COVID CAUSES HOUSING WOES

As the dust settled following the March shelter in place order, and real estate transactions slowly crept back to pre-COVID levels, it took until July of 2020 for sales to finally start rebounding.

How We Were Affected

We had to change how we do business a bit, as regulations made open houses a thing of the past. No more flyers, paper contracts—everything is now in the digital realm. We already employed virtual 3D tours, drone videos, electronic flyers downloadable from QR codes on our For Sale signs. All of our paperwork is in the digital universe and has been for several years now. In short, we were ready to meet the needs of these unprecedented challenges. 

We also employ sanitizing stations at our listings. Showings are limited to a selling agent and immediate family members of the same household. Required is a liability release to protect our sellers, and proof the buyers have been pre-approved and are qualified to purchase the home.

How the Market Rebounded

What surprised us, was following the shelter in-place order how the housing market rebounded so quickly. Especially given the unprecedented times people have endured—the unknowns and uncertainties that typically will cause buyers looking for a home, to take pause.

But it appears the magnitude of the situation had the opposite effect.

Cooped-up buyers began seeking larger homes—and second homes—while taking advantage of record-low interest rates. With sellers being reticent of the throngs of strangers touring their homes. This, compounded by the initial directive stating only vacant homes can be viewed in-person, low inventory levels emerged. The result was predictable—an increase in prices.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

This link shows a macro view—the Case-Shiller 20 major city composite index.

As seen in this index, the 20 major city composite index rose 2% between March and July. The Bay Area specific MSA showed a decline of .4% during the same period.

Why did some Bay Area county’s median home price essentially go stagnant while other’s thrived? It’s because of the make-up in the index, which includes several more price sensitive and volatile counties.

Looking at the semi-macro view—San Mateo County statistics—we see a 1% median home price increase. On a micro-level, Belmont showed a 3% YOY increase for the same period. This illuminates that some cities and counties were harder hit than San Mateo County or Belmont.

  • 2019-2020 Home Comparison

What May be in Store?

What’s in store in the coming months? If past performance is any indication of future results, in a Presidential election year—especially in a hotly contested match-up as we’re seeing this year—the housing market typically goes into a stall. Then again, if this year has taught us anything, nothing is predictable…

HOMES SALES TANK DURING SHELTER IN PLACE

When Critical Thinking Skills Vanish

We’re not sure what housing market the National Association of Realtors are referring to, but their headlines continue the “glass is half full” mentality which only serves to mislead the public in an effort to bolster their own organization—one which I might add, we are forced to be a part of, for better or for worse.

Take these headlines ripped from the email blasts by NAR just today…

This first one is a classic example. Sight unseen offers are growing from what? From when before the shelter in place order when no buyer in their right mind would buy a home sight unseen?

Then there’s this glass half full headline. All this tells me is that 75% of buyers do NOT accept the virtual buying scenario. And it’s not as if buyers really have a choice right now, so 25% took a leap of faith and dove in to the pool of house hunting no matter what is happening in the world.

What we do not know for certain yet, but soon will find out, is that these buyers are probably taking advantage of desperate sellers, and getting deep discounts on home prices. We’ve been hearing anecdotal stories from our colleagues of prices renegotiated downward immediately following the COVID outbreak.

A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated

And lastly, the electronic signature platform Docusign’s CEO pronouncing that they have yet to see a slowdown. Wonder why? Since sales have dropped in San Mateo county by 78% this year compared to last year during the same period, from when the shelter in place order was initiated until today (one month).

Perhaps it’s because today, that is the ONLY way one can sign a contract, when before it was optional?

A picture containing knife Description automatically generated

Here are the facts. In San Mateo County during the period from March 17th until April 17th of this year, during the COVIT 19 shelter in place order, when it became illegal to show an occupied home, sales of single-family homes have dropped 78% over the same period in 2019.

The amount a seller has received from the few sales that have already closed, indicates that sellers are receiving on average 100% of their asking price. Not bad, all things considered, yet that’s a 5% downswing over the same period last year.

Truth be told, it’s too early to measure the damage that the mishandling of the COVID 19 outbreak will inflict upon the housing industry, or the economic health of the U.S. as a whole. 

