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Eight weeks into the New Year, and here is what's happening in real estate in our cities and towns.

Portola Valley

1. A home that I had listed for sale went into contract at the end of January and closed escrow 7 days later for $4,461,000.
2. A home sold off market at the end of January for $2,200,000.
3. Two homes listed this year, one for $5,498,000 and one for $6,550,000, each sold and are pending close of escrow.
4. A home that went into contract last year closed escrow for $740,000.
5. Two new listings came on the market, each between $2 million and $3 million.

As indicated above, sales are clearly picking up and particularly those in higher price ranges, which is very encouraging.

Woodside

1. Fifteen new listings this year (6 more than the same period last year), 5 of which are already in contract or have closed escrow.
2. New listings this year range from $998,000 to $34,600,000, including 5 in excess of $7 million.
3. Nineteen single-family homes currently for sale – and the lowest price is $2,250,000.

Sales were up for the month and median price was up significantly. In comparison to all of 2017, the median price in January was up 74% fromthe decline we experienced last year when the median was $2,350,000. With relatively few homes for sale and many buyers in the market, I expect prices to remain strong.

Atherton

1. Eighteen new listings this year (8 more than the same period last year), 10 of which are already in contract or have closed escrow.
2. New listings this year range from $3,499,000 to $23,880,000, including 8 in excess of $10 million.
3. Nineteen single-family homes currently for sale – and the lowest price is $4,188,000.

There were no homes that closed escrow in January; however, 3 homes went into contract, including 2 listed between $9 million and $10 million. Already this year, 10 homes in Atherton have gone into contract so the market has picked up in February. With relatively few homes for sale and many buyers in the market, I expect prices to remain strong.

Menlo Park

1. Thirty-nine new listings this year, 26 of which are already in contract or have closed escrow.
2. New listings this year range from $998,000 to $7,350,000, including 8 in excess of $4 million.
3. Just 14 single-family homes currently for sale – the lowest I can remember in recent history.

Sales were down for the month but median price was up. In comparison to all of 2017, the median price in January was down 30% from $2.8 million last year. However, there were only 10 sales so this is not a trend indication. With so few homes for sale and so many buyers in the market, I expect prices to continue to remain strong.

Palo Alto

1. Sixty-four new listings this year (14 more than the same period last year), 29 of which are already in contract or have closed escrow.
2. New listings this year range from $1,395,000 to $14,500,000, including 12 in excess of $5 million.
3. Thirty-six single-family homes currently for sale – and thelowest price is $1,895,000.

Sales were up for the month and median price was up significantly. In comparison to all of 2017, the median price in January was up 38% from the record high of $2.895 million last year

Los Altos & Los Altos Hills

1. Thirty-nine new listings this year in Los Altos, 34 of which are already in contract or have closed escrow. In Los Altos Hills, 11 new listings, 7 of which are in contract or have closed escrow.
2. New listings this year in Los Altos Hills range from $2,499,000 to $9,750,000 and in Los Altos, prices range from $1,995,000 to $6,995,000.
3. Eighteen single-family homes currently for sale – and the lowest price is $1,995,000.

Sales were down in Los Altos for the month and steady in Los Altos Hills. Prices were up slightly. The median price in Los Altos was up 2% from the record high set in 2017. In Los Altos Hills, the median price was up 42% from the record high set in 2017.