Arn Cenedella

Archive for the 'Menlo Park Real Estate' Category

How is the current market in Menlo Park ?

My Coldwell Banker El Camino office had our Half Year State of the Office and Marketplace meeting earlier today. My office is the number 1 Coldwell Banker office in the San Francisco/Peninsula region in terms of listings and closed sales per agent year to agent.

Here is what our office has experienced in the first half of the year to date.

Average sales price is up 5.5% but the number of sales is down 38%.

So in our market area, prices have held up fairly well and in some cases increased while sales volume is down significantly.

 I will supply actual market data for each community in my market area in subsequent posts.

916 Timothy Lane, Menlo Park

916 Timothy Lane Menlo Park priced at $988,000 is new on the market. Charming wood shingle home on large 7,085sf private parcel.

This property will be open Sunday June 22, 2008 1:30PM to 4:30PM.

Virtual tour

Single Family Home Inventories are Increasing

The charts speak for themselves – inventory is increasing. Will sales increase to absorb the increasing inventory?

Menlo Park Home Sales as a % of New Listings

There were very few listings in Menlo Park came on in the last two months of 2007 (52) and 46 homes sold in those two months.

65 new listings came on the market in March 2008 with 24 sales in March 2008.

57 new listings came on the market in March 2007 with 40 sales in March 2007.

What will the rest of the year bring? Inventory seems to be increasing in Menlo Park. Will sales keep pace?

Menlo Park monthly home sales

The number of homes sold in Menlo Park in March 2008 shows the typical spring increase in the number of homes sold. However it should be noted that the number of sales in the first 3 months of the year is below the 2007 amounts. 85 homes sold first quarter 07 versus 55 homes sold first quarter 08.

22 homes sold January 2007 with 11 sold in January 2008.

23 homes sold in February 2007 with 20 sold in February 2008.

40 homes sold in March 2007 with 24 sold in March 2008.

The obvious conclusion is that the number of sales in 2008 will be smaller than the number of sales in 2007.

What will the rest of the year bring? That’s why Chris Berman on ESPN says “that’s why they play the games!” – you never know what will happen – stay tuned for further updates.

The most expensive single family home in Menlo Park

1155 Trinity Drive, Menlo Park is currently listed by Michelle Englert of Cashin Properties in conjunction with two of her office mates Doyle Rundell and Kristin Cashin.

This wonderful Sharon Heights home came on the market in early January and was originally priced at $5,495,000 and is now listed at $5,295,000.

This stunning updated Mediterranean estate sits on over a one half acre parcel and has views of the coastal range and Sharon Heights Golf Club . The residence was built in 1998 and updated since that time. It contains nearly 5,600sf of living area and has 5 bedrooms and 5.5 baths. This home is built for entertaining.

Seems to me a venture capitalist who works on Sand Hill Rd. should buy this property.

Virtual tour

Menlo Park 2007 Real Estate Trends

The number of single family homes sold in 2007 increased  8.8% from 2006 levels.

Average and median prices of single family homes in Menlo Park decreased slightly by 2.1% and 0.7% respectively.

The number of condominium and townhouse sales in Menlo Park dropped 7.7% from 2006 to 2007.

Average and median prices however increased 5.4% and 5.2% respectively.

Real Estate Statistics – take with a grain of salt !

Kevin Boer of 3 Oceans Real Estate, a Palo Alto real estate broker recently posted on analysis of Menlo Park real estate market data. The median price of Menlo Park homes has dropped significantly over the past year or so. Have property values actually dropped? Local agents like Kevin Boer and myself are out seeing and selling property in our local market place. We know Menlo Park values HAVE NOT DECREASED. Kevin’s analysis indicates that over the past year or so inventory has increased dramatically in Belle Haven, a Menlo Park neighborhood located east of HWY 101. The Belle Haven area is the lowest priced neighborhood in Menlo Park (average price $600,000) and it has been especially hit with the subprime mortgage meltdown. Inventory has decreased in the more expensive areas of Menlo Park west of HWY 101 and especially west of El Camino. So what has happened is that lots of lower priced homes in Belle Haven have come on the market and DO NOT sell, therefore the median price of Menlo Park homes has dropped BUT VALUES have not gone down.

This clearly points out why statistics need to be taken with a grain of salt and also points out the important of working with an expereinced local agent who knows the market in order to give you the accurate up to date information on the market.

Inventory Levels – Menlo Park Real Estate

What will the new year bring for Menlo Park real estate?

Below you will see a graph showing inventory levels for single family homes in Menlo Park over the past 2.5 years.

The inventory levels for available single family homes usually reaches a low point right around January 1 of each year. On January 1, 2006, there were 45 single family homes for sale in Menlo Park. On Janaury 1, 2007, there were only 27 single family homes for sale in Menlo Park. Currently as of January 1, 2008; there are 67 single family homes for sale in Menlo Park.

So current inventory is higher than it has been the past 2 years. I guess that’s no suprise given the current market.

Inventory levels typically increase from the low levels in January and reach a peak in Menlo Park typically in May or June of each year. Inventory levels often tend to drop a little towards the end of summer (family vacations? getting kids back to school? the dog days of summer?) and then pick up again after Labor Day until dropping again as we approach the November and December holiday period.

The shape of these graphs on an annual basis are similar but not exact. 2005 and 2007 exhibited a spike in inventory after Labor Day where 2006 did not.

I thought it would be informative to compare listings and sales for the last 4 months of each year – i.e. September, October, November, and December.

In these 4 months:

2006             170 new listings        130 closed sales           40 more listings than sales

2007             122 new listings        107 closed sales            15 more listings than sales

2008             157 new listings        74 closed sales              83 more listings than sales

These number clearly show why inventory has not dropped as much at the end of 2007 and it did in the preceeding years – fewer closed sales compared to new listings – hence higher inventory.

What will 2008 bring?

My sense is overall inventory will increase significantly from the current level of 67 homes as we leave the holiday period. Many of the agents in my office say they are working on new listings that will come to market the first quarter 2008.

But again, one must remember real estate is very local.

Even within cities, each neighborhood is different.

My sense is well-priced homes in west menlo will be in high demand and will sell quickly as they come on the market. There will be more buyers looking in west menlo than there will be houses for them. The less expensive areas of Menlo Park near HWY 101 and east of HWY 101 will see softer markets than experienced west of El Camino.

Current MLS data indicates 58 homes for sale in Menlo Park as of 1-3-2008.

27 of these are located in Belle Haven – east of HWY 101.

10 of these are located in the unicorporated area of Fair Oaks off Marsh Road.

5 of these are in the Willows or the Flood Park triangle off Bay Road.

6 are in west Menlo and 6 are off the Alameda or in Sharon Heights.

So maybe ONLY 12 homes for sale in west menlo.

Again, it is all abut location, location, location.

1326 American Way Menlo Park has sold

1326 American Way is under contract – like 5 days on market !

Wonder what it sold for?