October 2023 San Mateo County Market Update
The Bay Area real estate market has been stabilizing in recent months, with slowing sales and homes staying on the market longer, all with slowly increasing inventory. This is due to a number of factors, including rising interest rates, inflation, and a limited supply of homes for sale that meet current buyer affordability.
Slower economic growth and cooling inflation will bring down mortgage interest rates in 2024 and create a more favorable market environment to spur California home sales next year, according to a housing and economic forecast released today by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.).
In the above chart, you can see since July 2023 as the summer market was coming to a close, the number of new listings vs sales has grown further apart. New listings increased from 683 in October 2022 to 861 in September 2023, an increase of 26%, while in the same period sales dipped from 511 in October 2022 to 502 in September 2023, a decrease of 1.8%.
Despite the increasing difference, our market still has a limited supply of homes. In September 2023 there was 2.7 months of inventory, which was a similar inventory level in February 2023. Compare that to April 2020 and May 2020 when San Mateo County had 3.3 and 3.4 months of inventory, respectively. This was a period when sales essentially came to a grinding halt because of the developing COVID-19 pandemic.
Days on market, another excellent metric of market velocity, also tells a good story. While days on market has been increasing over the last few months, it has dropped in the last month, and down from the highest point this year of 43 days on market in January 2023.
What does this mean for buyers and sellers?
What buyers need to know is this means there is more inventory to choose from, less competition for homes that are available, and homes are on the market longer giving you more time to make decisions. While our market still outpaces the national norms, there’s also good opportunity and sellers may be more willing to negotiate on price, especially if their home has been on the market for a while.
What sellers need to know is this means it may take longer to sell your home. However, if your home is priced competitively and stands out from other listings, you should still be able to sell your home for a good price and in a faster amount of time.
Sellers should follow Rumana’s “Four Well’s” when selling their home. Homes should be well prepared, well priced, well marketed, and well presented to maximize returns.
