San Ramon Market Update August 2011 – Sales Drop, So Does High End Inventory

Pending sales dropped across the board in San Ramon in August.  Monthly volatility in pending sales in the market for homes priced over $1 million continued, with a big decline.  The inventory in this segment also fell pretty dramatically over the past two months, from 39 at the end of June to 18 at the end of August.

Overall, the inventory of single family detached homes fell by one home in August, from 167 at the end of July to 166 at the end of August.  Pending sales, meanwhile, fell 21% or 17 units to 66 homes, compared to 83 during July.  There were 2.5 months of inventory relative to pending sales here at the end of August, down from 2.0 months at the end of July.

All San Ramon Single Family Homes
Inventory Vs Pending Sales August 2011

The inventory of homes priced under $1 million actually increased in August by 11 homes to 148, an 8.0% increase over July’s inventory of 137.  Pending sales fell by 11 to 61, a 16% decline from 72 in July.  Inventory relative to pending sales, therefore, increased from 1.9 months in July to 2.4 months in August.  This segment accounted for 89% of San Ramon’s inventory in August and 92% of pending sales, compared to 82% and 87%, respectively for July.

San Ramon Single Family Homes Under $1 Million
Inventory Vs Pending Sales August 2011

Pending sales of homes priced over $1 million continued their up and down pattern for the fifth consecutive month.  Sales fell from 11 in July to three in August.  However, if you average out the pending sales over that five month period, it looks pretty normal at seven pending sales per month, on average.  The inventory level in this segment was probably the biggest story, falling from 39 homes in June to 30 in July and 18 at the end of August.  That’s a 54% drop from June.  18 homes on the market in this price range is the lowest level since December 2010.  Inventory relative to pending sales stood at 3.6 months at the end of August, compared to 2.7 months at the end of July and 13 months at the end of June.   11% of San Ramon’s inventory at the end of August was in this segment, compared to 17% at the end of July and 21% at the end of June.

San Ramon Single Family Homes Over $1 Million
Inventory Vs Pending Sales August 2011

Generally, the San Ramon real estate market has been pretty stable and seeing pending sales drop some in August is normal.  The volatility in pending sales in the high end (homes priced over $1 million) is less of a concern when we look at the average over a five month period.  It is interesting that the inventory in this segment dropped so sharply over the past couple of months, something worth keeping an eye on.