Homescopes

I have been patting myself on the back over the results of my contrarian marketing of 842 Sycamore Drive in Palo Alto.

It sold in a week with 14 offers, when the average Days on Market for a home in that area and price range is about 100.

Part of my contrarian marketing was to put it on the market during January, before the “traditional” beginning of the spring market, which is the week after SuperBowl Sunday. With the recent sales activity, I’m expecting a number of homes to come on the market starting in mid-February, as most agent “hold” listings until then. I have confirmed this with a number of my colleagues who are big “listing agents” meaning they hang signs in front of a lot of houses. (Most of my work is with Buyers).

Another house on Greer in the same neighborhood on and price range (listed at $979,000), received 12 offers and sold for very near what Sycamore did. Both homes had over 100 visitors to the open houses and the offers landed in the same ranges.

One question that came up immediately was “These are so similar, I wonder how many buyers are writing offers on both homes?” I haven’t been able to confirm anything, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the same 12 – 15 people were writing offers on both of these homes.

If this is the case, then the entry level market in Palo Alto is like a game of musical chairs. The same 12 – 15 people are going around writing offers on homes, and with every sale one drops out. After 12 rounds or so, they all have homes and the market stops.

So, when the conventional wisdom listings hit the market in February, there will be a flood of inventory, and choices, so the number of offers per home will likely drop off as buyers have more choices and less of a feeling of scarcity. In the case of the homes mentioned above, that would have resulted in a loss of thousands of dollars in proceeds to the sellers, but great news for the buyers of those homes.

This is all speculation now, but worth keeping an eye on over the coming months as we wait to see if the market is returning, or if we are seeing a short-term blip driven by a very limited supply in shortage to a relatively limited demand.

Thanks for reading . . .

Between January 24th and 31st, there has been a flurry of activity on the Coastside.  These numbers include Half Moon  Bay, El Granada, Moss Beach, Montara and Pacifica.

22 new listings - 3 are at $1.2 Million and above, all in Half Moon Bay.

9 price reductions - there are some good values here; one of the best is 414 Sevilla in Lower El Granada

7 pending (continue to show or no show)

5 contingent (meaning Pending Release; another offer may be able to obtain first position over the first offer).   It won’t show as “active” because an offer has been accepted but worth looking into if it turns out to be a desirable property for you.

3 transactions fell through (TFT) - not unusual in this lending environment.  All 3 are in Pacifica.

About half are under $600K and have are over $600K (the over $600K group is between asking prices of $799K and $1,099K).  This is a good sign.

It’s a beautiful day to cruise open houses….it’s sunny and clear.  I’ll be holding 365 Coronado, Half Moon Bay CA open today from 2pm to 4 pm.  This one is a short sale listing, listed by Margot Lockwood, Coldwell Banker Woodside.

No time for chocolate (my market morsel picture) today, but there will be fresh made oatmeal-butterscotch cookies at 365 Coronado that I made this morning.  Stop by to say hi and bring a cookie home to someone special.

