Houses for sale are getting harder to come by in the Bay Area's biggest county.
New numbers show the amount of homes with sale pending in Santa Clara County outnumber the homes that are on the market. The low inventory means prices will remain high for the foreseeable future.
MLS, which tracks homes for sale, shows that 621 homes are for sale in the county. By contrast, 759 show as sale pending.
"It's rare, but it’s been very consistent where the demand has been very high," Keller Williams Silicon City CEO Hilda Ramirez said. "This is the first time in a long time that we’re actually seeing this become a national trend as well."
Realtors say the high prices continue to lure high-wage earners, like techies, while pricing out teachers, nurses and police officers.
The latest industry estimates show a family needs to earn $468,000 a year to afford a typical single family home.
Ramirez said part of the reason for the low inventory is baby boomers, who were expected to cash out and live in another state or in assisted living but didn’t.
"It’s actually become far more reasonable for people to age in place in their homes," she said. "They’re hiring health care workers, nurses and other assisted living professionals to come in and help them actually convert their homes for safety so they can actually age in place."
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
