Q3 2015 Market Update – Los Altos and Los Altos Hills
The real estate market may have cooled down a little over the past couple of months. However, it remains strong and demand is still at near record highs. Here are some more details on recent market conditions for Los Altos and Los Altos Hills.
While the overall trends are similar for both of these market areas, some significant variations can be found, attributable to the differences in their basic characteristics. Los Altos Hills tends to have larger lots and quite a few very high end properties, while Los Altos tends to be more homogeneous and more of a high end suburban market. As a result, statistics for Los Altos show much more similar numbers, while Los Altos Hills can show higher variance around median numbers.
Median Prices
Los Altos – Median Prices
The Los Altos market is on a steady and impressive growth path. The third quarter of 2015 saw price increase rates continue even higher than in the preceding periods, and the median price has now passed the $2.5M mark. The annualized increase rate is now well over 25%.
Los Altos Hills – Median Prices
The Los Altos Hills market also continues on a steady growth curve. Even though that market is more sensitive to seasonal fluctuations, and has more variances among properties, the general trend is still for steeper increases in median price, which is now steadily around $3.5M. The annualized increase rate now stands at around 20%, and might be starting to stabilize around that number.
Days on Market (Median)
Due to the very low inventories in both markets, accurately (and average) priced properties continue to be sold in a very short period of time. The third quarter of 2015 saw essentially the same median days on market as for the past 2 years: 10 days for Los Altos, and 3 weeks for Los Altos Hills.
Los Altos – Days on Market Median
Los Altos Hills – Days on Market Median
Months of Inventory
Los Altos – Inventory
Inventory levels continue to be very low in both markets, especially in much sought after Los Altos. The numbers are staying fairly constant on average, with about 3 weeks of inventory at any given time, as in the past 2 years.