We seem to be getting enough mixed messages from our leaders, and we would hope that the REALTOR trade organizations wouldn’t fall into the same trap, as if our fragile sanity relied upon drinking Kool-Aid from a glass always half full. 

Drew & Christine Morgan are REALTORS/NOTARY PUBLIC in Belmont, CA. with more than 25 years of experience in helping sellers and buyers in their community. As Diamond recipients, Drew and Christine are ranked in the top 50 RE/MAX agents nationwide and the top 3 in Northern California.  They may be reached at (650) 508.1441 or emailed at info@morganhomes.com.

For all you need to know about Belmont, subscribe to this blog right here. You can also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Morganhomes and on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/morganhomes

The information contained in this article is educational and intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute real estate, tax, insurance or legal advice, nor does it substitute for advice specific to your situation. Always consult an appropriate professional familiar with your scenario.

COVID 19—Impact on San Mateo County Home Sales

We hope that you and your family are safe and healthy, and implementing practices to remain so. This is such a challenging time for all. 


As one can imagine, the real estate industry is not immune to these uncertain times, and for the next several weeks or longer, we seem headed for more unpredictability.


It’s the unknown that makes people hesitate, whether it be an election year , recession or freefall in the stock market—all of which we are experiencing this year. Of course, unknown factors have always made for instability, although the risk of an epidemic never seemed as imminent as, for example, a threat of a local earthquake. But now that we’re amid this pandemic, there is much uncertainty of when it will end, and what effects may remain.


Real estate is now considered to be an “essential” service industry although some of the services we can offer are limited. Some of what we can do and what we should do are at odds with each other. The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) that all REALTORS ®  rely on for marketing homes, has disallowed broker tours or open houses, and all showings are being discouraged in order to suppress the transmission of the COVID-19 virus.


We are finding innovative ways to continue to help our clients regardless of the necessity or desirability to buy or sell homes. Today there are favorable conditions with less competition and low interest rates to help keep the industry moving. Mortgage lenders have eased practices and appraisers are now doing “drive-by” inspections. Title insurance and escrow companies are arranging for private home and “drive-thru” signings—enabling buyers and sellers to sign documents from the comfort and safety of their car. These measures aim to keep home sales healthy. 

In an effort to put into perspective and quantify the COVID 19 impact on our local real estate market and your home’s value, we examined the period between March 14th, when the Shelter in Place order was implemented, until March 30th for both years—2019 and 2020 in San Mateo County.

As one can see in the graphs below, the number of homes brought to the market—new listings—are down 33%, and the percentage of those that went pending during this period down 50%.

This clearly indicates that we are seeing a shift to a buyer’s market as supply outpaces demand.

What isn’t evident in this data, due to the lack of tracking algorithms, is the number of cancelled or withdrawn listings, or the number of sales that have a contingency in their offer—estimated to be up more than 60%.

Speaking of which, pending sales in February, released today, showed strong housing demand. Although March numbers will certainly begin to reflect the challenges the pandemic is creating, today’s numbers are a sign that the underlying fundamentals of the market are strong.

If you need real estate advice during this time, please know that we’re here to help. We are keeping a watchful eye on how this is affecting our industry, and the market values. We are here to help you regardless of when you find it necessary or desirable to transact real estate. 

We’re available to advise you on a personal case-by-case basis to determine the best opportunity for your needs. 

Editor’s note: The feature image is the ugliest picture we’ve ever posted.

Drew & Christine Morgan are REALTORS/NOTARY PUBLIC in Belmont, CA. with more than 25 years experience in helping sellers and buyers in their community. As Diamond recipients, Drew and Christine are ranked in the top 50 RE/MAX agents nationwide and the top 3 in Northern California.  They may be reached at (650) 508.1441 or emailed at info@morganhomes.com.

For all you need to know about Belmont, subscribe to this blog right here. You can also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Morganhomes and on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/morganhomes

The information contained in this article is educational and intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute real estate, tax, insurance or legal advice, nor does it substitute for advice specific to your situation. Always consult an appropriate professional familiar with your scenario.

2019 Housing Round-Up Let Down

2019 Housing Round-Up

We’re just stepping into the 2020 housing market and it’s too early to tell how the housing it will play out this year. That data typically starts to develop in February-May, as buyers come out of winter hibernation and begin looking at homes in earnest. And with the better weather on the horizon, sellers are more inclined to put their home on the market.

