It seems there’s even more pent-up demand for housing than there was after the 1989 housing crash. The lower than usual interest rates is undoubtedly a contributing cause for the frenzied activity but what else is creating the stratospheric rise in housing activity?

It’s becoming a common event for a home to have 10-20 offers submitted by enthusiastic buyers. One first time buyer home in San Mateo recently sold with 86 offers! We’ve been in bidding wars ourselves where the winning bid paid over $300,000 more than asking price for a modest San Carlos home.
It’s probably not a leap for you to then believe that the median size home in San Mateo County climbed 29% since last March?
How’d we come up with that 29%? We adjusted it to account for the size of homes selling during the two periods. Had we not done so the raw figures showed a 34% increase.
In March of 2012 the median home in San Mateo country sold for just $689,000 and this March the median home price was $925,000. So did a lot of larger homes sell this year? For sure the upper market is starting to get traction again but the median size home selling in 2013 was only 5% larger. So we roughly estimate that if one can get a 5% large home in 2013 but have to pay 34% more, than prices probably went up by a factor of around 29%.
Looking at the housing picture for San Mateo County for March of 2013 as compare to March of 2012, we see that there were 20% fewer home sales this year as compared to last.
Why the fewer home sales if the market is so hot? Because, simply put, there are fewer homes for buyers to choose from. In 2013 there were 20 percent fewer sales but 29 % fewer new listings-which explains the low inventory.
For buyers wanting to get into a home, it may be now or never as home prices appear to have skyrocketed almost 30% in San Mateo County just in the last year. If interest rates rise, that double whammy may just put home ownership out of the reach for many.

 

 

The information contained in this article is educational and
intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute
real estate, tax or legal advice, nor does it substitute for
advice specific to your situation. Always consult an appropriate
professional familiar with your scenario.

 

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