The housing market's rebound in the Bay Area accelerated in December, when sales increased year-over-year for the 18th consecutive month, and Cupertino's per-square-foot cost rose 26 percent to an average of $701.
The number of foreclosure in the Bay Area sales hit a five-year low, while median sales prices rose a whopping 32 percent from December 2011, according to according to DataQuick's city data for December.
That translated to a 13.1 percent increase in home sales in Santa Clara County, comparing December 2012 to December 2011 and a median home price jump of 23.8 percent in the county during the same time frame.
A total of 1,822 homes were sold in Santa Clara County with a median price of $544,500.
Santa Clara County fared better than most of the Bay Area in terms of number of homes sold. Alameda, Marin, San Mateo and Sonoma counties saw modest gains in sales figures. Only San Francisco County had a larger increase in sales volume, at 29.5 percent. Contra Costa, Napa and Solano counties all experienced declines in the number of homes sold.
Other highlights include:
- The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area was $442,750 in December. That was up 1.1 percent from $438,000 in November and up 32 percent from $335,500 in December a year ago.
- The December median home price was the highest since August 2008 when it was $447,000.
- There were fewer "distressed property sales" (foreclosures and short sales). Foreclosure resales accounted for 11.8 percent of resales in December, the lowest number of short sales in the Bay Area since November 2007 (10.1 percent).
Here's a Bay Area breakdown of home sales and median price:
All Homes #Sold #Sold % Change Median Median % ChangeDec. 2011 Dec. 2012
Dec. 2011 Dec. 2012
Alameda 1,584 1,623 2.5% $328,000 $410,000 25% Contra Costa 1,1534 1,530 -0.3% $259,000 $333,500 28.8% Marin 280 291 3.9% $517,818 $660,750 27.6% Napa 132 129 -2.3% $317,500 $350,000 10.2% Santa Clara 1,611 1,822 13.1% $440,000 $544,500 23.8% San Francisco 499 646 29.5% $594,500 $720,000 21.1% San Mateo 602 626 4.0% $500,000 $600,000 20% Solano 714 610 -14.6% $182,250 $218,000 19.6% Sonoma 538
555 3.2% $279,500 $345,000 23.4% Bay Area 7,494 7,832 4.5% $335,500 $442,750 32%
Region wide, home sales increased by 4.5 percent and all counties had double-digit increases in median home prices. The overall Bay Area saw a 32 percent increase in median home prices from December 2011 to December 2012, according to DataQuick
“Prices are in the midst of bouncing off bottom right now, and nobody really knows what the trajectory of this bounce will be beyond this point. So far, supply has been a bottleneck, but as prices go up, more homes will be put up for sale,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.
(Note: city and county data lags a month behind the regional figures.)
Santa Clara County home sales and median prices for November 2012:
City Total Homes Sold Nov. 2012 Median Price Nov. 2011 Median Price Percent Change Campbell 53 $675,000 $675,000 26.76% Cupertino 49 $1,141,000 $874,000 30.55% Gilroy 75 $429,500 $374,000 14.84% Los Altos 47 $1,637,750 $1,589,000 3.07% Los Gatos 54 $1,050,000 $1,032,500 1.69% Milpitas 72 $460,000 $385,000 19.48% Mountain View 69 $778,000 $636,500 22.23% Palo Alto 72 $1,062,500 $1,370,000 -22.45% Saratoga 38 $1,300,500 $1,601,000 -18.77%PATCH WANTS TO KNOW: Are rising home prices affecting you? What do you think this data says about the Palo Alto real estate market? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
