The Santa Clara Women’s Club (old adobe house)
http://www.santaclarawomansclub.org/
The realty market in the city of Santa Clara, like the rest of Silicon Valley, is one in which the sellers have the upper hand, though it continues to be impacted by the pandemic and lingering demand from 2020. What is key for home sellers is to price and prepare their home for sale according to today’s real estate market. This article contains the latest updated data and analysis. Here are a few points from the monthly single family housing market in the City of Santa Clara that you’ll find in more detail below:
- The February sale to list price ratio was a hot 105.9% of asking.
- Active listings, closed, and pending sales are all a little higher than last year.
- The average home took only 24 days on market to sell.
Thinking of selling your Silicon Valley home in 2021? Follow the previous link to my article on how to effectively sell your property in these unique times. It’s a blazing hot seller’s market in most of the South Bay!
The Real Estate Market for the City of Santa Clara
March 2020 brought some major changes that are affecting the market. While we are starting to see a clearer picture of how things have changed in recent month’s data it will take a while to see the full picture. To read more about the Coronavirus impact on real estate sales, check my post on the topic.
At the start of the shutdown, the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) stopped the timer on all Days on Market (DOM). Therefore these numbers will be off beginning from March 17th through around May 17th, 2020. In the data below, this will affect any numbers related to the days on market, the absorption rate, and the days of inventory. That means the current data will be accurate, but disregard the data from March through May in those fields.
Below there are charts for the market activity over the last few months for single family homes in Santa Clara. Market activity has been on the rise for months, and low inventory from the past year with continuous low inventory around the rest of the Valley means there is still a greater demand to fill than properties available. Further down in the article, we’ll check in on the condo market, too.
First, a market profile, automatically updated weekly, for the city of Santa Clara (these reports are available by zip code, too, and for condos/townhomes as well as single family dwellings). Check out the weekly Altos report HERE and click on subscribe to get weekly updates on all of Santa Clara or any particular zip code. (Scroll to the bottom and check out the profile of houses across 4 pricing quartiles – super interesting.)
According to Altos, it’s a strong seller’s market right now with a dip in market action.
Data from my Real Estate Report
Next, stats at a glance for the Santa Clara real estate market for single family homes. See the statistics and trends for closings and listings for last month – updated each month on about the 5th – 10th on my RE Report site for realty stats & trends in Santa Clara:
Trends at a Glance
Last year, 2020 began with a hotter than usual winter market getting progressively hotter towards spring. Things started to change after March and the market was hit with some significant cooling at the start of shelter-in-place.
This February was a busy month for Santa Clara’s housing market! Active listings, closed sales, and pending sales all grew from the month before, with all three keeping above last year’s numbers. The sales to list price ratio moved up to 105.9% of asking, which is red hot but cooler than last year for the first time in a while. For a little perspective, in 2020 this ratio fell from a whopping 111.9% in March to a low of 100.3% by June. Prices up from this time last year, and homes are selling quickly, averaging at 24 days on market. High demand and low inventory are fueling a hot market in Santa Clara. It looks like we are experiencing another hot winter market in 2021!
| Trends At a Glance | Feb 2021 | Previous Month | Year-over-Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Price | $1,550,000 (+9.5%) | $1,415,000 | $1,435,000 (+8.0%) |
| Average Price | $1,571,660 (+5.2%) | $1,494,530 | $1,495,530 (+5.1%) |
| No. of Sales | 27 (+22.7%) | 22 | 20 (+35.0%) |
| Pending | 47 (+20.5%) | 39 | 42 (+11.9%) |
| Active | 25 (+56.3%) | 16 | 23 (+8.7%) |
| Sale vs. List Price | 105.9% (+3.5%) | 102.4% | 108.7% (-2.5%) |
| Days on Market | 24 (+20.4%) | 20 | 14 (+73.0%) |
| Days of Inventory | 25 (+14.6%) | 22 | 32 (-22.4%) |
And last month:
| Trends At a Glance | Jan 2021 | Previous Month | Year-over-Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Price | $1,415,000 (+1.8%) | $1,390,440 | $1,398,400 (+1.2%) |
| Average Price | $1,494,530 (+5.5%) | $1,416,030 | $1,390,040 (+7.5%) |
| No. of Sales | 22 (-50.0%) | 44 | 18 (+22.2%) |
| Pending | 39 (+21.9%) | 32 | 17 (+129.4%) |
| Active | 16 (+14.3%) | 14 | 15 (+6.7%) |
| Sale vs. List Price | 102.4% (-3.2%) | 105.8% | 100.3% (+2.1%) |
| Days on Market | 20 (-8.2%) | 22 | 46 (-56.6%) |
| Days of Inventory | 22 (+128.6%) | 10 | 25 (-12.7%) |
Santa Clara list prices of houses for sale by zip codes (95050, 95051, 95054)
In addition to the RE Report, I also have a subscription to Altos Research, which uses list prices (not sales data) for tracking the pulse of the market.
