The modest increase in value for the Los Altos community, continues the upward trained we wrote about in a earlier post.  The good news, is that we have strong demand for homes that come to market for sale.  The bad news, is that the current inventory of available homes for sale, in Los Altos, is 50% below last year.

Basically, well priced homes are being snapped up within days after the traditional broker tour.  While homes priced just above market are seeing good foot traffic of interested buyer, just not a similarly quick sale.  Buyers are still looking for value.

A variety of papers have been highlighting the recent uptick in both real estate activity, as well as sale prices.  One reporter, Diana Samuels (Daily Post) wrote an recent article about local property values rebounding.  Below, is an slightly edited version.  Enjoy …

Santa Clara County’s assessor says property values are starting to rebound, and it’s mostly thanks to Los Altos and Los Altos Hills.

Assessor Larry Stone announced Thursday that the county’s 2011-12 assessment roll, which provides a snapshot of the value of all properties in the county as of Jan. 1, 2011, grew from $296 billion last year to $299 billion, or an increase of 0.88 percent.

“We’re seeing some movement in a positive direction,” Stone said. “Even though it’s a modest increase in property assessments, the trend is encouraging. I think I can say without hesitation that we’ve finally hit bottom.”

Los Altos and Los Altos Hills were the two cities in the county that saw the highest growth. Los Altos’ property values grew by 3.59 percent, and Los Altos Hills’ by 3.81 percent.

Stone said the northern part of the county tends to recover first in a bad economy.

“The higher-end areas … were not hit as hard by the collapse of the residential market,” Stone said. “The bloodbath was in South County — Gilroy, Morgan Hill, East San Jose and Milpitas for the most part.”

In addition to a more stable residential market, the northern part of the county continues to attract major technology companies and new startups, which are expanding as the economy recovers, Stone said.

Los Altos remains a desirable community to both buy a home, and raise a family.

For sellers, with housing inventory so low, and limited properties coming on the market, your home has the chance to stand out. If you are looking to sell in the next few months, there are three factors that favor quick action: 1) Inventory is at its lowest point of the year; 2) Buyers actively looking, during this time of the year, are seriously interested in purchasing a well-priced home; and 3) Rates are at historic lows, which allows buyers to buy a higher priced home (when rates go up, affordability goes down).

As a seller, if you are looking to potentially sell your home in early spring, feel free to contact us for a list of items you can begin working on, to ready your home for market.  Having time to prepare your home, if necessary, allows you to manage the process over months, rather than weeks. We will walk you through our recommendations, and even manage the entire process for you, if you prefer.

For buyers who are actively investigating housing options during this time of the year, you are in a great position to secure a great home for a good price. As we mentioned above, rates are at historic lows. Interest rates began dropping last November, when the Federal Reserve began spending $1.25 trillion to buy up mortgage-backed securities in an effort to lower rates, loosen credit availability and bolster the long-suffering housing market.

This week, average rates for 30-year fixed mortgages had fallen to 4.78, matching a record low set last spring. However, per the conversations we are having with lending institutions, rates will likely increase, probably within the next 12 months to 6.0 or 6.5 percent.

Now is the time to act. Delaying may cost you the opportunity to buy the home of your dreams. There are still ~ 80 homes on the market in Los Altos. Some of those homes have been for sale for a while, and have seen their list price adjusted downward. Others homes have lasted only a few days, or weeks, on the market as they were snapped up quickly as a result of being priced and positioned for today’s market.

As spring rolls around, there will be additional inventory coming on the market. However, you will be competing with a larger pool of buyers for those homes. Over the past few months, we have seen a continued trend of multiple offers for well-priced homes. We fully anticipate that this will be the case next year.

With a strong real estate team in place, a seller or buyer could have a tactical advantage, if they utilize the right tools for today’s market. Carol & I would be happy to sit down with you and share our strategy which is designed to position you for success. If you are looking to move into Los Altos, or simply across town, we are confident that we can help you. Simply contact us today at 650-823-1434 for an appointment.

Below, we have included four charts that highlight: 1) Recent Inventory; 2) Pending Sales; 3) Closed Transactions for May; and finally, 4) A comparison of year-to-date, through May 2009, of homes that have closed escrow.

As of May 2009, overall Closings were up 25% and Sales were up 70% for the west side of Santa Clara County compared to May of 2008. After a slow start to the New Year, Los Altos continues to see a ramping up of homes going into contract; however, we remain roughly 50% behind our 2008 YTD volume. The good news is that we have sufficient inventory of available homes, as we head into the summer months.