion. This really seems like the market is stablizing. If the local job market becomes healthy, do not expect prices to fall.
A note to sellers, make sure you price your homes competitively and they will sell, in some cases with multiple offers. Buyers understand inventory and understand where you stand in this market. Multiple offers are happening, not everywhere, but in most cases where there are good properties and they are priced accurately. Do not solely rely on past comps as the market is rebounding from its lows.
