Mountain View Market Update, March 29th: Condo/Town Homes

Mountain View Condo/Townhome Home Market Update 03-29-09

As of today this is the snapshot of the Mountain View condo/town home market:

83 Active listings

27 Pending sales

10 Closed sales this month

What does this mean? There hasn't been an increase in inventory this month, with 83 active listings instead of numbers around the high 60’s. The ratio of pending sales to active listings is holding at about 2.5 to 1. There are 37 listings under $500,000 and 21 pending sales in this price range and only 6 pending sales over 550K--the highest is $629K at the new development Gables End. This is pretty consistent throughout the Bay Area with most of sales happening under 550K.

If you are interested in finding the final selling price of any home, anywhere, you can do it on my web site. Go to www.marcymoyer.com and click on Cyberhome Home Valuation. You can then type in any address next to the search icon and get the county records.

If you need anything else please feel free to contact me. I am here to help you.

Marcy Moyer Intero Real Estate

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

www.marcymoyer.com

Palo Alto Market Update, Mar 24: Single Family Homes

Palo Alto, Ca. Single Family Home Market Update 03-24-09

As of today this is the snap shot of the Palo Alto market:

137 Active Listings

25 Pending Sales

6 closed sales since 3/16/09

Here are the solds:

 

Address	City	Beds	Bath	DOM	CDOM	LOE	SqFt	$/SqFt	Lot(SqFt)	List Price	Age	Sale Price
SOLD
832 Waverley St	Palo Alto	3	3 1/2	7	7	21	2,403	$871.83	4,356	$2,095,000	4	$2,095,000
4270 Wilkie	Palo Alto	5	4+	15	32	38	3,312	$581.22	8,316	$1,995,000	1	$1,925,000
4272 Wilkie Wy	Palo Alto	5	4+	7	7	42	3,345	$575.49	8,000	$2,100,000		$1,925,000
1111 Cedar St	Palo Alto	1	1	5	5	8	695	$2,726.62	10,000	$1,895,000	99	$1,895,000
1638 Portola Av	Palo Alto	4	2	51	51	45	2,112	$781.25	5,250	$1,750,000	81	$1,650,000
1252 Cedar St	Palo Alto	2	1	44	307	78	989	$1,314.46	8,109	$1,588,000	85	$1,300,000
2321 Oberlin St	Palo Alto	5	3 1/2	102	102	16	4,000		6,250	$2,695,000	1	- -
AVERAGE VALUES				33	73	35	2,408	$1,141.81	7,183	$2,016,857	45	$1,798,333

4270 Wilkie originally listed at $2,425,000.

1111 Ceder originally listed at $2,137,000.

1638 Portola originally listed at $1,800,000.

 

What does this mean?

Active listings are up and pending sales are steady. What strikes me is that active sales are up during the week of spring break for Palo Alto schools, traditionally a week when the inventory does not increase. It is another sign that this market is not like other markets we have experienced in Palo Alto. In the past, when sellers expected their homes to sell in a week, they would not usually list during a week where many families were out of town. Now, sellers don’t expect a quick sale, and many families are not going away any way.

If you are interested in finding the final selling price of any home, anywhere, you can do it on my web site. Go to www.marcymoyer.com and click on Cyberhome Home Valuation. You can then type in any address next to the search icon and get the county records.

If you need anything else please feel free to contact me. I am here to help you.

Marcy Moyer Intero Real Estate

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

Mountain View Market Update, March 7th: Condo/Town Homes

As of today, here's the snapshot of the Mountain View condo/town home market--

74 active listings

23 pending sales

1 closed sale this month

What does this mean? There hasn't been some increase in inventory this month. Active listings are up by 8 and pending sales are up by 7 in the last 3 weeks. The ratio of pending to active is about 1 to 3, which isn't too bad. Unless these numbers change the market should stay fairly stable, at soft, but not horrible.

If you're interested in finding the final selling price of any home, anywhere, you can do it on my website.  Click here to get to my site--once there, click on Cyberhome Home Valuation. You can then type in any address next to the search icon to get the county records.

If you need anything else please feel free to contact me. I'm here to help you.

Marcy Moyer, Intero Real Estate

marcy@marcymoyer.com

Mountain View Market Update, March 7: Single Family Homes

Here's today's snapshot of the Mountain View single family home market--

91 active listings

17 pending sales

2 closed sales this month

What does this mean? There hasn't been much change in inventory this month. Active listings are up by 3 and pending sales are down 1 in the last 2 weeks. The ratio of pending to active is 1 to 5--at the beginning of Feb. the ratio was 1 to 6 (pending to active). If inventory continues to increase without a similar increase in pending sales we will see more softening in the market.

If you're interested in finding the final selling price of any home, anywhere, you can do it on my website. Go to www.marcymoyer.com and click on Cyberhome Home Valuation. You can then type in any address next to the search icon to get the county records.

