Price Reductions and a few new sales......

The 3/2 at High St has had a price reduction from $1,249,000 down to $1,195,000. They were at 867 sq/ft (way to high). Now they are down to 829 sq/ft. We also saw 360 Everett drop from $1,395,000 to $1,278,000 and 548 Everett drop from $1,095,000 to $995,000. These look like nice price drops but as I've been saying all winter the condo listings in downtown PA all started out too high. 

There are a few sales to report, all pending none closed. 766 University, 101 Alma  and 1327 Alma are all now in contract. They were all on a very long time with price drops so it will be very interesting to see what they finally sold for. 

As I've been saying, our market is trying to find itself right now. Reported sales will help with that. Expect to see us off around 20% from where we were last Spring......

Our Market is Starting to Move.....

We'll see what direction it's going, but North Palo Alto has 10 pending sales over the last 2 weeks. That's double what we saw over the first two months of the year. We still only have one pending condo sale in downtown PA (the 4 bedroom at 800 High Street).  Over the next month, assuming these deals close, we will have some comps to go froward with into the Spring. 

As I posted Friday, it's a FABULOUS time to be a buyer right now. I've talked to more than a few buyers this week who were surprised at how easy it was to get pre-approved and were delighted with the rate they were able to lock in.....

Good News for Buyers....

Here's an email I got from one of my lenders today. Very good news and a GREAT time to be a buyer....

Good morning Craig,

 

I’ve never had the experience of riding in a Shelby Supercars Ultimate Aero Twin Turbo, but between the possible $18,000 in tax credits.., mortgage rates back in the mid-4% range, housing starts hitting a record since 1990 and purchase applications up over 7%, I feel like I’m about to board the housing industry’s version of a Shelby. 

 

As if the $8,000 federal income tax credit for first-time homebuyers wasn’t enough incentive to buy a how about an ADDITIONAL $10,000 state tax credit for buying a NEW home!  And what if this credit was NOT limited to first-time homebuyers nor by income requirements (the Federal credit is limited to those households earning $150k AGI; $75k single…)?!!!  That’s right your first-time-homebuyer clients may be eligible for $18,000 in tax credits just for buying a new home in CA, WOW!  But if you’re not a first-timer and still want to buy, say 861 Channing in Palo Alto as a primary residence, a $10,000 state credit is nothing to sneeze at.  Please make sure to lick on the link above for a summary, the details and other helpful links.

 

Want more incentive to buy a home?  OK, how about the fact that conforming-level mortgages (loans up to $729,750, FHA included) are now priced back in that 4% range..?  This is all thanks to the Fed for stepping up efforts to buy more mortgage-backed securities, which of course means that we’re printing more money again, but it makes the tax-adjusted* payment on a $600,000 30-year fixed mortgage incredibly attractive at about $2,200 per month (including principal).

 

If huge tax credits and lowest interest rates in history aren’t enough to spur home buying, how about even more data supporting the fact that this market is about to turn?  With housing starts setting a record not seen since 1990, ending a 10-month decline, it’s obvious that the builders and developers are confident that land and materials aren’t going to get any cheaper, and that now is the time to act.

 

You probably heard that purchase mortgage applications were up 7.1% for the month of February, which is a very encouraging sign that people are preparing to buy; and on a local basis, about 10% of our current applications are purchase money.  Even with the mad rush on refinance locks yesterday, of the $25,000,000 in loans that we locked just YESTERDAY 5% were purchase money.  Every week, we are seeing more and more buyers actively applying to become pre-approved for a mortgage loan.

Info regarding the proposed low income/senior housing along Alma St.

Anyone interested in the proposed low income/senior housing project along Alma St (and this directly effects the 800 High Street Building) please note that there will be a Special Public Hearing of the Planning and Transportation Commission to discuss the project and hear opinions from the public. If you're interested in attending, it is scheduled for Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 at 6:00pm at the Council Chambers, Civic Center 250 Hamilton Avenue, 1st Floor. The public's opinion could impact decisions related to this highly controversial project....

Closed Sales in PA since 1/1/09

We have 10 closed sales in North Palo Alto since 1/1/09. Of those ten sales, one of them was a condo (at the Weatherly). Of the 10, three sold over the list price (fairly surprising), 5 sold under the list price, only 2 sold right at the list price. 

