Real estate market report for Los Altos, CA February 2012

Home buyers are continuing to snap up pretty much anything that comes on the market. Even though we're not officially in the hot selling season, multiple offers are still prevelant. The lack of inventory meant only 9 home sold in January 2012 but the average selling price continued to rise to $1,984,286 for single-family homes. This is a sharp rise from a year ago and is actually the highest January average selling price...ever. This is a sign of things to come for the Los Altos market overall as the normal hot market time is just starting.

Single-family homes are still selling fairly quickly, only on the market 43 days on average. They're getting offers in line with listing prices, matching what we saw in November 2011 (97.4%). For a typically slow month, this shows a strong market to start the year. What's interesting is that there were 23 new listings and 23 expired listings so the loss of 9 due to sales means a net loss of inventory. This will see prices most likely hold firm and rise.

Is Los Altos a buyers market or sellers market? It's definitely a seller's market. There is no doubt that prices will continue to rise, just as they have in January. My suggestion for buyers is that they prepare for tough negotiations on prime properties. We're likely to see a return of cash buyers and multiple offers going into the late-winter and spring markets.