Mountain View Single Family Home Market Update 02-20-09
As of today this is the snapshot of the Mountain View single family home market:
•88 Active listings
•18 Pending sales
1 Closed sale this month
What does this mean? There has been a big jump in inventory this month. Active listings are up by 16 but pending sales are also up by 7. The ratio of pending to active is not bad with a 1 to 4.5 ratio when the ratio at the beginning of the month was about 1 to 6 pending to active. If the ratios hold we should not see much change in prices but if inventory continues to increase without a similar increase in pendings we will see more softening in the market.
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
650-619-9285
So What is an Eichler?
Palo Alto is home to many Eichlers, mid century single story homes with walls of windows, tar and gravel roofs, wood siding, radiant heat, and a concept of indoor/outdoor living. In the 50's these homes were considered modern, quintessentially Californian, or fire traps called 7 minute Eichlers because they could burn to the ground in 7 minutes or less. The mahagony walls had no fire retardant properties so the homes burned quickly if there was a fire.
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 andHilp were building the typical 3 bedroom 1 bath cottages for the new young families, Eichler figured out that by adding a 2 bath he could have a huge leg up over the competition as well as adding great value to his inexpensive homes. Eichler had some good and some bad copiers. Kaufman and Brown Stern, and Macay also built contemporary style homes in the bay area. These homes have many similar features and some features that are better (like central heat) and some worse (like a floor plan that does not flow as well or use the inside/outside feel as well.)
I do not think that in 1952 Eichler believed his homes would be in their original condition in 2009. Having the plumbing and heating under a cement slab sitting on expansive soil has been a problem. The lack of insulation is a problem in our energy conscious society. Many of the homes have had the mahogany walls replaced with sheetrock which makes for a much more fire safe abode. However, the style of an Eichler is very pleasing to many modern buyers. The kitchen faces the living area and looks out to the back yard. This is the open great room style that is 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 is not a simple question because many Eichler's are in the flood zone in Palo Alto which will bring the price down. Also, some Palo Alto Eichler neighborhoods have voted in restrictions on building a second story in order to preserve the privacy that Eichler built into his developments. However, this restriction has a dampening effect on re-sale value.
Right now the contemporary, mid century style of an Eichler 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.
Sunnyvale, Ca. Single Family Home Market Update 02-16-09
As of today here is the snapshot of the single family home market in Sunnyvale:
145 Active Listings
54 Pending Listings
5 Sold homes in last week
What does this mean? The inventory is up from last week when there were 132 active and 51 pending listings. The sold number is 1 higher. In the under 550K market there is still more activity than in the higher end, and the pending to active ratio is a little better than last week. There are 54 active listings under 550K and 35 pending sales, which is quite good. My expectation is that is the conforming loan limit goes back to $729,500 which the 2009 Stimulus Package has it set to do, that the market will be active up to the 800K mark.
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 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
650-619-9285
www.marcymoyer.com
Palo Alto, Ca. Single Family Home Market Update 02-15-09
As of today this is the snap shot of the Palo Alto market:
91 Active Listings
26 Pending Sales
4 Sold listing in past week
What does this mean? The inventory is stable from last week, but this was a holiday week-end so there may be another jump this week. Pending sales are up from 21 to 26 so percentage wise pendings are actually up a little more than active, but the overall ratio is still 1 pending for less than 4 actives which is a little better than last week. Again, this is more of an over 2 million dollar problem. There are 39 listings over 2 million and 5 pending sales, or a 1 to 8 ratio which is better than last week's 1 to 20 but still not great, especially since the highest price pending listing is 2.649. There are 52 listings under 2 million and 21 pending sales, so a 1 to 2.5 (almost) ratio, which is not too bad and about the same as last week.
This weeks closed sales are pretty interesting.
2980 Waverley St. Listed for 2.1 and sold for 1.932 4 bedroom/3 baths
1730 Guinda Listed for 1.698 and sold for 1.630 3 bedrooms 1/5 baths
2326 Hanover Listed for 1.195 and sold for 900K 2 bedrooms 1 bath
3059 Louis Rd. Listed for 899K and sold for 860K 3 bedrooms 1 bath
This week all the sales are lower than asking, which as you know I have not been too excited about. However, this seems to be getting pervasive in Palo Alto, even in the lower price range. Stay tuned for more updates.
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
650-619-9285
www.marcymoyer.com
Palo Alto, Ca. Single Family Home Market Update 01-29-09
As of today this is the snap shot of the Palo Alto market:
•90 Active Listings
•21 Pending Sales
•4 Sold listing in past week
What does this mean? The inventory continues to increase. Active listings are up from 81 to 90. Pending sales are also up from 17 to 21 so percentage wise pendings are actually up a little more than active, but the overall ratio is still 1 pending for every 4.5 actives which is not so great. Again, this is more of an over 2 million dollar problem. There are 40 listings over 2 million and 2 pending sales, or a 1 to 20 ratio which is terrible. There are 50 listings under 2 million and 19 pending sales, so a 1 to 2.5 (almost) ratio, which is not too bad.
This weeks closed sales are pretty interesting.
866 Seale Listed for $3,498,000 and sold for $3,625,000 New construction
1029 Ramona Listed for $1,650,000 and sold for $1,350,000
608 Fulton Listed for $1,690,000 and sold for $1,395,000
2576 Middlefiled Listed for $839,000 and sold for $745,000
What I find most interesting about this week is that for the first time since I have been a realtor Palo Alto has more active listings than East Palo Alto. EPA has 88 active single family home listings and Palo Alto 90. Usually there are at least twice as many listings in EPA as PA. I think this really backs up what I have been saying that the lower end of the market is very hot, while the upper end is ice cold.
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
650-619-9285
www.marcymoyer.com
 |
|
|
Serving Santa Clara and San Mateo County real estate needs for 14 years. Specialist in single family homes, condos, investment properties, land development, and residential rental properties.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2009 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
