A quick look at Santa Clara home inventory numbers shows an encouraging sign.  Homes sales are up this year especially in the last month.  Buyers have come out with a buying attitude and are making offers.  Inventory is down 40% from last year’s levels and that is a big increase.  Although the headlines are showing that defaults are continuing this will help shore up property values and hopefully prevent any further declines.

Last week saw a large number of sales, the highest we have seen this year in Santa Clara.   Multiple offers are not uncommon on some properties.   Buyers understand that well maintained and well priced homes are selling.  Sellers this is an encouraging sign.  If you are thinking of selling be sure to put in the time an effort to make your house show well and price it right.  You should get an offer soon and be able to sell your home in a reasonable amount of time.

They key to spotting a market bottom is by following the home inventory levels of a specific market.  Once the inventory of homes reaches a top and starts to decline that means the buyers are beginning to overtake the sellers, and hence supply and demand are changing.  Here we take a look at the recent historical level of inventory in a few areas of the Santa Clara Valley.

Home inventory levels for Santa Clara have been climbing every year since 2005.  Levels top off in the summer forming a plateau, typical of the real estate cycle we experience here in Santa Clara Valley.  Every subsequent year  the number of unsold homes have carries over increasing the number of homes for sale in Santa Clara.   In 2007 we experienced a large increase of  Inventory.  As the average humber of homes increase, so does the average days on market, and prices begin to drop.