Has anyone else noticed the Chevron station at the corner or Ralston Avenue and Alameda has been systematically raising the price of their gas two cents a day for about the last two weeks now?

Not one large in-your-face price adjustment mind you, no this is a well executed plan to fly below the general public’s radar while filling the corporate coffers with what is sure to be record breaking profits.

But we’re not just picking on Chevron. All the stations around Belmont are raising their prices in lockstep, it’s just that this station is near our office and I often sit at red lights and stare in amazement that they’re getting a two-cent raise each day while my income remains flat—at best.

And I thought the media loves these types of stories…

 

Time to wrap-up Belmont’s single family home sales for March 2011 and this month's graph honors the San Francisco Giants opening season with the famous orange and black.

(Click on the graph for a full-size version)

Comparing March 2010 to March 2011 we see that the number of sales has increased dramatically, up 70% from ten sales in 2011 to 17 in 2011.

MEDIAN HOME PRICE

The median price fell on paper because much smaller homes sold this year. In 2010 the median home price in Belmont was $994,750 and the median size home which sold was 2,345 square feet.

In March of 2011 the median home price dropped 18% from March 2010 but the size homes which sold were 27% smaller.

What this alludes to is prices actually increased, since now you can get a home 27% larger than last year for only 18% more. Put another way, if we look at the difference in the size of homes selling and use the smaller price per square foot which homes sold for ($417 per square foot) from March of 2010 it implies homes actually cost more this year (505 sq. ft. X $417 per square foot = $210,585). Add that to this year’s March median home price of $815,000 and you get an estimated adjusted median home value of $1,025,585 or a 3% increase over last March.

DAYS ON MARKET

The time it took to sell all 17 homes dropped dramatically as well from 76.5 last March to only 25 days in March 2011.

PRICE REDUCTIONS

Five homes in March of this year had to lower their asking price by on average $43,387 to entice a buyer to bid. In March of 2010 that number was four for $47,000 on average less. As a percentage of homes which sold 40% had to lower their expectations in March of 2010 compared to only 30% this year.

MARCH 2011

Of the 17 sales in March of this year nine homes sold on average for $39,439 less than the seller’s asking price in 64 days.

Two homes sold right at the seller’s asking price in on average nine days, and six homes sold for on average of $19,842 over the seller’s asking price in only 12 days.

MARCH 2010

Comparing that to last March when three of the ten homes sold for on average $39,000 less than the asking price in on average 75 days.

Five homes sold for the seller’s list price in  88 days and two homes sold over the seller’s asking price for $244,000 an average of more in 48 days.

So what’s up with that? The home on Bayview in that sold in March of 2010 completely threw off the numbers. It was a bank owned property that was grossly underpriced and had multiple offers.

Pricing your home as close as possible to its value is still the best strategy to get you the most money for your home, but as you can see in this case, with the abundant access buyers have to information these days, even a home which has been priced well lower than its true value will simply be bid back up to market value—and many times more; while over pricing your home will simply lead to price reduction after price reduction and quickly fall off the radar of many buyers.