Of the homes that are currently pending sales: 2 of them are listed over 4 million, 1 listed over 3 million, 1 listed over 2 million ($2,095,000),  and 9 listed between $600,000 and $1,600,000. It will be VERY interesting to see what the actual sales prices are for these homes when they close but just looking at what's pending, it's fairly clear what part of the market is moving these days....

February Sales Stats

We don't have any condo sales to report so I will give you the sales stats for single fam homes in PA for February. 

Feb 2009: 14 closed sales, median sales price $1,395,000

Feb 2008: 17 closed sales, median sales price $1,657,000

Pretty much in line with what we saw in January, too...

Pricing Update

As I reported earlier in the week, we do have one pending sale--the 4 bedroom at 800 High St, listed for $1,298,000, is in contract set to close April 14th. They were originally listed at $1,398,000 before the price drop and were on the market 46 days. Good for them, nothing else is pending in downtown Palo Alto.....

We did see a price drop at 548 Everett. They were at $1,098,000 and dropped this week to $995,000. That's the right direction, I felt they should have started out at this list price. It's a great unit, one level 2/2 set back off the street, very private. I don't know if this new list price will do it but as I said, they are headed in the right direction to secure a sale.....

Price Drop Coming Soon on 212 Everett Ave....

212 Everett, a 3bed/2.5ba, 1766 sq feet, 12 years old is a Dreyfus Properties listing that is about to see another price drop. Currently listed for $1,575,000 in the next day or so we are dropping it to $1,450,000. The most recent comp sale of these units was last Spring on Ramona for (sit down for this) $1,950,000! That one was a couple hundred square feet bigger, but if there is a better example for what has happened to our market I haven't seen it. This is a great house in a fabulous part of downtown PA. If you or someone you know wants to see it don't hesitate to call me. 650-218-6499

A Pending Sale!

Who would have thought a pending sale would be such an exciting event? In this market it is. The 4 bedroom at 800 High St (listed for $1,298,000, on the market for 46 days) is now in contract. It is set to close April 14th. Cross your fingers for a comp!

Downtown Condo Sales Update.....

Well, it's not really an "update". 19 condos continue to be available in downtown PA-no pending sales. In fact, there has only been ONE sale in 2009 in the downtown PA condo market (it was a 2 bedroom at the Weatherly). One. Wow. 

I tell everyone the same thing: Pricing your home off last Spring's sales accomplishes nothing. This is not a market where you "hope and wait for things to get better". Th message is simple: If you don't need to sell your house take it off the market-all you are doing by keeping it listed is adding to the swelling inventory list. If you do need to sell your house, be very open and realistic to what I tell you it's worth. Because I will tell you this: Whatever I say it's worth TODAY is more than it will be worth by the end of the year. Guaranteed....

"Why aren't buyers buying real estate right now?"

Someone walked into our office yesterday and asked us this question. It's a fair question, here was my response (basically word for word):

"Buyers aren't buying for three main reasons:

1) You can't have the world's economy tank without having an overall repricing of pretty much every asset in the world. Almost everyone, across the board, had a reduction of their wealth

2) Lenders have severely stepped up their requirments for pre-approval. Good for them, their wayward approach to lending is what's fueled the nation-wide forclosure mess. But many lenders are now requiring 30% down. For someone who's taken a 25% hit on what they were worth last August, having to put down 30% (instead of 10-20%) to purchase is not exactly driving buyers to the offer table.

3) Most buyers think we have another drop in the market and seem content on waiting for that to happen before they buy again. This world wide consumer pessimism is contributing to the resistence people have towards buying ANYTHING right now....."

Oh, and prices are too high, but that's a topic for another time :)

Recent Pending Sales and some Current Listing Info

Welcome to March 1st! Always one of my favorite days of the year, not sure why. Let's look at what Feburary brought us in terms of pending sales: 

We have three (3) pending sales in north Palo Alto since Feb 1. That is astounding. In terms of downtown PA, one of the pending sales was 832 Waverley-- This home came on this week listed for $2,095,000. It was built by Summerhill and is part of their "Channing Collection".--My understanding is that this property received 2 offers. Just the fact that it got multiple offers is worth noting. It is the exception and not the rule.....

The other two pending sales are on Elsinore and Fulton--

In terms of active listings, all classes in North Palo Alto, we have 82 current listings. Yes, that is a lot. That would  usually be a big number for ALL of Palo Alto. The number for current listings in all of Palo ALto is 179. That is a huge number......