After dropping from 18 in November to 11 in December, the number of homes sold in Mountain View continued the slide, with just six properties closing sales in January 2015. Low numbers in January aren’t particularly surprising, but several metrics related to this statistic are interesting.
For perspective, the monthly average number of homes sold during 2014 was 19.3. Peak months were April (29) and June and September (26 each).
Last year started off slow, as well, with 10 homes sold in January, down from 20 in December 2013. There were eight home sales in January 2013, down from 22 the previous December. In both of the last two years, sales began picking up in February. The average number of homes sold per month in 2013 was 23.3.
Sold homes moved fast
What’s interesting is the variable rate at which sales in January occurred in the last three years. The eight homes sold in January 2013 spent an average of 17 days on the market. The 20 sold in January 2014 were on the market for 65 days, leading some to believe that January wasn’t the best time to move properties.Skip ahead to January of this year, and the average days on the market dropped to 12, leading to the suggestion that it’s not the calendar month that dictates buyer aggressiveness.
The year 2014 saw buyers sealing deals at a near-record pace, with an average days on the market of 19.3. That’s just slightly up from 17.8 in 2013. Not counting the 65 days in January 2014, homes last year spent an average of 15.2 days on the market, which is more in keeping with the trend we’ve been observing in recent years.
Aside from January, Mountain View homes last year stayed on the market for more than 20 days just once — 21 days in April. The quickest-sales months included March (10) and May and November (12).
Moderate gains in median prices
Slight dips in January median sold prices have been common for the last two years. In January 2015, the figure was $1,394,000, down from $1,414,500 in December. The previous year saw December’s $1,472,500 drop to $1,170,000 in January.Overall, median sold prices have risen across the last two years, although not as steeply as in other Silicon Valley communities. In Mountain View, 2013 started off with a median price of $1,230,000 in January, moving up to $1,394,000 in January 2015, as noted above.
Peaks included $1,625,000 in March 2014, $1,603,000 in February 2014, and $1,575,500 in November 2014. The highest median sold price in 2013 was $1,472,500 in December.
Look for the number of sold properties to increase in the upcoming months, along with the number of properties available. But don’t expect homes to languish on the market for very long any time in the foreseeable future.
Hadar Guibara is a Realtor with Sereno Group of Palo Alto. She can be reached at hadar@serenogroup.com.
