The real estate market was quite busy through the end of the year and is already off to a brisk start in 2012.

We thought you would be interested in an update on Menlo Park’s real estate market.  The market remains stable with the number of 2011 sales rising to 378, a 5.5% increase over 2010, while the average sales price held steady at $1.3 million.

Months of Inventory:

Another key indicator of the health of the local real estate market is the number of months of inventory.  The graph below demonstrates that for most of 2011 the inventory level has hovered about 2-months, representing a decline from the previous 3 years.

Sale Price to List Price Ratio:

The Sale Price to List Price Ratio has averaged 99.7 %…shall we call that 100%?!  At times the ratio has exceeded 100% and this occurs when confident, well-qualified buyers make “pre-emptive” offers, i.e. an offer prior to a property receiving lengthy market exposure, or competing in multiple offers which often results in buyers writing offers at more than the list price.