What a year it was! The 2019 real estate market took on a pretty unexpected path. The median home prices for single-family homes here in San Mateo County reached a record high. This was a reason for sellers to celebrate. On the other hand, the mortgage rates were low, and for the first time in 50 years, unemployment was at its record lowest, making it possible for more buyers to afford houses. With only a few weeks into 2020 so far, here is an overview of the current real estate market in San Mateo County and some of the things you should expect if you’re planning to sell or buy a home this year.

Single Family Homes Are In Demand!

This year things seem to be looking up for single-family home sellers as the demand for these properties is surging. The price reached an all-time high of $1.544 million and is only expected to increase even more in the future.

The growing popularity of these homes is no surprise because what’s not to love about single-family homes? They offer the luxury of more privacy as they do not share walls with other homes. Other than that, they boast more storage space in comparison to most modern units and provide more freedom and options when it comes to exterior space and décor.

Also, a majority of homebuyers in the current San Mateo County real estate market are millennials. They look for such features when buying a home, which further explains why single-family homes seem to be flying off the market.

On the flip side, though, the condo market in San Mateo County is not quite as tight as the single-family market and seems to have loosened up a bit from last year, as seen in median sales price declining from $920k to $901k, and days on market rose slightly. However, inventories still remain tight in that arena as well.

Inventory Is Low

Although things are not as tight as they were before three years ago, the supply of homes in San Mateo County real estate is still pretty low. The number of active listings is also low, making it a great sellers-market. Currently, sellers are taking home a reasonable profit as they get to sell their homes at a relatively higher price. This, coupled with the increasing number of millennials seeking to purchase homes, is the reason behind the earlier mentioned trend.

Sales Are Also Low

The rule of the thumb in real estate is that when inventory supply is low, prices go up, and consequently, the number of home sellers increases, and that of buyers decreases. This is precisely what is happening in San Mateo County currently. As noted, now, the final price on most homes is relatively higher than that on the listing. This discourages most buyers from taking a plunge into homeownership. While some buyers are still willing to make the purchase regardless of the price, they remain unlucky. Why? Well, despite the cost of homes being high, inventory is so low, that there’s nothing for them to buy.

In a nutshell, things are pretty tight in the current real estate market in San Mateo County. The good news is that real estate is usually highly volatile, and as such, things may change and more than likely WILL change. Furthermore, it’s still early to say for sure what will happen as we’re only a few weeks into 2020.

Are you thinking about buying or selling this year? Get in touch with our team for more insights before you take the leap of faith. We’re here to guide you throughout this journey!