The Tour Sheet today

Before we go on tour each Friday we pick up the tour sheet with all the new listings in PA and/or old listings with price drops. Back at the peak, the tour sheet would often be 6,7, maybe 8 pages long! Today it is is a page and half. And of that there are only THREE new listings in North Palo Alto. This speaks to many things, the main one being we are obviously seeing some hesitancy on the side of the sellers in this uncertain market place to put their house on the market. But the fact is, houses are selling,  if there is something UNIQUE about the product. The new construction on Seale went right into contract as well as the unit at the Weatherly. That unit was in pristine condition having been owned by the builder who never lived in it. 

This may be an uncertain time in the market place but we are very light on inventory. Buyers are out there not just looking for a deal but they are looking for that unique product, too. Sometimes what is "unique" is the price, but not always as is evidenced by how quickly Seale and Homer went into contract this week....

Tour tomorrow

We are starting to see a little more inventory come on in downtown PA. Last week we saw two new downtown listings, one at the Weatherly and one at 800 High St. The listing at the Weatherly went right into contract so that's good to see. This week there is a new listing at the Woodmark. It's at 325 Channing, a 2/2.5, 2086 square feet, listed for $1,600,000. Tomorrow I'll post my feedback about this unit and anything else that I see on tour. 

listings and sales (pending and closed) since 12/1/08

Just looking at the activity in North Palo Alto (everything NORTH of Oregon Expressway) and wanted to pass it on. Since 12/1/08 we've seen 24 new listings (just looking at single family homes). Of those, we have 2 closed sales ($1,675,000 and $1,165,000) and 3 pending sales.  27 days into January, that is a stark lack of activity. 

866 Seale is one of the 3 pending sales. It toured for the brokers last Friday--new construction, listed for $3,498,000, 3600 square feet, lot 9514. I really liked it, no surprise it went into contract so quickly. I also think it was wise of the listing agent to list this under $1000 a sq/ft. The days of 1200-1400 a square foot for new construction in North PA are over, for now at least....

Interesting Palo Alto sales stats....

I took a look at the 4th quarter sales stats for 2005 thru 2008. Normally, I separate South PA and North PA but there just weren't enough sales to glean anything meaningful. Here are the Q4 sales stats with sales volume (all rounded up)....

2005 Q4: median sales price: $1,347,000/sales volume:  $157,000,000

2006 Q4: median sales price:$1,538,000/sales volume: $172,000,000

2007 Q4: median sales price: $1,861,000/sales volume: $163,000,000

2008 Q4: median sales price: $1,473,000/sales volume: $95,000,000

Yesterday's Open House

I held open 212 Everett yesterday. I believe it was the 4th OH we've had. I found there to be suprisingly good traffic. No neighbors (we usually see them during the first weekend open). Everyone who came through (about 12 groups) were real buyers. I often ask the question "Are you looking for a house or just out looking at houses?" to greet them and gather their intentions--- all of them were actively looking. Having said that, the prevailing attitude was that prices would continue to come down even further. The question for today's buyer is, do you wait for prices to drop and then go "all in" against all your fellow buyers or do you make those offers now with the number adjusted accordingly (to where you think the market has gone) and avoid competing? 

I'm holding open 212 Everett tomorrow

It's only been on 2 weeks, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bath single family home in the HEART of downtown Palo Alto. Listed for $1,650,000. Come see me. :)

Tour Feedback from January 23, 2009

The new 800 High Street listing is definitely worth checking out if you are looking for a unit in this contemporary building. It's a 4/2, these don't come up that often. I think it's priced right at $1,398,000. As 2009 begins and starts to unfold it's wise for sellers to be cautious with their list prices. This is a good one to follow to get a gauge of the condo market right now in downtown PA.

There was also a unit that came on in the Weatherly (315 Homer #203).  It's nice,they all are in that building. Personally, I liked the unit at 800 High St better--more space, bedrooms, etc....

It wasn't a condo, but the "Deal of the Day" is Kathy Pasin's listing on Guinda. It's a TON of house for that price (2030 sq ft), great lot (7000+), great location. You cant beat all that in North PA. I think this one is going to get a lot of interest. Watch to see what our market is doing. If it doesn't sell at or above that list price we really have to consider that our market is worse right now than we thought....