Home sales were flat for Belmont, but home values still seem to to be reaching new highs. Belmont’s housing market is in its typical summer slumber with agents and their clients taking well deserved vacations. We hope you are enjoying a getaway soon as well.
With summer in full swing, we take step back and review Belmont’s single family housing market for June 2015.
SALES
19 single family homes closed during the month of June while last year there were 22—a number which is relatively insignificant except to note that all indications are inventory is not increasing yet. When inventory increases, prices flatten out so we’re keeping a close watch on that.
CURRENT INVENTORY
This June our inventory of single family homes available for purchase was seven—last June there were 22 to choose from. The month’s supply of homes—the time it would take to deplete all of the available listings at the current rate of sales dropped from one month of inventory in 2014 to .35 this June. Anything below six months indicates a seller’s market. Currently, the national inventory of homes stands at around 5.6 months.
MEDIAN PRICE
The median price last June in Belmont was $1,075,000 and this June it was $1,400,000–$325,000 higher or an increase of around 30%. That’s what you will hear in the media and that’s what gets reported and passed along at the water cooler.
But the homes which sold this June were larger by 28%. So did the market only go up by 2%? Not really, the math isn’t a straight line calculation like that. But what it hints to is that values aren’t increasing as much as the raw statistics might lead one to believe. In fact the size of homes sold in the two periods are so dissimilar that it’s hard to draw a definitive conclusion by staring at numbers.
The variance in the size of homes in the two period works out to 502 sqft. At the 2014 rate of $712 per square foot that represents $358,000 which we could subtract from the deltas in the two years media home price of $325,000 to reach an adjusted median price slightly less than 2014. Same conclusion.
The only wrench is that larger homes always sell for less per square foot (since the land they sit upon is a constant and not taken into consideration). But while the size of the homes in 2015 were 28% larger, they still sold for a higher price per square foot, $901 in 2015 vs only $712 in 2014. So were the lots that much larger in 2015? Not really. In both years the lots the homes were on were about the same size.
There is unfortunately, no escaping that this year a single family home in Belmont cost a buyer $189.00 more per square foot—or a 26% increase over last June.
As for how competitive the market is—homes last June sold over the seller’s asking price by on average 9%. This June they sold at an average 19% over asking. Tough to be a buyer right now, or a buyer’s agent for that matter–while all of the sellers we work with are elated.
Disclaimer:
Drew & Christine Morgan are REALTORS/NOTARY PUBLIC in Belmont, CA. with more than 20 years’ experience in helping sellers and buyers in their community. They may be reached at (650) 508.1441 or emailed at info@morganhomes.com.
You can find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Morganhomes and also find them on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/morganhomes
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.