Here see list prices by zip code, as well as the city of Santa Clara as a whole – note how different they are! At the start of the year, the four areas moved much closer together than usual. Zip codes 95054 and 95050 occasionally switch places, most recently at the beginning of October and just before the start of this year. If we teased it out even more, by price point, school district or exact location, we would see a myriad of “micro markets.”
In the chart above, it’s very clear the real estate trends often vary from one Santa Clara zip code to the next. If we pulled it apart further and checked each zip code by price quartile, there’d be differences there also, as the low end and high end segments are often very, very different from each other.
Santa Clara condominium and townhouse real estate market
First, another city profile for the condominiums and townhouses in the city of Santa Clara.
The condo and townhome market in Santa Clara is heating up and remains in a strong seller’s market. Still, this market is nowhere near as active as single family housing for this city.
Condo Market Trends at a Glance from the RE Report
The Santa Clara condo and townhome market tends not to experience the same level of market heating as the housing market, nor as significant a cooling. The sale price to list price ratio rose to 102.7% and time on market sped to 32 days, both of which are very close to February 2020 sales. Meanwhile closed sales, pending sales, and active inventory are all well above last year’s numbers and holding steady with a slight increase in sales month-over-month.
Since late last year, condos have had an unusually high level of active inventory. For weary buyers, this could be a good opportunity. Overall, this is a moderate seller’s market, not nearly as strong as single family houses in this area, which fits the usual trend for Santa Clara condos.
Please click on link for full details on Santa Clara condominiums and townhomes on my Santa Clara County RE Report.
| Trends At a Glance | Feb 2021 | Previous Month | Year-over-Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Price | $1,004,000 (+10.3%) | $910,000 | $800,000 (+25.5%) |
| Average Price | $991,981 (+5.3%) | $942,212 | $911,369 (+8.8%) |
| No. of Sales | 26 (+13.0%) | 23 | 20 (+30.0%) |
| Pending | 35 (+16.7%) | 30 | 28 (+25.0%) |
| Active | 35 (0.0%) | 35 | 7 (+400.0%) |
| Sale vs. List Price | 102.7% (+3.2%) | 99.5% | 102.6% (+0.1%) |
| Days on Market | 32 (-24.5%) | 42 | 33 (-3.0%) |
| Days of Inventory | 36 (-20.4%) | 46 | 10 (+270.9%) |
And last month:
| Trends At a Glance | Jan 2021 | Previous Month | Year-over-Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Price | $910,000 (-8.8%) | $998,000 | $900,000 (+1.1%) |
| Average Price | $942,212 (-2.5%) | $966,430 | $991,936 (-5.0%) |
| No. of Sales | 23 (0.0%) | 23 | 21 (+9.5%) |
| Pending | 30 (+20.0%) | 25 | 23 (+30.4%) |
| Active | 35 (-18.6%) | 43 | 13 (+169.2%) |
| Sale vs. List Price | 99.5% (-1.1%) | 100.6% | 99.1% (+0.4%) |
| Days on Market | 42 (+28.9%) | 33 | 51 (-16.9%) |
| Days of Inventory | 46 (-18.6%) | 56 | 19 (+145.8%) |
Santa Clara list prices of condos & townhomes for sale by zip codes (95050, 95051, 95054)
Showing prices charted by zip codes, there’s a much tighter spread here than for houses right now. Zip code 95051 surpassed 95050’s median price last autumn to top the chart. Meanwhile 95054 plummeted from the clear high at the start of last year to the lowest price point and falling through the end of 2020. While market demand is high, the market’s not where we would expect if this were any other year.
For information on buying or selling residential real estate in the city of Santa Clara, please contact me for a personal, private, no obligation consultation. I have lived in two different parts of Santa Clara and am there frequently and truly appreciate this beautiful city. Best way to reach me initially is email, mary@popehandy.com (I get a LOT of spam / robo calls). We can arrange a time to talk by phone, and if we both want, can then arrange an in person meeting.
