Arn Cenedella

Archive for the 'Palo Alto Real Estate' Category

San Carlos Menlo Park Palo Alto Median Price per Square Foot

It is informative to look at the median price per square foot as well as the more commonly reported median and average price statistics.

Below you will find chart indicating median price per square foot for single family homes in San Carlos Menlo Park and Palo Alto:

In general, the median price per square foot declined in 2008 for all three cities – San Carlos, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto.

San Carlos median price per sqaure foot dropped from about $640/sf to $580/sf.

Menlo Park median price per sqaure foot dropped ever so slighyly from $680/sf to $675/sf.

(Please note Menlo Park data includes Belle Haven neighborhood east of Highway 101 where property values are much lower than in the Menlo park areas west of Highway 101)

Palo Alto median price per square foot dropped from about $925/sf to $860/sf.

San Carlos Menlo Park Palo Alto Average Days on Market 2008

What have been the average days on market for single family detached homes in San Carlos, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto during 2008?

Have the average days on market in each of the three cities – San Carlos or Menlo Park or Palo Alto – behaved similarily during the year or have these three cities experienced differences?

Below you will see chart showing average days on market during 2008:

Averages days on market for single family homes in Menlo Park has remained relatively constant during 2008 at around 70 days.

In San Carlos and Palo Alto during 2008, we see a more seasonal pattern.

Average days on market peaked around March 1 (about 90 for San Carlos and 60 for Palo Alto), decreased to a low around July 1 (about 55 in San Carlos and about 40 days in Palo Alto), and since that time have increased through the balance of the year.

San Carlos Menlo Park Palo Alto Inventory Levels 2008

What have been the inventory levels for single family detached homes in San Carlos, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto during 2008?

Have the inventory levels in each of the three cities – San Carlos or Menlo Park or Palo Alto – behaved similarily during the year or have these three cities experienced differences?

Below you will see chart showing inventory levels during 2008:

The average chart indicates that inventory levels in all three cities – San Carlos Menlo Park and Palo Alto behaved in a similar fashion throughout the year.

Inventory levels in all three cities increased through the spring and summer – remained relatively flat through the fall and have now started to increase again towards the end of the year.

Palo Alto Real Estate Market October 2008

What is happening in the Palo Alto real estate market during the month of October 2008?

Below you will find a list of all single family homes listed in Palo Alto between October 1, 2008 and October 31, 2008

 The average list price of the 54 single family homes listed in Palo Alto between October 1, 2008 and October 31, 2008 was $1,942,345.

 10 of the Palo Alto homes listed in October 2008 have sold.

4 were listed below $1,000,000.

5 were listed between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000.

1 was listed at $1,950,000.

As was the case in San Carlos, the entry level priced home seems to be selling more quickly and more foten than the higher price range homes. Again, my sense is buyers are taking advanatage of the current slow market to get into Palo Alto. Move-up buyers appear to be more cautious at the current time.

A tale of three cities – San Carlos Menlo Park and Palo Alto #1

What has happened with the real estate market in San Carlos, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto during 2008?

The top line in each chart is the total inventory of single family homes available.

The middle line in each chart is the number of new single family home listings.

The lower line in each chart is the number of new sales (under contract) of single family homes.

San Carlos

In San Carlos, monthly sales have been fairly consistent throught the year with between 20 and 30 homes going into contract each month.

In San Carlos, the number of new listings each month averaged around 40 for most of the year but dropped to under 30 in August 2008.

In San Carlos, inventory levels typically ranged between 50 and 60 homes on the market with a peak of 70 in June 2008.

Menlo Park

In Menlo Park, the number of monthly sales ranged from between 20 and 35.

In Menlo Park, the number of new listings each month reached about 70 in March and April of this year and since then has averaged about 50.

In Menlo Park, inventory levels since spring have been between 90 and 110.

Palo Alto

In Palo Alto, the number of sales hit a peak of 46 in May 2008 and since that time has decreased to 17 or 18 in August 2008.

In Palo Alto, the number of new listings hit a peak of about 70 in May 2008 and has dropped steadily since that time to a little over 25 in August 2008.

In Palo Alto, inventory increased steadily throught the year and has been between 65 and 75 for the balance of the summer.

