Coastal Real Estate and Lifestyles

San Mateo County Coastside - Half Moon Bay, El Granada, Moss Beach, Montara:

ALL Coastside: population approx. 23,000 (based on 2000 census)
Q1 2007 had 183 new listings.
Q1 2008 had 189 new listings.

Q1 2007 completed transactions - 66
Q1 2008 completed transactions - 34

Q1 2007 Median Price Coastside - $778,000
Q1 2008 Median Price Coastside - $748,000
Approx. 4% depreciation overall in the last year.

Half Moon Bay only: population approx. 12,000
Q1 2007 had 50 new listings.
Q1 2008 had 59 new listings.

Q1 2007 completed transactions - 28
Q1 2008 completed transactions - 20

Q1 2007 Median Price in HMB - 928,950
Q1 2008 Median Price in HMB - 972,000
Approx. 4.4% appreciation overall in the last year.

El Granada only: population approx. 6,000
Q1 2007 had 24 new listings.
Q1 2008 had 17 new listings.

Q1 2007 completed transactions - 15
Q1 2008 completed transactions - 6

Q1 2007 Median Price in EG - $785,500
Q1 2008 Median Price in EG - $840,000
Approx. 7% appreciation overall in the last year.

Moss Beach only: population approx. 2,000
Q1 2007 had 10 new listings.
Q1 2008 had 15 new listings.

Q1 2007 completed transactions - 6
Q1 2008 completed transactions - 3

Q1 2007 Median Price in MB - $749,375
Q1 2008 Median Price in MB - $790,000
Approx. 5.4% appreciation overall in the last year.

Montara only: population approx. 3,000
Q1 2007 had 13 new listings.
Q1 2008 had 11 new listings.

Q1 2007 completed transactions - 17
Q1 2008 completed transactions -5

Q1 2007 Median Price in MONT - $830,000
Q1 2008 Median Price in MONT - $740,000
Approx. 11% depreciation overall in the last year.

Half Moon Bay has the largest population of the four towns and is the only incorporated city.  El Granada, Moss Beach, and Montara are unincorporated San Mateo County.  The difference in numbers of listings and completed transactions comparing HMB to the other towns in the same year is relative due the population size differences.  We all know that statistics can be manipulated, and broad based statistics are just that, very general.  I’m sharing the median prices here because that is what the headlines report.

NAR just announced on 5/13/08 ”mixed home price performance continues…”.   Inman News headline on 5/13/08 reports on NAR’s announcement that “median resale prices fall at record rate”.  Here’s the highlights:

• Median price among 149 U.S. metro areas tracked was down 7.7% in Q1 2008 compared to Q1 2007.
• One Hundred of the metro areas had price declines.  Sacramento, CA  topped this list, down 29.2%.
• Forty eight of the metro areas had price increases. Binghamton, NY topped this list, up 11.8%.
• The median price among the 149 areas tracked was $196,300.

When you are about to list your home or purchase a home, your Realtor can provide very specific data pertaining to YOUR neighborhood which will be most useful.

Just in from Susan O’Driscoll, our Half Moon Bay office in-house lender, Princeton Capital…

**Rates for our agency jumbos are down! Loan amounts > $417,000 – $729,750 today on a 30 year fixed are 6% - 0 points or 5.75% with 1 point.**

Shortly before Susan’s email, I got a call from HMB Branch of Bank of America’s Bob Zimmer with his update.  I hadn’t gotten to my newsfeed in the last few days to see for myself the Fannie Mae announcement.  Thanks guys for keeping the telephone tree alive and well so that we and our buyer clients can be the first to know about changes that may affect their rates! 

Their news to me coincides with Wednesday’s announcement by Fannie Mae, summarized here by an NAR press release that Fannie is…

“…working to reduce the cost to consumers of jumbo conforming loans (loans above $417,000, up to $729,750 in some areas) and make it easier for individuals and families to qualify for these loans. We expect this step will lower mortgage costs for many families living in high-cost areas. Additionally, Fannie Mae will allow many borrowers to refinance Fannie Mae-owned mortgages even where a home’s current value is significantly less than the existing mortgage.”

“Agency jumbo” is the another term for “jumbo conforming”, the recently approved loan limit increase for high cost areas.  I know, we really don’t need more industry lingo, do we?

