We’re testing out some fun fusion style charts for our blog page so we thought we’d throw this chart out to show the median price trends in various Peninsula cities as compared to San Mateo county as a whole. When a housing market adjustment happens, the old saying location, location, location (being the three most important things in real estate), takes on a whole new meaning. It’s not just about living in a nice place, it becomes also about living in an area where the prices are more stable.
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Belmont Housing Activity-Week ending July 17, 2008
Belmont–New Listings & Sales
With 47 Active listings Belmont’s inventory is holding steady. Last week saw five new listings—five more than last week. Another seven homes went pending and 11 closed escrow. Here’s a quick summary:
Pine Knoll is a secluded street atop a knoll in one of Belmont older neighborhoods. This is a cute home which was originally a small summer cabin. In fact, it still is a small cabin and needs to be totally redone in order to make a real house out of it. One gets a sense of the fun summer vacations which were no doubt had at this location.
This home on East Laurel Creek made our best deal of the week list for price and value. It’s nestled down in the canyon and feels more like a home in Tahoe than the suburbs.
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Transparent. Frankly, I’m sick of the word…
Catch phrases are being overused, don’t you think?
They’re like a good song that gets played so much you’re afraid to turn on the radio for fear of having to hear it played once more.
It’s Friday and call it "fried-day" if you’ve had as hectic of a week as I-and with only two more work days to go, this seems like the best day to get off a rant.
Allow me to digress…If the 90’s were defined by conspicuous consumption than the "Ought’s" so far have turned out to be years filled with anxiety, uncertainty and fear.
Before the new millennium ever even got started we had to worry about the Y2K. Even naysayers of that alert surreptitiously logged into their bank accounts the next day just to be sure. Then the 21st century really hit and we ushered in new paradigms.
We voted for a new President that year but that too was after much anxiety in our nation. We never really knew without question if the President we voted for was supposed to be in office or not.
Things settled down and seemed to be humming along fine until September 11th 2001, when our country faced an unparalleled attack. More anxiety, uncertainty and fear.
That’s when our country’s paradigm shifted to a fear based society. Even our government leaders told us to go about living our lives, while looking over our shoulders; all while our mail delivery person was supposed to watch out for suspicious activity. We had to be alert, 24/7.
Then all of a sudden we needed to be green. Of course it would have been nice to think green all along; and in fact many people have. But suddenly everything had to be about "going green" and it starts to be disingenuous when corporations are going green as a marketing ploy.
Now with gas prices soaring, the housing market crashing and ruining everyone’s party, the only fun anyone we’re having is riding the stock market roller coaster-more uncertainty.
And now everything has to be transparent-transparent? Who coined that word to describe the new millennium business model? In order to compete in real estate all of a sudden you have to be web 2.0 savvy and completely transparent. Not even the people using the phrase web 2.0 can agree on its meaning. And what about transparency? Don’t you think Coke owes it to us to make their recipe public? After all, we do drink their product…
Am I the only one who thinks the word transparent has a slightly negative connotation to it-as in there’s no substance, "it’s completely transparent"; or, "he’s so transparent", as in you can see right through his gimmicks?
I’ve never started a catch phrase before but could we try something with a little more integrity, such as "apparent", as in "His business style is completely apparent"-perhaps not.
It’s hard to be green and transparent at the same time. The only thing that seems transparent to me right now is that everyone is so busy trying to be transparent, in the meantime, they are.
Belmont’s Best Deal for July 18th 2008
This home wasn’t some fantastic steal of a deal but it was a really nice home. I say was because it was on tour Tuesday and has already sold. Who said the days of fast sales are over!
1612 Clee Street, Belmont
$848,500 2/1 1300 Sq. Ft.
Clee Street is a little known side street off of Chevy, another obscure street. Not many homes trade hands on either street. The neighborhood is part of the old golf course. The area was developed in the 1940’s for returning veterans after the golf course went bankrupt. It’s one of the few neighborhoods in Belmont with sidewalks and level streets making it ideal for the stroller set crowd or elderly. And of course it’s always nice to walk on over to Vivace for dinner.
So our best value vote goes to East Laurel Creek. What this home lacks in traditional architecture it makes up for in its bucolic setting. It’s situated across from Sugarloaf Mountain preserve and is more reminiscent of a Tahoe cabin than a traditional home. In fact, inside when you look out upon nothing but trees you might think you are in Tahoe.
3324 E Lauel Creek, Belmont
3/2 1700 Sq. Ft. $768,500
So there’s no garage. At $768,500 we think there’s some real value there and real quality of life living for someone lucky enough to snag this home.
The Streets Around Us
Have you ever driven around Belmont and wondered how a street got its name? You might even live on a street named Lyon for example and wondered if it too is a French derivation.
How about that funny round turret of a building on Alameda de las Pulgas (now tha’s a name)—who lived there?
