I've now had an opportunity to study the latest real estate market statistics for both Santa Clara and San Mateo counties (for May).

Once again, these make really enjoyable reading.

The key headline is that seller's market conditions continue to thrive in both areas and we saw a 24.1% month-on-month increase in property sales in Santa Clara and a very similar 23% improvement in the same period in San Mateo. Both counties are also showing good year-on-year rises too - 2.9% in Santa Clara and an even better 5.9% in San Mateo.

These price increases are, of course, fueled by the continuance of low inventory of available homes for sale in both regions. Buyer demand remains high across the majority of market sectors, at the same time as inventory has fallen by exactly 23.9% in the last year in each county.

There was a glimmer of supply positivity in Santa Clara, with a small 1.3% improvement in overall numbers on April. San Mateo, however, saw a further 9.3% drop in the same period.

Naturally enough, this shortage is very often resulting in multiple offers for properties, with the result that we're seeing fantastic, and very similar average sold/original list price ratios in both areas. The figure in this latest report stands at an impressive 104% in Santa Clara and 105% in San Mateo. Essentially, this means that, on average, homes are selling above their asking price. Those are amazing market conditions for would-be sellers to consider extremely seriously.

There's further excellent evidence of how the market is currently benefitting sellers when we look at what's called the Absorption Rate for both areas. This measurement assesses the percentage of current active listings that are being sold each month.

An Absorption Rate of greater than 33.3% suggests a seller's market and those figures are easily beaten in both counties - 34.2% in Santa Clara, compared with May 2016, and 39.2% over the same timescale in San Mateo. There were also sharp rises in the month-on-month comparison - 22.5% for Santa Clara and 36.3% in San Mateo.

Looking at pending sales in the same period, the Absorption Rate figures are also most impressive - 52.8% (year)/17.7% (month) in Santa Clara and 53.6% (year)/37.9% (month) in San Mateo.

With mortgage interest rates staying so low, further motivating buyers to act fast, there are clear indications that we are going to have a fantastic peak season this year.

As these statistics prove, sellers are benefitting from less competition, incredible buyer sentiment and exceptional sold/original list price ratios. Indeed it's tempting to ask if a seller's market can realistically ever look better than this!

Why not contact us today to discuss how we can help you to take full advantage of this stunning opportunity.

Dominic Nicoli