Woodside real estate: one-of-a-kind market, one-of-a-kind town

Woodside has a population of just 5,300, with just under 2,000 households. For these and other reasons, typically fewer homes are available for sale here than in many other Silicon Valley communities. But regardless of the number of homes on the market at any given time, Woodside remains one of the most expensive and exclusive towns in the area. And in the United States, for that matter.

Let’s look at some recent statistics.

Sold price of homes

Because few homes sell here every month (eight per month, on average, for the last 12 months), the median sold price fluctuates considerably, depending on the prices of purchased homes. The average median price of homes sold in April was $2,500,000. That’s down from $3,295,000 in March, and up from $1,630,000 in April.

Here’s what’s happening right now in Woodside:

• Single-family homes on the market: 23
• Highest list price: $69,800,00
• Lowest list price: $2,195,000
• Homes listed above $10 million: 7
• Homes listed above $5 million: 18

List price of homes

As with the median sold price, the median list price of Woodside homes also fluctuates quite a bit. One trend that we see here that we don’t see in many other cities and towns in Silicon Valley is consistently lower prices paid for homes than the prices for which sellers initially listed their homes.

Here are the median list prices for homes over the last five months:

• April: $5,520,000
• March: $3,896,500
• February: $4,200,000
• January: $3,636,500
• December: $4,099,500

Inventory

Another statistical area in which Woodside differs from many of its neighbors is in properties available vs. properties sold. Here, each month, only a small fraction of the homes available are purchased. There could be many reasons for this including home owners waiting longer than the “norm” to receive an offer they consider most attractive. It could also be that because of the high prices, it takes longer to find an appropriate buyer with the kind of financial situation that can quickly close the deal.

Here are listed properties vs. sold properties numbers for the last five months:

• April: Listed 45; Sold 5
• March: 44/9
• April: 40/2
• January: 26/6
• December: 38/6

Days on the market

Let’s look at a related statistic: days on the market, or DOM. The monthly breakdown of this stat tells us how long homes within a given month have been on the market. In many Silicon Valley cities, the average DOM is very low – often under 20. Not in Woodside – possibly for reasons outlined above.

• April: 91 days on the market
• March: 91
• February: 92
• January: 69
• December: 130

To gain perspective, here are the same DOM monthly numbers for sold homes in the city of Mountain View:

• April: 14 days on the market
• March: 16
• February: 10
• January: 12
• December: 17

All of these statistics clearly show that Woodside is a very unique town in which to purchase a new home. But if exclusive living in one of America’s most prestigious zip codes is what appeals to you, Woodside just might be the perfect choice.

Hadar Guibara
Silicon Valley Real Estate