The number of homes on the market remained in short supply across Northern California as the fourth quarter kicked off, with the months’ supply of inventory (MSI) dropping from September in each of Pacific Union’s Bay Area regions except for Napa and Contra Costa counties. Meanwhile, the median sales price hit a one-year high in Marin and Napa counties.
Click on the image accompanying each of our regions below for an expanded look at local real estate activity in October.
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
Contra Costa County‘s October median sales price of $1.01 million marks the ninth consecutive month that prices there have been in the seven-digit range. Buyers got slight discounts, paying on average 99.3 percent of original prices, nearly identical to the three previous months.
At 1.6, the MSI was unchanged from September. Homes sold in an average of 27 days, one day quicker than in the preceding month and similar to the sales pace last October.
Defining Contra Costa County: Our real estate markets in Contra Costa County include the cities of Alamo, Blackhawk, Danville, Diablo, Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon, and Walnut Creek. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes single-family homes in these communities.
EAST BAY
After softening a bit in August and September, the median sales price in our East Bay region rebounded in October to $918,450. The number of homes on the market headed in the opposite direction, with the MSI falling to 1.1.
Homes sold in a brisk 18 days, and sellers continued to enjoy the hefty premiums they have received throughout most of 2015, with the average home fetching nearly 115 percent of its original price.
Defining the East Bay: Our real estate markets in the East Bay region include Oakland ZIP codes 94602, 94609, 94610, 94611, 94618, 94619, and 94705; Alameda; Albany; Berkeley; El Cerrito; Kensington; and Piedmont. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes single-family homes in these communities.
MARIN COUNTY
Marin County‘s median sales price has been above $1 million since March and hit a yearly peak in October at $1,222,500. The average home sold for 98.3 percent of asking price, nearly identical to numbers recorded one year ago.
After seeing a solid increase in September, the MSI fell to 1.6, while the pace of sales picked up, with the average home selling in 48 days.
Defining Marin County: Our real estate markets in Marin County include the cities of Belvedere, Corte Madera, Fairfax, Greenbrae, Kentfield, Larkspur, Mill Valley, Novato, Ross, San Anselmo, San Rafael, Sausalito, and Tiburon. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes single-family homes in these communities.
NAPA COUNTY
Since the late summer, the median sales price in Napa County has been climbing and reached a one-year high of $640,000 in October. The average buyer paid 94.6 of the original price, nearly identical to the previous month.
Napa County was the only one of our Bay Area regions to see a healthy uptick in available properties in October, with the MSI increasing to 5.4. With more properties to choose from, buyers were taking their time; the average home sold in 93 days, three weeks slower than in September.
Defining Napa County: Our real estate markets in Napa County include the cities of American Canyon, Angwin, Calistoga, Napa, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena, and Yountville. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes in Napa County.
SAN FRANCISCO – SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES
The pace of single-family home sales in San Francisco has been remarkably consistent since the early summer, and in October, properties sold in an average of 28 days, one day faster than in September. The median sales price was up on both an annual and monthly basis, finishing the month at $1,295,000.
Competition for homes in the city remains intense, with the average single-family home selling for 110.4 percent of original price and the MSI falling to 1.5.
SAN FRANCISCO – CONDOMINIUMS
It has taken more than $1 million to buy a San Francisco condominium for most of this year, and that pattern held fast in October, with the median sales price at $1,111,500. Sellers took home an average of 108.4 percent of asking price, a bit less than in September.
As with single-family homes, the MSI for San Francisco condominiums dropped from the previous month to end October at 1.9. Properties sold in an average of 27 days, in line with what we observed earlier in the summer.
SILICON VALLEY
After climbing above $3 million in September, the median sales price in Silicon Valley relaxed to $2.75 million in October, although it remains by far Pacific Union’s most expensive region. On average, sellers received 104.2 percent of original price, similar to levels recorded in the two preceding months.
Homes sold in a speedy 19 days, the fastest since the spring, and the MSI decreased month over month to 1.8.
Defining Silicon Valley: Our real estate markets in the Silicon Valley region include the cities and towns of Atherton, Los Altos (excluding county area), Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park (excluding east of U.S. 101), Palo Alto, Portola Valley, and Woodside. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes in these communities.
Mid-Peninsula Subregion
With an MSI of 1.1, the Mid-Peninsula is tied with our East Bay region for fewest available homes for sales. At the same time, the pace of sales slowed substantially from September, with the average home selling in 33 days.
The median sales price finished October at $1.51 million, with the average home selling for 101.8 percent of original price.
Defining the Mid-Peninsula: Our real estate markets in the Mid-Peninsula subregion include the cities of Burlingame (excluding Ingold Millsdale Industrial Center), Hillsborough, and San Mateo (excluding the North Shoreview/Dore Cavanaugh area). Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes in these communities.
SONOMA COUNTY
Stability has been the name of the game for home prices in Sonoma County since the spring, and October’s median sales price of $529,750 continued that trend. The same was true for the pace of sales, with homes taking 60 days to leave the market, identical to what we saw in August and September.
On average, buyers paid 96.6 percent of asking price, which lines up with numbers from last October, while the MSI fell to 2.0.
Defining Sonoma County: Our real estate markets in Sonoma County include the cities of Cotati, Healdsburg, Penngrove, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, and Windsor. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes all single-family homes and farms and ranches in Sonoma County.
SONOMA VALLEY
After dropping for a couple of months, Sonoma Valley’s median sales price rebounded in October, reaching $740,000. The MSI headed in the opposite direction, falling to 2.4.
Homes sold in an average of 68 days, 10 days longer than in September. Buyers paid an average of 93.5 percent of original price, netting the biggest discounts since last autumn.
Defining Sonoma Valley: Our real estate markets in Sonoma Valley include the cities of Glen Ellen, Kenwood, and Sonoma. Sales data in the adjoining chart refers to all residential properties – including single-family homes, condominiums, and farms and ranches – in these communities.
LAKE TAHOE/TRUCKEE – SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES
At 5.5, October’s MSI for single-family homes in our Lake/Tahoe Truckee region expanded a bit from the preceding month but is still lower than it has been for most of the year. After inching up in September, the median sales price relaxed, dipping to $579,000.
Homes sold in 86 days, similar to last October’s pace of sales, and buyers paid an average of 94.3 percent of asking price.
Defining Tahoe/Truckee: Our real estate markets in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee region include the communities of Alpine Meadows, Donner Lake, Donner Summit, Lahontan, Martis Valley, North Shore Lake Tahoe, Northstar, Squaw Valley, Tahoe City, Tahoe Donner, Truckee, and the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes single-family homes in these communities.
LAKE TAHOE/TRUCKEE – CONDOMINIUMS
After peaking in August, the median sales price for a Lake Tahoe/Truckee condominium has been declining and closed October at $375,000. At the same time, the number of properties on the market was nearly cut in half from September, with the MSI dropping to 6.0.
The average condominium in the region took 121 days to find a buyer, two weeks longer than in the previous month, with buyers paying 91.6 percent of original price.
Defining Tahoe/Truckee: Our real estate markets in the Lake Tahoe/Truckee region include the communities of Alpine Meadows, Donner Lake, Donner Summit, Lahontan, Martis Valley, North Shore Lake Tahoe, Northstar, Squaw Valley, Tahoe City, Tahoe Donner, Truckee, and the West Shore of Lake Tahoe. Sales data in the adjoining chart includes condominiums in these communities.