These two forces converge each year to dictate the supply and demand balance, thus determining the strength of the market for sellers, or advantages for buyers. A shortage of supply could continue to drive up values, while a shortage in demand would have just the opposite effect.

We had been indicating this trend may be on the horizon with this very blog back in 2018 with this post about lower returns.

San Mateo County results which provides a more macro-scale, illustrate this.

SAN MATEO COUNTY REPORT

The median home value dropped 1.3 percentage points YOY, which, in and of itself is not an earth-shattering indicator, but the amount sellers received of their asking price is—it dropped 5% YOY.

The leftover inventory of homes for sale at year-end grew 22%, while the number of new listings YOY dropped 6.24% and sales dropped 3.1%. It also took six more days to sell the average home.

BELMONT HOME REPORT

Being a much smaller market sample, the data is less reliable than looking at the entire county, but by examining the entire year—rather than an isolated YOY comparison for each month, the data spikes and troughs tend to somewhat smooth out.

In Belmont, home sales dropped 6.35%, new listings dropped by 10.65%, the percent a seller received down 6%, the median sale price—dropping 4.26%, and the DOM, or time it took to sell a home, up, 30%.

The housing market had a tumultuous end in 2018, and yet comparing the year-end results for 2018 and 2019, we can see that this balance shifted even further away from the unsustainable and feverish seller’s market of the past seven-year bull run, to a more normal, balanced market. We’re seeing the pendulum move from that of a seller’s market, to a more evenly balanced market in full swing.

If you want to know what we believe may very well be in store for us in 2020, read our newest blog post on Election Year Jitters—How it will Effect the Market.

Drew & Christine Morgan are REALTORS/NOTARY PUBLIC in Belmont, CA. with more than 25 years of experience in helping sellers and buyers in their community. As Diamond recipients, Drew and Christine are ranked in the top 50 RE/MAX agents nationwide and the top 3 in Northern California.  They may be reached at (650) 508.1441 or emailed at info@morganhomes.com.

For all you need to know about Belmont, subscribe to this blog right here. You can also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Morganhomesand on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/morganhomes

The information contained in this article is educational and intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute real estate, tax, insurance or legal advice, nor does it substitute for advice specific to your situation. Always consult an appropriate professional familiar with your scenario.

2519 Carmelita Avenue, Belmont $1,6798,000

  • Three generous bedrooms including the owners ensuite
  • Two updated baths

We just listed this really neat home nestled in the hills of Belmont, yet very close to the Carlmont Shopping Center.

We love the circular driveway. More homes on Belmont’s notoriously narrow streets would benefit from one of these.

The rear yard is also very cool. It’s landscaped with a sort of nod to Sonoma’s minimalistic natural foliage, and has outcroppings of bedrock adding a natural interest feature.

The home has newly refinished hardwood floors which cover the split level home from top to bottom. The sophisticated layout, offers the Owner’s en-suite upstairs alongside a large duet office with view decks.

If you are looking for a move-in condition home on a quiet street in Belmont, look no further than this link to more information.

Belmont Home Values in State of Flux

Looking at homes sales statistics is always more interesting when there’s movement in the market.

As seen in the graph below for San Mateo County, the median home price dropped from the peak in April of 2018, and it took over a year to finally rebound which wasn’t until May of 2019 when the median price just barely eclipsed the previous year’s high.

A screenshot of a social media post Description automatically generated

But that’s not the end of the story, already we’re back down to a median home price matching that seen in October of 2018—when the market began a four-month decline.

Belmont has seen a similar pattern recently, although perhaps with swings more magnified due to the smaller transaction sample size.

This is the year-over-year comparison for Belmont:

SALES

Down by 5 over 2018 to 18—27% decrease

MEDIAN HOME PRICE

Down by $100,000 to $1,700,000 in 2019—down ~6%

DAYS ON MARKET

Down to only 16 on average, from 28 in 2018

CURRENT INVENTORY

Four more homes are currently available than in 2018—a 25% increase

NEW LISTINGS

Eight more listings in June of this year than last—44% increase

MONTHS OF INVENTORY [The time it would take to sell the current inventory at the current pace of sales.]

