It’s been another strong year for Palo Alto real estate, although there have been some signs of a shift in market conditions as detailed below. Overall the market remains healthy, but not as robust as the past two years. Sellers continue to benefit by continued low inventory, and successful buyers have often needed to be flexible and aggressive in order to prevail in multiple offer situations.
Here are some quick measures for single-family residences based on Multiple Listing Service data:
All Palo Alto
Number of Homes Sold
As noted above, low inventory continues to characterize the market.
- 2016: 371 homes sold (Up 13.8% from 2015)
- 2015: 326 homes sold (Lowest number in the past ten years)
- 2006: 654 homes sold (Ten years ago)
The graph below shows the number of homes sold by quarter for the past 5 years, and demonstrates that the second quarter remains the briskest in terms of number of homes sold.
Sales Price to List Price Ratio
The Sales Price to List Price Ratio for 2016 by month is shown on the graph below. It averaged 104.1% for the year, however during the first half of 2016 the ratio steadily declined before starting to rise again beginning in July. While the Sales Price to List Price averaged 104.1% for the year, it is down from 112.5% in 2015 and 113.7% in 2014, the highest ratio achieved in the last ten years.
Some Homes Did Not Sell
In spite of low inventory coupled with an abundance of motivated buyers, some homes presented to the market in 2016 did not sell. Buyers continue to demonstrate price sensitivity by not offering on homes they perceive as “overpriced”. Successful sellers recognized that to benefit from market conditions their list price, presentation strategy and market timing needed to generate interest from more than one buyer.
Per Multiple Listing data, approximately 50 Palo Alto homes marketed during 2016 did not sell.
Median Sales Price
The Median Sales Price decreased in 2016. The last drop was in 2009.
- 2016 Median Sales Price: $2,550,000 (-5.15%)
- 2015 Median Sales Price: $2,688,500
- 2006 Median Sales Price: $1,192,500 (Ten years ago)
The graph below shows data since 2012.
Average Days on Market
The Days on Market reflects the length of time between the date a home is entered into the Multiple Listing Service until the date the seller accepts a purchase contract. The Average Days on Market increased from 18 in 2015 to 23 in 2016.
North Palo Alto
The North Palo Alto neighborhoods of Downtown, Crescent Park, Professorville, Community Center and Green Gables feature many of the city’s older stately homes, new state-of-the-art homes and many of the larger Palo Alto lots. Given their distinctive qualities some of these properties are sometimes sold without the exposure and outreach of the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), however, the vast majority of homes are sold with benefit of the MLS. Unless otherwise noted, the below numbers are based on MLS data.
Market data for North Palo Alto similarly reflects the shift to a more tempered market in 2016.
Number of Homes Sold
- 2016: 141 homes sold
- 2015: 139 homes sold (Lowest number of homes sold since 2008)
- 2006: 209 homes sold (Ten years ago)
The graph below shows sales by quarter and, consistent with data for all of Palo Alto, more homes sold during the second quarter.
Sales Price to List Price Ratio
The monthly Sales Price to List Price ratios are shown in the graph below. The ratio dipped below 100% during 4 months of 2016, but for the year remained above 100%, averaging 101.9%, lower than the past two years which were 109.7% in 2015 and 113.6% in 2014.
Median Sales Price
The Median Sales Price decreased by 5.93%.
- 2016 Median Sales Price: $3,205,000
- 2015 Median Sales Price: $3,407,000
- 2006 Median Sales Price: $1,600,000 (Ten years ago)
Average Days on Market
Another measure of the health of the local market is the Average Days on Market that rose to 28 days in 2016, up from 22 in 2015.
Want More Details?
If you would like more detailed statistical information it is available in the Local Stats page of our website. You can access statistics for the entire county or your specific neighborhood.
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