MAR & Q1 2024 Stats for Single Family Homes in Santa Clara County are here!
Let’s first look at March as compared to February, and then we’ll compare Q1 2024 to Q1 of last year.
We are seeing the Spring market begin to heat up with our March stats! The number of Active homes in March increased by 17% from February, with Pending Sales up by 33% and Sold Sales up by 42%.
Homes that are priced attractively for condition and location are getting into contract quickly with the Average Days on Market having decreased by 25% from this time last month – translating into homes taking an average of 15 days to get into contract.
Months’ worth of inventory went down by 21% from February, now maintaining just a fraction over 1 months’ worth of available inventory. We are receiving encouraging news from Title companies that a steady stream of new escrows are being opening each week by sellers preparing for market; however, if March is a pre-cursor to the Spring market upon us, Buyers will likely gobble this inventory up quickly as soon as those homes reach our marketplace.
The Average Sales price for SFH went up by 10% from February, now sitting at just about $2,275,000; with the List to Sale Price ratio up by 2% from February –buyers are now paying close to 9% over the seller’s offer price to win against other buyer competition. The Average Price per SF went up by 7% from February, currently resting at $1,204/SF.
The 30-year Conforming Fixed Mortgage Rate saw some volatility throughout the month, but ultimately landed lower at 7.01% at the end of March as noted by Bankrate.
Now let’s compare Q1 of 2024 to last year’s 1st Quarter:
Let’s first review the 30-year Conforming Fixed Mortgage Rate, as it was more than half a point lower in last year’s 1st Quarter, than it was in the 1st Quarter of 2024, and yet, the housing market did NOT crash. Rather, equity gains took place, all-be-it slower than past years – which was necessary – the sustainability for double digit equity growth year over year was not realistic for a healthy housing market.
Again, with many homeowners enjoying the low mortgage rates they secured during the unicorn years when rates were closer to the 3% mark; motivation to sell diminished. We see this evidenced with already low months’ worth of inventory in last year’s 1st Quarter having gone down by 8% in this year’s 1st Quarter.
The Average Sales Price went up by 10% in 2024’s 1st Quarter compared to this time last year and the Average Price per Square Foot up by 14%. It is clear, that although high interest rates have pushed some buyers out of the marketplace, there are still plenty of buyers that have found their means and strategies to purchase – and still with competition; yet often, with less competition than what we saw when money was cheaper to borrow for a purchase.
This is also evidenced in the Average Days on Market this 1st quarter of 2024 being 10 days less than this time last year, and with higher buyer competition – taking closer to an average of 7% over list price for buyers to win their homes as opposed to only 1% over list price to compete with buyers from this time last year.
Indeed, equity growth is still taking place, even with higher interest rates being more than ¾ point higher than this time last year.
As much as we would all love to see mortgage interest rates come down faster, it doesn’t look like this is in our immediate future. We had ended last year with steady news of inflation quelling toward the 2% goal-line – even with expectation that getting from the 3% mark down to the 2% desired inflation line is the most challenging to reach. Thus far, the FED continues to insistence upon patience and “good, and consistent data” to support a solid reading of lower inflation. January brought concerning news of inflation ticking back up a bit – interrupting that steady “good data” we received several months in a row last year.
As we end 1st quarter; we can be encouraged by inflation heading back toward that 2% goal; however, with joint news of a robust economy and healthy job numbers, the FED is back to wanting several months of “good data” supporting a solid trend of inflation lowering toward that mark without interruptions by any upticks taking place.
Over the past year, buyers have are realizing that if they can manage getting into a home purchase now, with higher interest rates; they will likely experience less buyer competition and more opportunity to negotiate with sellers if there is little to no competition on a sellers home. Each time mortgage rates do tick down – we inevitably see more buyers enter the market place; which in turn, put more pressure on sale prices to go up. It’s just a matter of Economics 101 – supply and demand.
Sellers that are ready to make their move now are reaping top dollar for their homes when they are positioned attractively within their trading range for their condition and location. Buyers are still stretched thin financially to make strong offers in light of high interest rates and showing strength with 20% down payments; so we’re not seeing large numbers of buyers offering large amounts of cash over appraised values, yet sellers are doing well when they present their properties for the goal of gleaning multiple interest.
If you’re ready to discuss next steps in preparation for your move, whether a seller or buyer; reach out to me at [email protected] | 408-207-3130. We’ll discuss best strategy and steps for your situation; and you can count on my diligent and trustworthy advise as we work together to reach your real estate goals.
Sellers – Jump start with Heather’s Strategic Selling Plan: www.LangesFreeHomeSellerCourse.com
Buyers – Jump start with Heather’s Strategic Buyer Plan: www.LangesFreeHomeBuyerCourse.com
Buyers – Start looking for your dream home the way Realtor’s do: www.LangeHomeSearch.com
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