A large city in the heart of Silicon Valley, Santa Clara, California, is in the San Francisco Bay area and is home to a population of more than 100,000. Many of its residents are employed in high-term firms in Silicon Valley and because of this, the city has a moderately high-income level, with annual median household income measured at more than $75,000. Unsurprisingly, home prices here are higher than the national average, though, by the high-priced region’s standards, Santa Clara real estate is actually quite affordable.
According to statistics compiled by the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, thus far has shown to be a positive year for the market in Santa Clara. In the first quarter of the year, which includes January, February, and March, there were 181 new Santa Clara homes for sale on top of a current inventory of 128, down compared with an inventory during the first quarter of 201.
There were 92 sales of single-family homes in the first quarter, up a healthy number from one year ago, when the quarter counted only 74 sales, and the number of days on the market improved drastically as well, at an average of 42 days in this year’s first quarter from 102 days a year ago.
Santa Clara’s market even showed positive improvements in pricing, both average, and median, an area where many markets are still showing signs of struggle. The average price in the first quarter was over $585,500, up more than $25,000 from last year, while the median was $574,600, an improvement of more than $40,000 year-over-year.
The condo market showed similar signs. There were 140 new condos listed for sale in Santa Clara in the first quarter of the year, on top of an inventory of 120, which actually is more than were on the market last year, when inventory was 112 with 93 new listings in the first quarter. There was a big bounce in the sales volume, however, with 58 condos sold in the first quarter, up from just 31 last year.
The average number of days on the market dropped slightly as well, down to just 75 days on average from 89. Prices for condos, however, unlike prices of homes, did not show improvement but rather fell. The average price in this year’s first quarter was just over $388,000, down from more than $415,000 last year, and the median price fell from $400,000 to just over $366,000.
