Today is the first of November. For many Santa Clara County home buyers and sellers, it marks the beginning of “the holiday season” and the end of the home buying & selling season. But is that always the case?
In my real estate practice (San Jose, Los Gatos and all over the county), normally I do have sales activity in November and December. Many times, clients want to be in their new home before the December holidays and the new year. Sometimes it’s for tax reasons. Other times it’s a late year relocation. Once in awhile, someone just wants Christmas, Hanukkah or some other major date in the new home.
This morning I logged onto MLS Listings to see the numbers of sales of single family homes in the month of November over the last dozen years or so to see what we could learn about November home sales in Santa Clara County. We don’t have a crystal ball for November 2014, but if annual patterns hold true again, around 800 homes are likely to sell this month. The lowest number in recent history was 510, and that was during the recession. Here, then, are the counts for houses sold in SCC in the last 17 years (as far back as I could go on the MLS):
2013 – 762
2012 – 810
2011 – 834
2010 -856
2009 – 853
2008 – 672
2007 – 510
2006 – 853
2005 – 992
2004 – 1146
2003 – 1136
2002 – 933
2001 – 996
2000 – 926
1999 – 1051
1998 – 1080
People still need to buy houses, for whatever reason it may be. The statistics tell us that they continue to do so here in November. If you are thinking of selling your Silicon Valley home, don’t believe that you must wait until the new year. A good, well priced, well presented, and well marketed home really can sell here at any time of year. Unlike the northeast, we do not have terrible weather that makes showings difficult or unappealing. If you’re interested in a fall or winter home sale, please call or email me. We can discuss it, your home’s pricing and everything else relevant to give you good information on which to base your decision.
Related reading: Holiday Home Selling: Good or Bad Idea?
