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.)
Late Winter 2020-2021: Three Silicon Valley Counties
Santa Clara County Real Estate Market Report for February 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 February the median sale price is over 12% higher in 2021 than in 2020! Homes took about a half-week longer to sell in February compared to January, but compared to 2020 they’re taking about a half-week less to sell. Of course, it hasn’t been even growth. While 2020 had a seasonally hot winter, it experienced major changes with the pandemic putting pressure on the market stifling spring activity and creating a sustained high demand with severely low inventory. Typical seasonal trends around this time are cooler creating a softer market, but pent up activity is higher than usual driving both prices and the sales to list price ratio above the norm. Santa Clara County is heating up for an early spring market without experiencing more than a hint of winter cooling earlier this year.
And the condominium and townhouse report for Santa Clara County:
This year shows about a 7% rise in sales price for condos and townhomes since last year, and a slight rise in sales price, list price, and active inventory from last month.
San Mateo County Real Estate Market for February 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 February that rose to around 27.5%). Comparing this county to the others in the current market report, San Mateo hasn’t been seeing the same demand as elsewhere, possibly due to the price tag. That said, the prices soared in February, rising roughly 22.6% from last year and around 19% from the month before! Still the days on market and the sale to list price ratio are a little calmer than the other single family housing markets.
The condo and townhome report for San Mateo County:
Since last month median sales prices have risen a hair, although they’ve fallen about 12% since last year! This market saw clear cooling in the last quarter of 2020. February 2021 sales show that it may be starting to warm up again.
Santa Cruz County Real Estate Market Report for February 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 that 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 shows a drop in median sale price since last month, but rose a whopping 18% compared to last year! This is a smaller market, so larger swings in data can be expected.
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 since last month and rose about 13.6% since last year. This may reflect more about which sectors of the market are selling rather than the real values of properties across the county changing.
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.
