Thank you to all of our clients in 2012 who helped make this past year one of our best on record!
Getting the numbers out for December is always the hardest of the year. With the New Year upon us, the beginning of January is filled with reflection into the past year’s activity. We analyze where our business came from and make adjustments into our marketing for the upcoming year. We also decide which new technologies to implement and how better to serve our clients needs.
Of course looking at the previous year, it’s always interesting to see how the market has changed and we invariably stumble across an interesting statistics here and there which are not only representative of what transpired, but indicative of what may be to come. We hope you enjoy our analysis.
December of 2012 saw more of the same year over year improvements in our local housing sector. Comparing December to November one might think the market is taking a dive, but seasonally adjusting the numbers by comparing them to last December a truer picture develops.
[click on the chart above for a full size version]
SALES
We’re starting the post off with SALES instead of MEDIAN PRICE. Why? Because this year has all been about the increase in sales and low inventory. Many people including real estate agents are complaining about the lack of inventory and how few listings there are, but in reality the number of new listings have been up all year. In fact most of the agents we’ve spoken to are under the same misimpression that new listings are down—they’re not! It’s just that sales have increased so much that the lack of inventory makes it appear as though there are no homes to sell—there are—they just don’t last long.
The sale of existing single family residences in Belmont for December 2012 were up 36% over last year. Belmont had 19 homes close escrow in December of 2012 as compared to only 14 in December of last year.
This is a graph for December Belmont home sales since 1998. Remember that our market peaked in March of 2006 before beginning the largest correction in recent history for the U.S. housing market.
NEW LISTINGS
We’ve added a new category for tracking new listings each month. The lack of homes available for sale has impacted prices by creating bidding wars that drive home values up rapidly. Watch for our monthly updated chart on our web page as we implement this new metric in 2013.
There were three times as many new listings in December of 2012 as last year, while inventory levels fell to almost 1/3rd the level in 2011. These diametric conditions lead to competition for homes not seen in years.
DAYS ON MARKET [DOM]
Homes sat on the market a lot longer than a year ago—statistically—54 days on the market in 2012 as compared to only 35 last year. One ponders why when homes are selling so fast with multiple offers would homes be languishing on the market? The answer lies in the four distressed sales in 2012 which accounted for on average 95 days on the market each—skewing the small sample.
PERCENT RECEIVED
The average percent that a seller received of their asking price has been slowly creeping up from the 100%+ highs in years past. Belmont hit a low of 96.1% of the asking price in 2009 and has been climbing up ever since. This December seller’s received 98.83% of their asking price.
When was the high? We hit 103.1% in 2000—right before the DOT COM crash.
MEDIAN PRICE
The median home price in Belmont for December 2012 was $939,000—up 6% from last December’s $885,000. This is in-step with the preliminary numbers we found which are that year-over-year Belmont homes values rose approximate 7%. Of coursed some neighborhoods went up more than others—7% is the average.
If you’re a seller who has been waiting for the market to turn around now’s your opportunity to get top dollar for your home—seriously—the best it’s been since before 2006.
Watch out for our next blog post on Belmont—A Look Back at 2012—the year the housing market began its recovery.
The information contained in this article is educational and intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute real estate, tax or legal advice, nor does it substitute for advice specific to your situation. Always consult an appropriate professional familiar with your scenario.
Drew & Christine Morgan did not necessarily participate in these sales.
DRE License Numbers 01124318 & 01174047
Drew & Christine Morgan, REALTORS | Notary Public (650) 508-1441
All data was retrieved from MLS Listings, Inc. the Multiple Listing Service for San Mateo County.
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