Los Altos Real Estate – Trending Up

Posted on October 20, 2009 by David Casas 
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Trending UpJust like the teams heading to the World Series, the Los Altos market is in full swing.  In September alone, there were 38% more homes sold this year, than last.  Currently, there are only 86 homes on the market today.  With over 10,700 homes in the community, inventory is at its lowest point since February.  Locally, only a handful of buyers appear to be sitting on the fence.  Buyers are clearly snapping up well priced homes just days after they hit the market. More importantly, we are seeing a continued trend of homes selling with multiple offers.

In June, I wrote that … “we have a good equilibrium occurring, without a clear advantage for either buyers and or sellers in the current overall environment.”  This is no longer the case for Los Altos.  Sellers, who are realistic in their pricing, find themselves in the driver’s seat, selecting the best offer from a number of buyers.

However, in an adjacent community, buyers have the advantage.  At the current pace of homes actually selling in the next community over, it would take 9 months to sell every home on the market.  Compare that to Los Altos, where it would only take 3 months to work through the current inventory. My, how times have changed.  Just this past April, it would have taken both communities a full year to clear their inventory.  While both communities have a great deal in common, the Los Altos market has attracted an ever increasing number of buyers wanting to move into town.

For SaleContrast Los Altos with the roller coaster year real estate has had on a national level.  From the doom and gloom of our national news organizations, you would have thought the entire Country had realized a 50% decrease in home values.  Clearly, while there were significant impacts across the land, the bottom did not drop out of the Los Altos market.

Of course, it is always important to examine the microclimates of real estate before buying or selling.  Even on a regional basis, there are traditionally hazardous areas to avoid.  In California, the Central Valley, the LA basin, and many of the outlying suburban areas realized a significant decrease. Just as reported in the national media.  However, in northern California, more specifically the San Francisco Bay Area, there were communities which had only nominal impacts.  Los Altos was one of them.

Going forward, as the economy continues its rebound and nearby companies begin to once again build upon their current workforce (e.g. Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt recently announced “We’re hiring again.”), we should see a return to a consistent near-term upward trajectory on housing prices for Los Altos.  Our market has fortunately avoided many of the structural challenges facing other communities across the nation.

Run to successIn reviewing our local housing trends and real estate market indicators, it appears we are picking up speed as we head towards December.  Strap in, it is bound to be an interesting ride as we swing into 2010.

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