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STATS FOR LAST 7 DAYS

new listing 1, price reduced 1, sale pending 1,  sold 0

new listing        1958 Oak Cir, $1,200,000, 3 br 2 ba, 1,666 sf

price reduced 1978 Adams St, $949,900, 4 br 3 ba, 2,715 sf

new pending    7 Burgundy Way, $679,900, 2 br 2 ba, 1,404 sf

new sold

median prices, average days on market

current for sale             23 med price $949,900; avg days on market 141

current sale pendings   3 med price $679,900; avg days on market 157

sold in last 6 months   11 med price $595,000; avg days on market 159

STATS FOR LAST 7 DAYS

new listing 3, price reduced 1, sale pending 1, sold 5

 new listing       n/a, $989,000, 2 br 2 ba, 1,525 sf

                              1856 Pine St, $999,000, 4 br 2 ba, 3,804 sf

                              n/a, $999,000,  br 3 ba, 3,000 sf

price reduced 1702 Crinella Dr, $585,000, 3 br 2 ba, 1,333 sf

new pending    1918 Spring St, $1,295,000, 2 br 2 ba, 1,450 sf

new sold             1531 Kennedy Ct, $392,500, 4 br 2 ba, 1,196 sf

                               1382 St James Ct, $450,000, 3 br 2 ba, 1,441 sf

                               1460 Conn Valley Rd, $850,000, 2 br 2 ba, 1,552 sf

                               653 McCorkle Ave, $980,000, 3 br 3 ba, 2,110 sf

                               1032 Charter Oak Ave, $1,050,000, 2 br 2 ba, 1,152 sf

median prices, average days on market

current listings for sale  71 med price $1,395,000; avg days on market 186

current sale pendings       5  med price  $549,900; avg days on market 171

sold in last 6 months       32 med price  $850,000; avg days on market 142

STATS FOR LAST 7 DAYS

new listing 2, price reduced 4, sale pending 0,  sold 0

new listing         1718 Reynard Ln, $525,000, 2 br 2 ba, 1,564 sf

                               1909 Myrtle St, $598,000, 5 br 3 ba, 2,199 sf

price reduced  3991 Peterson Dr, $949,000, 2 br 3 ba, n/a sf

                               57 Lerner Dr, $1,199,000, 3 br 3 ba, n/a sf

                               4520 Silverado Trl, $2,799,000, 3 br 3 ba, 2,500 sf

                               4500 Silverado Trl, $2,995,000, 4 br 4 ba, 3,700 sf

new pending    

new sold           

median prices, average days on market

current for sale            51 med price $1,099,000; avg days on market 240

current sale pendings   5 med price $999,000; avg days on market 257

sold in last 6 months   15 med price $350,000; avg days on market 119

I am proudly presenting my new listing  at 112 Madison Ave. #204 in San Mateo, CA 94402. This top floor/1200 sqft end unit in a small 20 unit building will appeal to first time buyers and buyers who are downsizing alike.

The kitchen has been up-grated with granite counter tops and high end stainless steel appliances. Everything has been painted and the new carpet was just installed last week. The building has an elevator and the unit has laundry hook ups for a full size washer/dryer. The underground garage offers secure parking. A rather large balcony faces a lovely, very quiet backyard. We hope you will visit us this weekend January 30/31 between 1-4PM. More pictures can be seen www.chrismolnarhome.com

Thanks to my colleague Jan Gray for sending this email to all of us at our Coldwell Banker offices yesterday -

“There was a house fire last night on 6th Street - everything is gone.  There is an urgent need for some clothes and shoes.  Her size is small; shoe size 7 or 7-1/2.  Husband is about a 34 x 32 (est) and we don’t know his shoe size yet.  They will also need some bedding and towels, and anything else you can donate that you think will get them through this.”

The family is staying in temporary housing right now.  Please drop off towels, bedding, and call about clothes sizes to 1415 Main Street, Montara, or 248 Main Street, Half Moon Bay between the hours of 8:30 and 5 Mon-Fri.

Thank you.

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Thanks to my dear friend Sheila for sending me a link to these photos - I was not aware of Clark Little photos before.  I very much appreciate the power and natural beauty of the surf.

http://www.clarklittlephotography.com/

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Allied Arts is a very charming area in Menlo Park going west from El Camino (behind the Oasis!) just north of Stanford Shopping Center, Hospital, and Stanford University.  The streets have college names Harvard Princeton Cambridge etc. Allied Arts is close to downtown Palo Alto and not far from downtown Menlo Park - very convenient location with pretty tree-lined streets.

The Allied Arts neighborhood was originally developed around 1930 +-.

Many of the original homes are being replaced by new high quality two story homes.

Lot sizes run from 5000sf to 9000sf typically.

Let’s take a look at the Allied Arts real estate home market has done over the past five years.

The average and median price for single family homes in Allied Arts in 2009 was basically unchanged from 2008.
Average price increased 7.3% from $1,464,560 to $1,571,920.
Median price dropped 3.4% from $1,400,000 to $1,352,500.

The number of sales was constant - 25 in 2008 and 26 in 2009.

My sense is market is stabilizing.

The days of inventory chart below is striking - very low days of inventory in 2006 and 2007.

Search for homes, townhouses, and condominiums in Allied Arts and downtown Menlo Park.

Menlo Park Real Estate tour #2, originally uploaded by ArnCenedella.

Looking for a brand new 3100sf home in a fabulous Allied Arts location? Check out 100 Princeton Aveue listed at $2885000 4 bedrooms 3.5 baths on 9000sf lot. Call Arn 650 575-6114 to see
Arn Cenedella
650 575-6114