Pleasanton Real Estate Market Update - October 2024

The Pleasanton real estate market in September showed signs of slowing.  The recent easing of interest rates did not seem to move the needle much in terms of buyer demand.  Inventory was up slightly, with both pending and closed sales showing a decline.  Still, the market is strong in some neighborhoods and market segments.  Some homes are sitting on the market, and some are getting multiple offers.  But overall the pace of the market has slowed

Let’s take a dive into the numbers for September

Supply/Inventory:  The inventory of available single-family homes was up slightly in September. There were 68 single family homes available at the end of September, which up 1.5% higher than August, and up 45% from September 2023.  About 28% of the current listings have had price reductions, indicating that activity has been slow for those listings

Demand: In September we saw demand ease a bit, with 44 pending sales (homes under contract), down from 46 in August but still 47% higher than September 2023.  Homes sold and closed were also down in September, with a 20% decline from August, and down 14% from September 2023 of last year. We saw median days on market rise from 13 in August to 18 in September, a 13% increase, and up 64% from September of 2023.

Prices: Pricing data was a mixed bag in September.  The median sold price for September was up 6.6% from August, coming in at $1,705,000 (vs $1,600,000 in July). This is down 1.2% from September of last year.  However, the median sales price per sq ft in September was $901, down 3% from the August figure of $922 per square foot, and up 3.9% from September of 2023. The average sales price to list price ratio, which was 106% in May, held steady at 99%, indicating that there are still segments of the market that are strong.  For context, if homes are selling on average for their asking price it would indicate a strong market. But in this case it is more of an indicator that desirable homes priced aggressively are still seeing multiple offers and even selling prices over the asking price, but homes that are not as desirable are having a harder time and selling below asking price. 

Interest Rates: Average 30 year fixed mortgage rates trended down in September, hitting a low of 6.08%, but have trended up slightly since.  This is down from 6.73% at end of July.  Indeed this is the lowest average mortgage rate since May of 2023 (15 months).

Economic/Other Considerations: Economic volatility and geopolitical instability continues to add to a climate of uncertainty, which impacts buyer’s aggressiveness and can drive many buyers to hit the pause button.  Adding to the instability is a stonger than expected jobs report, which ignites inflationary fears, which can lead to higher rates.  But other indicators are showing a slowing of the economy, which usually drives rates lower. So the word of the day remains “volatility”. Time will tell if lower rates will trump uncertainty and prompt more buyers to act.