We’ll answer a few, but Belmont does have a historical society which is fun to visit and you’ll meet volunteers with all of the answers. There’s even a book titled Heritage of the Wooded Hills by Ria Elena MacCrisken that will satisfy some of your curiosity and make driving the windy roads of our little town more interesting. Now for some answers:
In an apparent attempt to fashion Belmont after Hillsborough, in 1925 the Belmont Country Club Properties were formed by Messrs Lee Monroe, Lawrence Miller and Arthur Lyon (apparently Mr. Lyon had more pull as both his first and last names were used for street names).
Across the street from the $65,000 club house located at 751 Alameda de las Pulgas (now the Congressional Church of Belmont) was a tiny round sales office offering homes for sale around the golf course for sale. What golf course? Find out in our here…
Drew and Christine Morgan are experienced REALTORS and NOTARY PUBLIC located in Belmont, CA where the own an operate MORGANHOMES, Inc.. They have been assisting buyers and sellers in their community for over 30 years. Drew and Christine have received the coveted Diamond award and ranked among the top 50 agents nationwide and the top 3 in Northern California by RE/MAX. To contact them, please call (650) 508.1441 or email info@morganhomes.com.
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This article provides educational information and is intended for informational purposes only. It should not be considered real estate, tax, insurance, or legal advice, and it cannot replace advice tailored to your specific situation. It’s always best to seek guidance from a professional who is familiar with your scenario.
BROKER | MANAGER | NOTARY
Belmont Sales (Closings)–Week ending July 10, 2008
With 46 homes for sale, Belmont’s inventory is down this week. Twenty six more have a pending sale. Part of the reason the inventory is low this week is the number of new listings was ZERO. That’s very unusual for the summer market.
Seven homes went into a pending sale status last week (all but one was under a million dollars) and another six homes closed escrow–two from our Carlmont Associates Brokerage (see below). One of our picks for the “Best Deal of the Week†on Carmelita closed escrow for $710,000–$11,000 over asking.
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Belmont Closings–Week ending July 10, 2008
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James Outman Leads San Carlos to All Star Victory
Even if you don’t have a horse in the race, watching the All Star little league teams is a real hoot! These kids can play. 
At nine and ten years old they are throwing unhittable curve balls. Monday’s game between the San Mateo Nationals and San Carlos was a real nail biter with James Outman standing off two runners on base with only a 1 run lead, he struck out the last batter for a 2 to 1 victory and a chance to move on to the race for the finals. Don’t miss tonight’s (Wednesday, July 9, 2008) game at Marina Field in Belmont See the whole story here…
James Outman closing out the game in style.
Redwood City Homes–A sign of market stabilization?
↑Redwood City’s housing market looked slightly more stable in June than in recent months. The median price rose to $862,944, a 5.3% increase over May. That’s still down from just a year ago when the median home price stood at $945,000.
↑The month’s supply of homes—the number of months it would take to liquidate all existing inventory at the current rate of sales—dropped to only 4.3 months from 5.3 in May. A year ago the supply was a paltry 2.3 months indicating a strong seller’s market last year.
↑The month’s supply of homes dropped because sales picked up. June is typically the biggest month for closings—generally from sales generated in May. June saw 52 homes closing escrow while in May there were only 42, and 68 for this time a year ago.
↑The percent a seller can expect to receive of their asking price was up slightly to 98.6%, still under last year’s 101.2% and it continues to take twice as long to sell a home. Homes stayed on the market on average for 52 days in June of this year as compared to only 24 days last year.
↓Inventory, or the number of available homes for sale, continues to be a driving factor in impacting how long a home takes to sell and what the seller receives. Inventory levels in June of 2008 are nearly 40% higher than a year ago. Large inventories are an indication that home values will remain soft.
(Click on the picture for a full size view)
↑= a growth indicator
↓= a retraction in housing
↔= virtually no change
↗= possible housing growth indicator
↘=minor housing retraction indicator
*source San Mateo County Multiple Listing Service. © MorganHomes.com 2008—all rights reserved.
Peninsula Real Estate-A Market Update 7/8/2008
San Mateo County posted some interesting numbers for June 2008. Looking at the entire county is valuable since it’s a large market representation. In other words, small market sample idiosyncrasies have less impact in skewing the numbers. That said, San Mateo County also is comprised of radically varying micro-markets and therefore the overall numbers do not reflect any one particular city’s true performance.
For example, while San Mateo County’s median home price rose 11.8% in June of 2008 over the prior month of May, in Menlo Park the median price rose 28% while in Daly City it dropped 5.6%. Compared to June of 2007 it’s still down 12% for the county as a whole. So while some areas continue to see appreciation and growth, other areas are dragging down the numbers. Of course another way to look at it is areas like Menlo Park are artificially propping up the drastic drops in areas such as Daly City.
This graph illustrates the huge difference in local markets located within a few short miles of each other. Chances are if you don’t live in either of these two cities, the statistics for your city fall somewhere in between.
Median price comparison for Menlo Park and Daly City dating back six quarters. Source Multiple Listing Service San Mateo County. ©2008 Drew Morgan all rights reserved.