Below please find real estate market reports for three Silicon Valley counties where I’m most active: Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, and Santa Cruz County. First we’ll provide the data for single family homes, then condos and townhomes, for each region. (“Silicon Valley” is 95% within Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, plus a little of Santa Cruz County and a small part of Alameda County. Alameda County uses a different MLS system, and I don’t usually sell there, so am not covering it in my reports.)
Early Summer 2021: Three Silicon Valley Counties
Santa Clara County Real Estate Market Report for June 2021
First, Santa Clara County – home to San Jose, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Santa Clara, Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Milpitas, Morgan Hill, and a number of other cities and towns. This area has generally come up in price about 10% since last year, though in March the median sale price is over 14% higher, and in June that jumped to 27% higher in 2021 than in 2020! Homes sold more than a month faster this June compared to last year. Of course, it hasn’t been even growth.
While the 2019-2020 winter was particularly hot, it experienced a massive swing at the start of the California pandemic falling to it’s lowest point in Santa Clara County around May and June. This put pressure on the market by stifling spring activity and, over the course of the year, created a backlog of demand with severely low available inventory. Pent up activity is driving up prices and the sales to list price ratio, among other things. Santa Clara County is keeping up the momentum from a raging hot spring market into early summer.
And the condominium and townhouse report for Santa Clara County:
This June shows about a 14%-15% rise in median sales price for condos and townhomes since last year, a clear rise in sales to list price ratio, and increased, but still low, active inventory compared to last month.
San Mateo County Real Estate Market for June 2021
Next, San Mateo County – home to Menlo Park, Redwood Shores, San Mateo, Half Moon Bay, and other Peninsula Communities. This area is generally more expensive than Santa Clara County, with variation, of course – a general rule of thumb might be 20-25% more costly (In June that rose to around 25%). This spring the San Mateo market was going full force – days on market dropped sharply, pricing shot up, and demand soared! It’s currently looking red hot! Prices continued to climb in June, and the sale to list price ratio is the highest across all three counties.
The condo and townhome report for San Mateo County:
Since last month median sales prices have taken a slight dip, although they’ve risen about 4% since last year. This market saw clear cooling in the last quarter of 2020, and while it’s warmed up through spring it’s nowhere near as active as the single family market. June sales show that this market is finally hotter than it was a year ago, but inventory remains severely low with almost no growth.
Santa Cruz County Real Estate Market Report for June 2021
And lastly, coastal Santa Cruz County. While Santa Clara County and San Mateo County are part of the San Francisco Bay Area, and considered to be “Northern California”, Santa Cruz County is part of the Monterey Bay and is “Central California” or “Central Coast”. This region is less expensive than Santa Clara County, so is an attractive destination for retirees who don’t really want to move too far from home, but benefit from less expensive housing. Santa Cruz County includes the highly regarded University of California at Santa Cruz, exquisite beaches, and plenty of wineries – among more reasons to visit, if not make it your home!
Single Family Home (houses, duet homes – not duplexes) in Santa Cruz County:
Santa Cruz single family homes saw a sharp decrease in median sale price since last month, but rose a whopping 30.5% compared to last year! This is a smaller market than the others, so larger swings in data can be expected. It may not be as hot as it’s northern neighbor, but Santa Cruz County homes are in a hot seller’s market!
The condominium and townhouse report for Santa Cruz County:
Again, this is a very small data set so the market report may show more dramatic change than the market actually has. Sale prices dipped below last month and grew almost 17.7% since last year. It’s a seller’s market that’s competing with the other areas despite severely low inventory!
Related reading:
Looking to buy or sell a home in any of these areas? Please reach out to me for an appointment to chat by phone. If it seems like a good fit, we can arrange to meet in person and strategize your home buying or selling – no cost, no obligation, no pressure.
