Home prices are still on the rise in Bay Area counties, according to MLS Listings. All five counties that were measured posted an increase in median price on an annual basis in May, and all but one county saw increasing prices this May over April.
Santa Cruz County witnessed the biggest jump in median price in May 2016 over the previous year, at 16 percent. Jumping from $695,000 to $805,000 in May on an annual basis, the county has the third highest median price point of the measured Bay Area counties. This area’s real estate market has been continuing strong over the past year.
When looking at the percentage of list price received, both the annual and the monthly figures were unchanged in May 2016. Santa Cruz was the only county that had a reported 100 percent list-to-recieved price ratio for all months reported. However, inventory and closed sales fell annually.
On a year-over-year basis, the inventory of homes fell 11 percent from 632 to 565 in May. Closed sales also fell 11 percent annually. On a month-over-month basis in May, inventory picked up by 4 percent. Closed sales increased 1 percent over April.
Inventory in San Benito County is up annually more than any of the other counties, but the level of inventory is still low. In May, San Benito inventory increased 64 percent from 138 to 226, and it increased 10 percent on a monthly basis.
Closed sales decreased both annually and monthly, by 2 percent and 7 percent, in San Benito. In May 2016, the percent of list-to-price was 99, which was unchanged over April but a 1 percent drop since May 2015.
Prices are still on the rise in the two most expensive Bay Area markets reported, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. San Mateo saw an annual increase of 4 percent in May 2016 to $1.4 million, which was also a 5 percent increase since April.
Santa Clara prices increased 10 percent annually to surpass the million dollar mark, and 1 percent on a monthly basis in May. Both counties saw an increase in inventory and closed sales as well.
San Mateo closed sales increased 19 percent in May over the previous month, while inventory increased 8 percent.