If you need anything else, please contact me. I'm here to help you. 

Marcy Moyer, Intero Real Estate

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

Palo Alto, CA: Single Family Homes Sold Since Feb 15, 2009

630 KENDALL AV, Palo Alto 94306 (Palo Alto)
$2,350,000 Beds: 5 bed(s) Baths: 4+ bath(s) Original list price $2,499,000. Sold in 2007 for $2,800,000

      195 HEATHER LN, Palo Alto 94303 (Palo Alto)
$2,150,000 Beds: 3 bed(s) Baths: 2 1/2 bath(s) Original list price $2,195,000

      4268 Wilkie WY, Palo Alto 94306 (Palo Alto)
$1,995,000 (W) Beds: 5 bed(s) Baths: 4+ bath(s) Original list price $2,595,000 The sales price is not necessarily accurate. It sold off market and the sales price was not recorded in MLS.

      974 COTTRELL WY, Stanford 94305 (Palo Alto)
$1,750,000 Beds: 5 bed(s) Baths: 2 1/2 bath(s) Original list price $1,795,000 Sold in 2006 for $1,695,000 Only available tro Stanford faculty

      301 BARCLAY CT, Palo Alto 94306 (Palo Alto)
$1,250,000 Beds: 4 bed(s) Baths: 2 bath(s) Original list price $1,495,000

      982 ELSINORE DR, Palo Alto 94303 (Palo Alto)
$1,275,000 Beds: 4 bed(s) Baths: 3 bath(s) Original list price $1,195,000

      125 MONROE DR, Palo Alto 94306 (Palo Alto)
$950,000 Beds: 3 bed(s) Baths: 2 bath(s) Original list price $1,115,000

      739 COLORADO AV, Palo Alto 94303 (Palo Alto)
$1,020,400 Beds: 3 bed(s) Baths: 1 bath(s) Original list price $839,000

This last one really stands out as off, but it was for sale last Aug. before the crash, although just closed. The listing agent is related to the owner, and carried the note. It looks like maybe a builder bought it and did not get financing so the owners are carrying, but that is just speculation.

Number of homes with price reductions right now is 35 out of 121 listings.

If you are interested in finding the final selling price of any home, anywhere, you can do it on my web site. Go to www.marcymoyer.com and click on Cyberhome Home Valuation. You can then type in any address next to the search icon and get the county records.

If you need anything else please feel free to contact me. I am here to help you.

Marcy Moyer Intero Real Estate

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

www.marcymoyer.com

So, What's an Eichler?

Palo Alto is home to many Eichlers. These mid-century single-story homes feature walls of windows, tar and gravel roofs, wood-siding, radiant heat, and that wonderful Californian sense of indoor/outdoor living. In the 50's, these homes were considered modern and quintessentially Californian, but they also earned a reputation for being fire traps. They were nicknamed 7 minute Eichlers, because they could burn to the ground in 7 minutes or less--the mahogany walls weren't equipped with fire retardant properties, so the homes burned quickly.

Joseph Eichler was a student of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and learned from Wright the beauty of clean lines, a wonderful use of light, and a contemporary feel. What Eichler did that was so influential was taking these lofty architectural concepts and mass producing them for the families of young GI's after WWII. He built large tracts of affordable homes, many in South Palo Alto. While builders like Roger Kohler (father of well-known Palo Alto architect Roger Kohler) or Barret and Hilp were building the typical 3 bedroom single bath cottages for the new young families, Eichler discovered that by adding a 2nd bath he'd have a huge leg up over the competition while adding great value to his inexpensive homes. 

Eichler had some good and bad copiers. Kaufman and Brown Stern, and Macay also built contemporary style homes in the Bay Area. These homes have similar features and some features that are better (central heating) and some worse (floor plans that don't flow well or add that inside/outside feel).

I don't think that in 1952 Eichler believed his homes would retain their original condition by 2009. Having the plumbing and heating sitting on expansive soil has been a problem. The lack of insulation is also a problem in our energy conscious society. Many of the homes have had the mahogany walls replaced with sheetrock, which makes for a far safer abode in the event of a fire. However, the style of an Eichler is very pleasing to many modern buyers. The kitchen faces the living area and looks out onto the backyard. This is the open great room style that's found in most new construction today. When updated, these can be wonderfully comfortable, energy efficient homes.

There is some debate as to whether an Eichler sells for less than a ranch-style or cottage-style home. It isn't a simple question because many Eichler's are in Palo Alto's flood zone, which obviously brings the price down. Also, some Palo Alto Eichler neighborhoods have voted in restrictions on building a second story in order to reserve the privacy that Eichler built into his developments. However, this restriction has a dampening effect on resale value. 

Right now, the contemporary mid-century Eichler style is in favor with many buyers. With modernization of the windows, heating system, roof, and finishes, these homes will probably last for many more years to come.