Home Sales Slower in 2019

Last year ended with much indecision regarding the future of our local housing market, and since there are typically fewer sales at the beginning of a new year, we thought it prudent to compare the first two months of 2019 to last year at the same time to better understand the state of our current market.

On an empirical note, we’ve sold all of our listings his year at our same pace—11 days on the market, but with fewer offers. All have sold over the asking price, but not for as much as in recent years past.

MEDIAN PRICE

This is always a good indicator of what the rest of the stats might reveal because if prices are down, so too typically is everything else.

2018 Median Home Price   $1,697,750

2019 Median Home Price   $1,649,000

Change =                               $48,750 or 3% drop YOY

*NOTE: The size of homes selling in 2018 were on average 9% larger which could indicate an increase in the home prices, not a decrease year-over-year.

HOMES SALES (Units)

2018                           20

2019                           13

YOY Change =          7 or 54% Decrease in sales in 2019 so far

PERCENT RECEIVED OF THE ASKING PRICE

2018                           114

2019                           102

YOY Change =          12% Less over asking in 2019

While sales in 2019 to date are slower than 2018, homes are on the market for about the same time—14 days.

And though sellers are taking offers that as a percentage are less over their asking price than in 2018 by a whopping 11%, in real dollars they may be ahead of where we were one year ago.

With the inclement weather, buyers may have perhaps had less motivation or incentive to go out and look at homes, but virtually the same number of new listings came on the market in both years during this period, and thus sales declined so the “Months of Inventory”, or the tine it would take to sell the current inventory at the current rate of sales, has gone up dramatically from .9 months in February of 2018 to 1.3 montsh this year—though still historically very low. If more inventory (homes for sale) develop, prices could see further erosion in home values.

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.

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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.

Waterdog Tavern in Belmont-What’s in a Name?

Waterdog Tavern

We were delighted as were many Belmont residents with the opening of a new restaurant, Waterdog Tavern in the Carlmont Village Shopping Centre last year. This past Spring, they opened the spacious outdoor area for sociable dining in a “dog friendly” environment, and we now visit frequently with our dog, Wyatt.

If you see us outside with this friendly little guy, stop by to say hello!

One of the questions we often hear: Where did they get the name Waterdog Tavern?

Since Belmont is our home, and we’re quite familiar about our local history, we knew at once where they got the clever name. We asked the owners, Toby and Anne, who often get asked the same question, to weigh in for our readers about the backstory of why they picked the name they did. Enjoy!

Toby McMillan (Owner):

Our family moved to Belmont from Sacramento in 2006. Not long afterwards Anne & I were strolling through Carlmont Village for the first time, when we came upon the outdoor area where the old Carlmont Nursery used to display their huge selection of Japanese Maples. We both remarked how beautiful the space was, and hoped that someday the adjacent restaurant (Hola!) might make arrangements to serve food & beer in the outdoor space – a few picnic tables would be great. I remarked, not very seriously at the time, that if it were ever possible to get both of those spaces, we should jump on the chance.

Fast forward to the Fall of 2015. After seriously searching for a couple of years for the right space to open a new restaurant that had outdoor seating and great parking, Carlmont Nursery and Hola! decided to close their doors within a month of each other. We pinched ourselves that two spaces had become available simultaneously and set out to create a casual, comfortable, warm, inviting restaurant, where the community and those traveling by The Village could gather to enjoy great food & drinks – The Tavern concept was born. Now…what to name it?

We had come up with different names for other concepts, but they were all location specific and would not work with what we had planned for this restaurant. As Belmont residents, we wanted the name to reflect the surroundings and the casualness of the concept. One day I was talking to a friend, and they mentioned they had taken their dog for a walk at Waterdog Lake, and a light bulb went on: Waterdog Tavern! Waterdog Lake is not only a long time Belmont landmark, but is known by folks up & down the Peninsula. To add to that, we had already begun tossing around the idea of making the Beer Garden dog friendly, and with so many local residents walking their dogs at Waterdog Lake on a regular basis it seemed a perfect fit.

Now with that being said, we are aware that the name of Waterdog Lake has nothing to do with dogs, but was coined because the lake (officially named Notre Dame Lake) used to teem with salamanders, and ‘waterdog’ is a salamander nickname. Anne has fond childhood memories of spotting waterdogs in her Grandma’s fountain in Belmont. Having made the decision to make the Beer Garden dog-friendly, we came up with our ‘Shaking Dog’ logo as a bit of a play on words. A recognition of all of the waterdogs that we all know and love, including our Australian Shepard, Buddy… We mean no disrespect to salamanders and have enjoyed sharing our story with guests!