How long does it take to sell a home in Silicon Valley right now? It depends on what segment of the real estate market the property is in, and what type it is. Most homes are selling in 3-4 weeks.
How long does it take to sell a home in Santa Clara County?
First, for the success stories, the properties that do sell, what’s the timeframe?
- Houses which have closed escrow averaged 27 days in September 2022 so far
- Also in September, the median days on market is 17 days
- For condos and townhouses, the average days on market so far this month is 38
- The median days on market for condominiums and townhomes is 27
Pending sales – how long were they on the market?
- Pending houses right now average 33 days on market
- Pending condominiums and townhomes average 28 days on the market
It’s interesting to see that the more recent sales were slower for the houses but faster for condos and townhomes as compared to the closed sales.
Active listings and length of time on the market
- Houses for sale in Santa Clara County that are not under contract (and not listed as “Agent Only”) average 52 days on market
- For townhomes and condos, it’s an average of 44 days on market
So it seems that for the homes which DO sell (and not all homes which are listed become sale pending), the average is in the 3-4 week range. What that says, pretty clearly too, is that if your listing is well marketed but doesn’t sell in three to four weeks, you’ve got a problem.
Some types of properties will always take longer (think Santa Cruz Mountains, ultra luxury homes and others), but overall, your home should be seeing 3-5 showings per week and get at least one offer for approximately every 10 showings, which should happen within 3-4 weeks.
What if your home has been on the market for a month with no offers, or only low offers?
If your house or condo has been actively listed and marketed for more than 4 weeks and isn’t selling, it’s time to have a conversation with your agent. Every situation is different and I cannot advise anyone but my own clients about what needs to happen in your case.
I can tell you that if your home does not get an acceptable offer in 3-4 weeks, there’s a good chance that the number one obstacle is a price that’s too high for the current market. If that is the case, it’s time to make a serious change in the price – think hedge clipper, not nail clipper. Otherwise, if home values are dropping and your price does not get ahead of it, you will be chasing the market down. It is very expensive when that happens.
Beyond price and just getting or not getting offers, you will want to understand:
- how many showings are there each week?
- what is the feedback from the buyer’s agents? (what are the buyers saying?)
- what homes ARE selling?
- how long does it take to sell if it’s underpriced? (that’s a common strategy today)
Some flaws are fixable and some are not fixable. You cannot do anything about a less desirable location or a neighbor with too many vehicles or an eyesore of a front yard. But you do control the price.
Some real estate gurus like to say “there’s no problem that the right price can’t fix”. That’s true, but sometimes there are cheaper ways to solve whatever the problem is.
In some cases, home sellers are offering to pay points on the buyer’s loan to offset the rising interest rates. Frequently it’s a lot cheaper for the seller to buy down the loan rate than to take a price reduction of 3-5%.
Related reading to how long does it take to sell:
Why didn’t my San Jose home sell? (on this site)
Beware over improving your property when preparing to sell (on this site)
Selling your home in Silicon Valley – 9 FAQs (on popehandy.com)
