Our agents meet on Mondays to discuss the latest market activity on the Peninsula. Here is a summary of the conversation on the Peninsula real estate market:
OVERALL
- rentback trend: owners who aren’t quite ready to move, but feel this is the time to sell are putting their houses on the market subject to long rent-backs
- stock option buying may slow down: options are performing big time for now — options issued when Facebook stock was at $19, now at $50, they’re those options as down payment or cash to buy. The next round of options is issued at $50, stock has to go to $80 — and market tanked last week. Stock option buyers may take a pause to consider the millions they lost last week.
- appointment-only neglects self-serve buyers. Buyers are self-serve: they look it up on internet, then go to open house. If you’re doing appointment only, that’s turning a lot of buyers off.
ATHERTON
Things are moving in Atherton, with several closings in the $5-7M range last week. The biggest pending was an old, dated mausoleum of a house that “looks like something out of the Wizard of Oz.”
EMERALD HILLS
-
5 new listings.
-
Bargain alert at 1050 Lakeview Way. Under-priced, beautiful home on a flat piece of ground at $1.75M. It’ll go $1.95M at end of the day. There will be competition.
-
Beware of bad mistakes in the Emerald Hills area, among the cabins built on “Contractor Hill,” which earned its name because people built out crazy stuff until a building moratorium in 1975 (no sewage out there). The building boom resumed in 1985, producing a weird mishmash of styles. One new listing has terrible floor plan, a lot of work done without permits.
-
Sold / pending: the little stuff is selling, but there’s price resistance above $2M. An 800 sq ft 1BR sold for $825K. 940 sq ft got nearly $900K on Hill Way.
LOS ALTOS
-
Prices are skyrocketing. Last year, south of El Monte was popping. This year, it’s North Los Altos — more listings on the market.
-
New: 14 new listings, including 9 in North Los Altos. Sellers are finally getting the message: it’s time to sell. Interesting listing this week: modern, family compound, not prime Los Altos.
-
Sold / pendings: 8 closed.
-
Coming soon: A listing coming on a premium street — will go in a heartbeat.
MENLO PARK
-
New: Nine listings came on last week. Willow at Laurel at $1.9M is swamped with offers.
-
Sold / pending: Hobart, Clayton, and San Mateo all sold last week in $2M range. One underpriced listing got 18 offers and sold $400K+ over asking.
MOUNTAIN VIEW
-
Prices are skyrocketing even more than in Los Altos.
- Eye-popping sale of the week: 2012 Sun Mor Ave sold for $2.8M.
- New listings: Valencia Dr. List $2.299. A nice home, will probably go way over asking because of its location..
PALO ALTO
-
Huge demand for lots: a 1700 sq ft teardown in a traditionally tough-sell location went for $2.8M with three offers. Neighbors on Cowper are making offers on a 9000 sq ft lot before it’s been priced.
-
Stock option buyers: all four offerees on a North Palo Alto listing showed verification of funds with company stock.
-
International buyers are still there, mainly mainland Chinese buyers.
-
Affordability declining: Palo Alto was a middle class town 25 years ago. Today, lawyers and doctors are looking at prices in their neighborhood and saying, “We couldn’t afford to buy here.”
REDWOOD CITY
- little houses are selling.
- buyers are still nervous about big houses, and cautious about top of market homes.
- pockets of opportunity in two spots: (1) Hudson / Roosevelt / down to corner of Woodside Road and El Camino. There’s some opportunity there, especially as downtown develops. (2) some Victorians and really nice places just to the east of downtown, in an area where they’ve tried to get a historical area. Good play long term.
- 25 new listings last week:
- an acre on Jefferson just listed at $3.4. A fixer on the lake. Biggest lake front span.
- bargain alert at 1716 Virginia: 2/1, 950 sq ft. listed for $799. super cute, fully finished. Big lot in back, tons of possibilities.
- 1185 Brand listed at $799 in a cute little pocket of Eichler-esque houses in RWC. $799. All very original, but interesting.
- Sold / pending:
- new record set on Hudson: 841 sq ft. Listed at $699, sold for $740.
- lot value sale on Brewster in Mt Carmel sold for $899.
WOODSIDE
-
homes either sells in two weeks or two years. You’re dead if you miss on pricing.
-
48 listings on the market.
-
new listings:
-
$12M listing at 325 Manzanita.
-
$4.995 on Moore Road: great house, tougher sell that side of freeway.
-
- coming soon: Manzanita.
0
2
0
0
0
