- Image by Jose C Silva via Flickr
The Palo Alto real estate market, part of the larger Bay Area housing market, saw a generally lackluster performance in the month of November, despite a lower rate of foreclosures. According to statistics from MDA DataQuick, the number of home sales in the San Francisco area remained constant relative to October 2010 and actually declined substantially compared to November 2009. In addition to lower sales volume, the median sales price also declined, a result of fewer high-priced properties being purchased. In the month of November, 6,111 properties were sold throughout the Bay Area, compared to 6,122 in October and 6,878 in November 2009. The season drop between October and November is an expected decline, but the year-over-year weakness reflects continued uncertainty in the overall real estate market. In terms of average purchasing price, that figure also declined relative to last month and last year. While the median price was $383,000 in October 2010 and $387,000 in November 2009, it was down by about one and two percent, respectively to $380,000 in November 2010. While this number is well above the low of $290,000 in March 2009, it is drastically below the market’s high of $665,000.
The number of foreclosures in the Bay Area, including Palo Alto, decreased relative to the same time last year. According to a report from the Contra Costa Times, this decrease can largely be attributed to a seasonal decrease in foreclosure levels, as well as the fallout of the so-called “robo-signing” scandal. A report from Realty Trac indicated that there were 5,609 Bay Area properties at some point in the foreclosure process during the month of November 2010. This was a drop of 8.4 percent from October’s figures, and a decrease of almost eleven percent compared to November 2010. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that this temporary slowdown will carry over to the next tracking period. Despite this, the number of completed foreclosures in the region was down by more than one third compared to both last month and last year. This means that fewer Palo Alto and Bay Area homes for sale were on the market because of bank auctions.
