Los Altos Real Estate market continues to Sizzle, especially if you’re a Seller!
Well, here it is mid June. School is out. Families are starting to take their vacations and those who aren’t, their kids are running around having fun and creating havoc. In Los Altos, our immediate real estate market continues at a heated pace. But in other areas (mainly south and east) we are seeing signs of the traditional early summer slowdown. Currently there are 42 active homes for sale in Los Altos with another 40 under contract. Over the last three months we’ve seen approximately 50 homes each month come on the market and about 50 homes sell, although not the same homes. Many homes are selling with multiple offers and for much more than the original list price. The average time it takes to sell a house is about 20 days with the average escrow period also around 20 days.
On the flip side, it appears that there are some houses that just will never sell. They’re the same old dogs that stay on the market for what seems like an eternity. There are 7 homes that have been on the market for over 80 days and 3 have been on the market for over 130 days. These homes are listed and re-listed with apparently nothing done to the home’s condition and/or its price. Just relist the house and shazaam it will sell! I don’t think so. One would think that Sellers and/or their Agents would get a clue that there is something wrong with their marketing efforts if their home hasn’t sold in 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or “fill in the blank” months. Statistically, if it takes on average 30 days to sell a home in Los Altos and your home is on the market for 4 months…. Hum, I wonder what’s wrong?
An unintentional side effect with these “vintage” or “career” listings is that they skew the statistics that everyone (including me) love to quote when we analyze the market. If 5%-10% of active listings have been on for an eternity, the average days on the market doesn’t really reflect the true time it takes to propery market and sell a home. I would argue that these homes aren’t really for sale because they aren’t at a price point (given all other factors) that a sane buyer would put an offer in. Then again we’ve all heard stories about a few insane buyers out there.
