Wealthy buyers are playing an outsized role in the San Francisco Bay Area housing market, as sales volume recovers to pre-pandemic levels, with $39.5 billion spent across 11 counties in the first half of the year, according to a report from Compass. 

That’s a 15% increase from the same period last year, and a $2 billion bump from 2019, though that’s without adjusting for inflation or increased housing prices. It’s also far below the home-buying frenzy during the peak pandemic period of 2021 and 2022 when sales eclipsed $55 billion in the first six months, according to the report, which was based on MLS data. 

The recovery may be due to the high share of luxury homes trading hands, as high-value sales increased faster than the broader market. Looking at just the second quarter in San Francisco, sales were up 9% over last year in the broader market, while sales of homes priced $3 million and above were up 29% and homes priced at $5 million or above jumped 54%. 

In Santa Clara, the region’s biggest market, home sales were up 18.5% compared to last year in the second quarter, while homes priced above $5 million increased 63%.

Zooming out to the seven counties that comprise the San Francisco and San Mateo areas, sales of homes priced at $5 million or above increased by 39% compared to last year, while homes priced above $10 million saw a 77% increase. (Of course, the sample size is rather small, with the number of sales jumping from 22 in the second quarter of 2023 to 39 this year.)

Santa Clara County, which includes the tech hubs of San Jose, Mountain View and Palo Alto, stood out for its activity during the quarter, both in volume and pricing. “Santa Clara County is not only by far the biggest county market, but in 2024, it has been the most heated market as well, probably due to a large degree to the AI boom in high-technology stocks,” per Compass.

Santa Clara had the highest sales volume at $11.2 billion, far outranking the next highest county of Alameda, which saw $6 billion in transaction volume, followed by Contra Costa with $5.2 billion in sales. San Francisco came fifth with $3.9 billion. 

In terms of pricing, the three most expensive counties were San Mateo, with a median sales price of $2.1 million, followed by a new record of $1.99 million in Santa Clara and $1.8 million in Marin County. San Francisco came in fourth with a median sales price of $1.7 million.

Of those four counties, Santa Clara was the only one where the median home price surpassed the mid-pandemic peak, when looking at the rolling median of the previous 12 months of sales, surpassing San Francisco and Marin to become the second most expensive housing market in the Bay Area.

Connect with the McCarthy + Moe Group for expert advice and support in the ever-evolving luxury real estate market. Whether you’re buying or selling, we’re here to help you achieve your real estate goals with confidence and finesse.

Source: mansionglobal.com