Up from less than a month of inventory in 2018 to 1.3 months.

What this is telling us is what we are also feeling from our own business and the sentiments of our colleagues—that the market is not as sizzling hot as it was just a year ago. It’s still a seller’s market, but the inevitable swing of the pendulum back to center before heading the other direction may be upon us.

Drew & Christine Morgan are REALTORS/NOTARY PUBLIC in Belmont, CA. with more than 25 years of experience in helping sellers and buyers in their community. As Diamond recipients, Drew and Christine are ranked in the top 50 RE/MAX agents nationwide and the top 3 in Northern California.  They may be reached at (650) 508.1441 or emailed at info@morganhomes.com.

For all you need to know about Belmont, subscribe to this blog right here. You can also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Morganhomesand on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/morganhomes

The information contained in this article is educational and intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute real estate, tax, insurance or legal advice, nor does it substitute for advice specific to your situation. Always consult an appropriate professional familiar with your scenario.

County Home Values Rebound Slightly

As welcome news to homeowners, yesterday, Standard & Poor’s posted the MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) for March 2019 illuminating another uptick in the market after a steady four-month decline. This is the second month in a row showing rising values since the low in January 2019. This latest data point in March puts home values slightly ahead of where they were in April of 2018.

The monthly S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices uses the “repeat sales method” of index calculation – an approach that is widely recognized as the premiere methodology for indexing housing prices – which incorporates data on properties that have sold at least twice, in order to capture the true appreciated value of each specific sales unit.

Our Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), is comprised of home sales in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties.

Drew & Christine Morgan are REALTORS/NOTARY PUBLIC in Belmont, CA. with more than 20 years of experience in helping sellers and buyers in their community. They may be reached at (650) 508-1441 or emailed at info@morganhomes.com.

The information contained in this article is educational and intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute real estate, tax or legal advice, nor does it substitute for advice specific to your situation. Always consult an appropriate professional familiar with your scenario.

Home Values Drop in April

We’ve continued our articles focused on the real estate market’s woes since the reverse in direction in Q4 of 2018 when home values and sales activity dropped precipitously. In fact, the only thing that increased during that time was the number of price reductions and the time it took to sell a home.

In our last blog article on our local market, we wrote about our MSA posting declining numbers in the last four consecutive months. Since then February’s numbers were released (they lag real time by three months), and the result was an uptick in the housing values of 1.57 pts. over January. And while that’s better than a fifth month of dropping home values, to put that into perspective, the YOY figures from April 2018 as compared to this April showed a decline in values of 1.7%.

In Belmont, a similar market withdrawal occurred:

A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated

It’s fairly easy to see that the market isn’t what it once was. Every category except for the Months of Inventory is worse off than a year ago. Notice that while the size of homes selling in 2019 was larger, we associated a negative connotation to it because if larger homes are selling the median home price should be higher—not lower.

We like to think that we are considered to be trusted advisors in our community. Wherever the facts and statistics lead us, that’s what we report. On one had we were amused and on the other annoyed but never surprised to find the main-stream media hyping market signals without even understanding what they mean. Take this recent article from the San Francisco Chronicle. Note that admittedly Chu in this article has no idea why sales are down. Perhaps by delving into the statistics more, her own questions might have been answered.

A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated

And this is the headline use to lure unsuspecting readers to view the entire article:

“SF home sales drop, suggesting slowdown in market”—San Francisco Chronicle, April 25, 2019

Slowdown in the market, or a slowdown in sales? Because a slowdown in sales could mean home prices are increasing if inventory levels remain low.

Drew & Christine Morgan are REALTORS/NOTARY PUBLIC in Belmont, CA. with more than 25 years of experience in helping sellers and buyers in their community. As Diamond recipients, Drew and Christine are ranked in the top 50 RE/MAX agents nationwide and the top 3 in Northern California.  They may be reached at (650) 508.1441 or emailed at info@morganhomes.com.

For all you need to know about Belmont, subscribe to this blog right here. You can also follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Morganhomesand on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/morganhomes

The information contained in this article is educational and intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute real estate, tax, insurance or legal advice, nor does it substitute for advice specific to your situation. Always consult an appropriate professional familiar with your scenario.