Los Altos Hills Home Sales Doing Better Than Los Altos

Every month, Los Altos Patch will look at local aggregate home sales data when it is released. Data specific to Los Altos and Los Altos Hills helps real estate professionals—and now, you—understand the activity in the market and possibly spot trends.

The housing market in Los Altos Hills continues to do better than Los Altos, as compared to last year, according to the latest home sales report.

But the market, in general, is stable after a nice rebound from a few months ago, as we are approaching the end of the peak house-hunting season.

Despite a big drop from June to July, home sales in Los Altos were up slightly in August, though it was not as much as the same time last year.

Last month, 27 single-family homes were sold in Los Altos. That is 4% or one home more than last month, and 7% or two homes less than the same time last year. Its median home price, at $1,650,000, represents a less than 2% jump from last month and a 6% drop from last year.

In Los Altos Hills, sales continued to be strong. In August, 11 homes were sold. It is the same as last month, but 22% more from last year. Its median home price is $2,450,000, which is 6% higher than last year but is about 7% lower than the previous month. The drop in price apparently is due to the sale of a $7 million dollar home, which has skewed the statistics, in July.

The average days on market, an important market indicator, was up in both Los Altos and LosAltos Hills, suggesting that buyers were not as motivated and wanted to take time finding their dream home. In August, it took an average of 29 days in Los Altos, and 49 days in Los Altos Hills, to sell a home. That's compared to 21 and 45 days, respectively, in July. It’s important to note, however, they remain significantly less than last August, when the average days on market was 52 in Los Altos, and 68 in Los Altos Hills.

Buyers in Los Altos on average were paying less in August, compared to the previous month, in relations to what the sellers were asking for. The "percentage of listed price received,” as it is called, did drop below 100% in Los Altos, after being above it for the first time since the previous August. It is a very important measurement of the market, as buyers in general would have to pay more when there is multiple interest in a property.

Though not as good as last summer, the local housing market did have a nice run in the past few months. Both the sales and price have improved since the beginning of the year.

The seasonal rise in demand, the return of buyers’ confidence, and the historic low mortgage rates, are the factors contributing to the rebound. With summer is almost behind us, let’s see how the market may fare in the next few months, when a seasonal drop in demand usually lead to lower sales and price.

August 2011 Home Sales Statistics

Single Family Residences

City

Sales

Change from last year

Average Day on Market

Median price

Change from last year

% listed price received

Los Altos

27

-7%

29

1,650,000

-6%

98.64

LAH

11

22%

49

2,450,000

6%

95.92

Source: MLS Listings

Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Winnie Yip Fong, a Los Altos resident and a local realtor, prepares this monthly home sales report to keep readers updated of the local housing market. Email her to winniefong.realestate@gmail.com for any suggestions or comments. You can also follow her on www.twitter.com/SVHomes for more local real estate updates.