August typically is a slow time. I will update you on the September figures in the next few days.

A Tale of Three Cities and Four Price Ranges

I believe it is common knowledge that real estate is very local. The market in Menlo Park, Palo Alto, and San Carlos can be very different from the market in the East Bay or in the Central Valley. Even on the San Francisco Peninsula, markets vary from city to city. At the current time, Palo Alto is stronger than Menlo Park, Menlo Park is stronger than San Carlos and San Carlos is stronger than South San Francisco or Daly City.

In addition, it is common knowledge that within cities, certain neighborhoods are stronger than others.

We are also seeing different markets within cities depending on the price range of the properties being offered for sale.

Below you will see charts for San Carlos, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto broken down into quartiles – i.e. each city is divided into four quartile price ranges – one could label them “low price quartile”, “middle low quartile”, “middle high quartile” and “high quartile”. These prices are for LIST prices.

Here is the chart for San Carlos:

Let’s look at San Carlos…….

In the lowest price quartile in San Carlos, average prices have declined from $825,000 July 2007 to $745,000 July 2008.

In the middle low price quartile in San Carlos, average prices have were $1,075,000 July 2007 dropped to $925,000 in April 2008 and have recently risen to $1,000,000.

In the middle high price quartile in San Carlos, average prices have declined from $1,400,00 July 2007 to $1,300,000 July 2008.

In the high price quartile in San Carlos, average prices have declined from $2,100,000 July 2007 to $1,700,000 July 2008.

In San Carlos:

The lowest quartile price homes are found east of El Camino and prices in those neighborhoods have dropped over the past year. 

The very highest price range in San Carlos has dropped significantly over the past year.

The entry level price quartile (low middle) for homes located west of El Camino has remained fairly steady.

Here is the chart for Menlo Park:

In the lowest price quartile in Menlo Park, average prices have declined from $700,000 July 2007 to $500,000 July 2008.

In the low middle price quartile in Menlo Park, the average price of $900,000 has remained fairly constant over the past year.

In the high middle price quartile in Menlo Park, the average price was $1,325,000 July 2007 and has risen slightly to $1,400,000 July 2008.

In the high price quartile in Menlo Park, average price was $2,500,000 July 2007 and has risen $2,750,000 July 2008.

The lowest priced areas in Menlo Park are in Belle Haven east of Highway 101, property values in that area have dropped significantly.

The higer priced areas of Menlo Park west of El Camino (west Menlo) have increased over the past year even during a very tough market overall. The desirability of west Menlo is matched by the continued financial strenght of the people who want to own there.

The chart does indicate a slight cooling in all prices ranges since spring 2008.

Let’s look at Palo Alto……

In all four price quartiles in Palo Alto, average prices are about the same in July 2007 and July 2008.

The Palo Alto market has remained very strong over the past year.

Los Altos Market Data

Dave Blockhous of Coldwell Banker Los Altos recently did an analysis of the current Los Altos market. In this post, Dave compares market activity (number of sales and listings & average and median prices) over the first six months of the past couple of years. His analysis comes to much the same conclusions as my analysis of the San Carlos, Menlo Park, and Palo Alto markets did: The number of sales are down from years past but the average and median prices have remained stable or increased slightly.

Year to Date Closed Sales San Francisco Peninsula

2007 data is in blue and 2008 data is in red.

These numbers reflect closed sales through June 30 of each year.

As reflected in the number of sales my office has completed this year, the number of closed sales in all communities is down from 2007.

Mountan View down 3%

Los Altos down 21%

Palo Alto down 27%

Menlo Park down 28%

East Menlo Park down 72%

Redwood City down 16%

San Carlos down 20%

Listing Inventory Levels on the San Francisco Peninsula

2007 data is in blue and 2008 data is in red.

As you can see inventory has increased in all communities from 2007 to 2008.

Mountain View up 91%

Los Altos up 45%

Palo Alto up 42%

Menlo Park up 47%

East Menlo Park up 58%

Redwood City up 61%

San Carlos up 54%

Average Sales Price Palo Alto Los Altos Mountain View

Here is the average sales price data for Mountain View, Los Altos, and Palo Alto.

Los Altos average sales price is up about 7% from last year and average sales price for Mountain View and Palo Alto remains basically unchanged.