The Numbers Just Don’t Jive with many Buyers’ Sentiment

Buyers have bought one thing–that’s the media’s pounding that home value are falling. Indeed they are in a lot of areas, but if you want to live in San Carlos, CA and are waiting for prices to drop, don’t hold your breath too long.

I recenly did this anaylsis for a client who wondered if their home values have dropped. They bought in an excellent area of San Carlos four years ago and paid the then prevailing purchase price in multiple offers of $885,000 for a three bedroom, two bath home which is approximately 1650 square feet.

The follwoing is my brief analysis for them:

The home which just sold on your street is not a bad comp, but it’s not the best either. Logically it’s the same size, in near proximity and (I suppose) condition, yet it is lacking the very things that attracted throngs of buyers to your house when you bought it—character. People pay dearly for that in San Carlos.

Have the values gone down recently? Everyone believes they have but the numbers do not bear that out. Your home might have sold for more in 2005/2006 but that would probably have to do with the overbid process which has diminished, but not disappeared. Unless you are planning to move soon I’d just hang in there and it will almost certainly be even higher in the next few years.

I have included data going back to 2004 when you purchased your home. I specifically targeted sales comps that were 3 bed 2 baths and between 1500-1600 square feet. I know when you bought your home the seller claimed it was 1650 and it may be (look at your appraisal and you’ll get a better idea), but the county has it at 1540 so that is the range I used for comparison. If your home is indeed larger, than you’ll be in even a better position than my data suggests.

I hope this helps you understand our fickle market.

Some interesting facts:

The median price for comparable homes has been going up since you bought your home. Notice that the exact same size homes sold in 2004 and 2007 making the appreciation data extremely accurate. This data concludes a 26% increase in the median home price from 2004-2007; which if applied to your home’s purchase price would suggest it to be worth $1,115,000. Straight-line appreciation numbers are flawed though in part because the reason homes have gone up in value that much is the typical homeowner will put in excess of $100,000 into their home. Factoring that in, the appreciation levels are almost half so if you’ve done nothing to your home you would be closer to $1,050,000. Don’t even try and follow the numbers exactly because I’m factoring in a slight bump for the intangible “WOW” factor of your home’s appeal.

You purchased your home at $885,000 in March of 2004 when the median price for the 3/2’s was $825,500.

Your home was probably larger than the median home at the time. At 1540 sq. ft. your home sold for $574 per sq. ft. and it was truly 1650 sq. ft. it sold for $536 per square foot. The median at the time was $532 per square foot:

But the median home size was also smaller—smaller homes sell for more per square foot:

Notice how the median price for comparables homes is more-or-less in step with the median appreciation:

In summary, depending on the current condition of your home and the improvements you may have made, your home is probably worth $1,050,000 on the low side to $1,150,000 on the high side.