If you’re just moving into the area you may be wondering about the different housing markets for the greater Silicon Valley area. The counties are a perfect place to start!
Here are the real estate market reports for three major Silicon Valley counties (and where I’m most active in my work): Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, and Santa Cruz County. Generally, “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. Each section below includes first the data for single family homes and then condos and townhomes for each region.
If you’re ready to dive a little deeper, I also provide regular monthly market updates on some of the popular communities within Santa Clara County over at my Valley of Heart’s Delight blog. Scroll the most recent ones here.
Early Winter 2021-2022: Three Silicon Valley Counties
Santa Clara County Real Estate Market Report for December 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 25% since December 2020, an unbelievable amount of growth! Homes sold nearly a full week faster this December compared to last year. Of course, it hasn’t been even growth.
While the 2019-2020 winter was particularly hot, it experienced a massive slowdown in market activity at the start of the 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 prices sky high and bolstering a heightened average sales to list price ratio, but inventory continues to fall while demand snowballs out of control! Santa Clara County is keeping up the momentum from a raging hot 2021 with hardly any sign of winter cooling!
And the condominium and townhouse report for Santa Clara County:
This December shows about a 12% rise in median sales price for condos and townhomes since this time last year, a 4% rise in the average sales to list price ratio, a much faster market absorption rate, and a slightly higher volume of closed sales despite having only a quarter of the inventory compared to last December!
San Mateo County Real Estate Market for December 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 – but that gap has begun to shrink and this December it was only 6% above Santa Clara’s median sales price. This winter the San Mateo market has been going strong – days on market dropped, pricing shot up, and the little active inventory continued to plunge! It’s currently looking red hot! While there’s fierce competition for San Mateo homes, it’s not quite as wild as what we’re seeing in Santa Clara County right now.
The condo and townhome report for San Mateo County:
Since last month median sales prices have fallen, although they’ve risen about 7% 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. December sales show that this market is definitely hotter than it was a year ago, inventory remains severely low and is falling, and San Mateo condos and townhomes are experiencing a mild winter cooling.
Santa Cruz County Real Estate Market Report for December 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 want to move too far from home, but benefit from less expensive housing. Santa Cruz County includes the highly regarded University of California 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:
There’s been a little more up-and-down here compared to the other counties. Santa Cruz single family homes saw some end-of-year cooling, but prices have risen a whopping 12% 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 neighbors, 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 is actually experiencing. Sale prices grew roughly 6% since last year. It’s a seller’s market that’s competing with the other areas despite some seasonal cooling and severely low inventory (and it was even slightly hotter than single family homes in Santa Cruz County this December)!
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 and strategize your home buying or selling – no cost, no obligation, no pressure.
