Santa Clara Co. Median Home Sale Price Reaches All-Time High: Report

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA -- The median price paid for homes and condos in Santa Clara and two other Bay Area counties – Alameda and Sonoma – climbed to new all-time highs in June, as did the median for the overall region, real estate data service CoreLogic stated in a news release Wednesday. The median price paid for all homes sold in eight Bay Area counties in June set a record high of $735,000, up 1.4 percent from the previous record median price of $725,000 in May, according to CoreLogic. The $735,000 median price in June was up 7.5 percent from June 2016 when the median price was $683,750.

Santa Clara County's median home sale price of $965,000 in June was a 12.2-percent increase from $860,000 in June 2016. In Santa Clara County, 2,071 homes changed hands in June -- the most among Bay Area counties and a 5.1-percent increase over the number of homes sold during the same month last year. Over the course of one month -- from May to June -- the number of homes sold in Santa Clara County went up 4.6 percent and the median home sale price went up 2.3 percent.

On a year-over-year basis, the Bay Area median sale price has risen for 63 consecutive months since April 2012, according to CoreLogic.

"Adjusted for inflation, the region's $735,000 June median remained 7 percent below the peak reached more than a decade ago; however, the go-go market of 2003 through 2006 relied very heavily on risky financing and, therefore, might not be the most meaningful period for comparison," said CoreLogoic research analyst Andrew Lepage said. "In inflation-adjusted terms, this June's San Francisco Bay Area median sale price was 31 percent higher than the region's median 15 years ago, in June 2002, before the market entered a more heated phase."

Home sales of $500,000 or more accounted for nearly 75 percent of all sales in June, according to CoreLogic.

"While job growth, low mortgage rates, consumer confidence and other factors have helped fuel housing demand, tight inventory remains the primary driver of price gains," LePage said.

LePage said despite the tight housing inventory, the Bay Area is quickly burning through its supply of homes for sale.

San Francisco County had the highest median sale price of $1,250,000 in June followed by Marin County's $1,080,050 median price.

Solano County's June median sales price of $400,000 was the lowest among the eight counties.

Median sale prices increased by double digits between June 2016 and June 2017 in five Bay area counties led by Marin County's 13.7 percent increase.

Absentee buyers, most of them investors, bought 16 percent of all homes sold in June, according to CoreLogic.

Data from San Mateo County were not available for the June 2017 report, according to CoreLogic.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

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