Pacific Union’s East Bay region saw the median home sales price reach a new milestone in April, rising to just above $1 million. Prices also hit or tied yearly highs in San Francisco, Marin, Contra Costa, and Sonoma counties. While the median price in our Silicon Valley region is short of the peak it reached last September, it has risen every month so far in 2016 and ended April at slightly less than $3 million.
Click on the image accompanying each of our regions below for an expanded look at local real estate activity in April.
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
Home prices in our Contra Costa County region tied their 13-month high in April — $1,185,000 — and properties also sold at the quickest pace in the past year, lasting an average of just 17 days on the market.
The months’ supply of inventory (MSI) increased slightly from March to 1.6 but is in the general, constricted range it has been for most of the past year. Homes sold for slightly more than list prices: 101.2 percent.
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
Competition and prices have been rising in our East Bay region for the past few years, as buyers hoping to stay close to the Bay Area’s urban core create bidding wars amid limited inventory. April’s median sales price was $1,105,000, with the average successful buyer paying 116.2 percent of the asking price. Both numbers are yearly highs.
With one exception, East Bay homes have sold quickly each month in the past year, and that pattern persisted in April, with the average home finding a buyer in just 18 days. The MSI remains exceptionally low at 1.1, unchanged from March.
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 homebuyers acted with particular urgency in April, snapping up single-family homes in an average of 36 days — more than twice as fast as in rainy February. The median sales price rose to $1,225,000, slightly surpassing levels recorded last fall.
The MSI has been dropping for the past couple of months and ended April at 1.4. The average Marin County seller took in 101.8 percent of the original price after eight straight months of getting a bit below list.
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
On average, homes in Napa County sold two weeks faster than they did in April 2015: 79 days. The median sales price was $629,975, nearly identical to what it was a year ago.
Both the MSI and percent of original price paid also looked a lot like they did last April: 3.3 and 95.3 percent, respectively.
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 median sales price for a single-family home in San Francisco rose to $1.4 million in April, tying levels observed in February of this year and May 2015. The MSI dropped to 1.8, its lowest level so far in 2016.
Inventory shortages mean that bidding wars are still common, with the average seller receiving 108.5 percent of the original price. The pace of sales slowed from the previous month to 32 days.
SAN FRANCISCO – CONDOMINIUMS
San Francisco median condominium prices were just $1,000 short of their yearly highs, finishing April at $1,149,000. The average condo seller in the city took in 102.5 percent of the original price.
As with single-family homes, condos remained on the market longer than they did in March, selling in an average of 41 days, while the MSI increased to 2.4.
SILICON VALLEY
Although the median sales price for a home in our Silicon Valley region climbed to $2.91 million in April, that was a few hundred thousand dollars less than its one-year peak observed last September. Perhaps in part because of high prices, homes in the region sold for just a bit less — 99.3 percent — of asking prices.
Homes sold in a brisk 25 days on average, and the MSI inched up from the previous month to end April at 1.9.
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
For the past year, homes in our Mid-Peninsula subregion have been selling fast and at a premium, and both trends continued in April; properties found a buyer in 20 days, and sellers netted 104.7 percent of original prices.
The median sales price in the region was $1,615,000, not much changed from April 2015. After a spike in available homes earlier in the year, the MSI contracted again, falling to 1.3.
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
Sonoma County‘s median sales price gained just few thousand dollars from March to April, but that was enough to make it a one-year high of $567,500. The pace of sales has been quickening each month so far in 2016 and dropped to 62 days in April.
The MSI finished the month at 1.8, identical to one year earlier, and homes sold for an average of 99.2 percent of original prices.
Defining Sonoma County: Our real estate markets in Sonoma County include the cities of Cloverdale, 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
Home shoppers in our Sonoma Valley region got a welcome boost of properties to choose from in April, with the MSI rising to 4.1, a one-year peak. Homes sold in an average of 50 days, the quickest pace of sales since last summer.
At $650,000, the median sales price dipped a bit from March, and buyers paid 98.9 percent of list prices.
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
More single-family homebuyers appeared to take advantage of market conditions in our Lake Tahoe/Truckee region in April; the MSI ended April at 4.4, the lowest level in more than a year. Homebuyers in the region continue to enjoy bargains, with the average home selling for 94.4 percent of its original price.
The pace of sales has quickened each month this year, and in April, homes found a buyer in 109 days. The median sales price was $697,300, up on both a monthly and annual basis.
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
Condominiums in the Lake Tahoe region sold in 48 days in April, more than twice as fast as in March. The median sales price has been dropping since February and finished the month at $315,000.
The MSI rose from the preceding month to 9.8, and buyers paid 97.1 percent of asking prices.
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.