Arn Cenedella

Archive for the 'New listings' Category

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

What do you think about agents taking listings off market and then putting them back on as new listings?

The FrontSteps a San Francisco Real Estate Blog reports the ABC Nightline may do a story on the the practice of some seller agents taking a listing that has not sold off the market and then putting the property back on the market so it shows like it is a new listing.

Many believe this practice is unfair to the buying public.
This issue seems to surface every few months.
In my mind, it is not as big an issue as many think.
If a potential buyer is working with a knowledgeable professional agent who knows the local market, that agent will know whether the property was on the market 1 month ago or 3 months ago or 6 months ago.
When I represent buyers interested in purchasing a house in a particular neighborhood, I make sure I send them ALL the market data for similar properties in that neighborhood typically back at least 6 months but often 12 months. I send them active listings, pending listings, sold properties and expired or withdrawn listings. So my buyer clients have the information they need to make an informed decision. So in my mind if seller agents want to play games with days on market, let them. These games will not fool knowledgeable buyers working with experienced professional agents. That being said, many mls services like REInfolink on the San Francisco Peninsula now have CDOM and DOM – cumulative days on market and days on market – so the data is readily available.

Julie Joyce a realtor in the Montclair Piedmont area has similar thoughts stating that buyers in the Bay Area are sophisticated knowledgeable consumers who throughly research market data before making a decision.

Marian Bennett a realtor in the Half Moon Bay area on the San Mateo Coastside gives several specific examples on how days on market can vary and what days on market really means.

A look at the Half Moon Bay San Mateo Coastside Market

For an up-to-date analysis of the market on the San Mateo Coastside, please go to a local blog written by Marian Bennett, a Coldwell Banker agent in Half Moon Bay. Marian also provides some detailed information of the various Coastside communities.

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.