Related reading:

Fannie Mae Quarter 1 News Release

…embellishing the facts further along the spectrum does.  To say that the real estate media landscape is biased is no revelation by any stretch of the imagination.  There are the respective agendas and it’s just the way it is.  It will always be up to us as consumers to decide how we want to react to it and consider its validity.  It’s up to us as real estate professionals to stay on top of public perception AND help our clients understand how such news affects their personal situation and goals.  We all have a job to do. 

I was amused by last Sunday 5/4 SF Chron Insight’s little back page column titled: The Bottom Line.  The headings Good Week and Bad Week drew me in to see how my own week compared to what made it into the column.  (check, check, more good than bad, doing ok!)  I scanned until I drilled into the words “Fair and balanced”.  I thought - wow, we could use some of that in our industry.  So I searched “Fair and balanced” and found it to be one of the news network’s terms.  A search for “fair and balanced real estate” led me to a post written 4/8/08 on News Hounds blog highlighting a rather unbalanced approach to the current state of affairs in real estate.  That is, one day it appears we may be finally rebounding, and the next a new report shows that we’re not.  I must admit part of me was expecting to find a fair and balanced real estate story, but instead I found the writer’s opinion that the news show they were writing about was not fair and balanced.  That’s fine, but I wanted to read something that I thought would be really unique.

It may always be up to us to bring the fair and balanced; however, unless there is trust, our writing probably won’t be viewed that way.  It will be viewed as another biased opinion about the real estate market.  Real estate agents who blog have an opportunity to get the real stories in their local market out there.  If we can discuss the good and the bad in a consistent manner, we have an opportunity to gain trust.  And our readers will continue to…react and consider its validity.   Thanks for reading.

Market activity and consumer feelings are consistent with my last morsel on 3/26/08.  Half Moon Bay March inventory was 7.6 months - pretty much on par with February.  While volume continues to be suppressed, HMB’s total sales volume was about double that of January 08.

In the last morsel, I mentioned that we were trending toward a balanced market with January’s 8.4 and February’s 7.2.  With 3 months of data to work with now, that ’s not the case to date.  April’s final numbers to come, are 7.5 months of inventory, incorporating 12 new HMB listings in April.  That said, not all listings are affected, the right combination of property/buyer/seller will put a home into contract within the first week.

For Half Moon Bay:
March - 22 new listings; 10 accepted contracts from total inventory - 2 within first week.
April - 12 new listings; 7 accepted contracts from total inventory - 2 within first week.

For El Granada:
March - 8 new listings; 2 accepted contracts from total inventory - 1 within first week.
April - 11 new listings; 3 accepted contracts from total inventory - 1 within first week.

A new trend is working to keep the property in contract.  While buyers and sellers both want to move forward, the new lending guidelines are catching some people off guard.  Some loan programs continue to be attractive - if the buyer comes to the table prepared; however, with the financial market’s pendulum now swinging heavily toward conservative investments, some loans take longer to go through than many buyers might expect.

Every Tuesday is the Half Moon Bay coastside’s ”Tour Day”.  What that means for local SAMCAR members is starting the meeting at the Community Center, but today it was at the Oceano Hotel at Pillar Point Harbor.  If you’ve been reading my blog you know that I’ve gotten a sneak peak before today!  The local Realtors were treated to warm scones, fresh cut fruit, coffee and juice, in one of the harbor view conference rooms, followed by a tour of a few ocean view suites, the ballroom, and the shopping village…a fun change of pace from our normal weekly meeting location.

The meeting is typically led by one of the local Realtors.  We go over announcements, review the printed tour sheet (new listings entered into the MLS since the prior week) and agents announce any additions or deletions to the day’s tour.  Other important announcements are made also.  George Mozingo, SAMCAR’s Government Affairs Director announced that anyone is welcome to attend the public meeting in Sacramento tomorrow (4/30/08) on AB1991, a single-issue bill written by Assemblyman Gene Mullin in an effort to help resolve the City of Half Moon Bay’s Beachwood judgment.

If a Listing Agent has a home on tour, they leave to arrive at the home before the 50+ agents get there.  Some have food and some don’t.  Today, homemade focaccia bread wafted from Grant Walters’ Moss Beach listing.  Ina and Terry offered “to go” snacks at their El Granada home, and Bob McCahon spent hours rolling and dunking (kidding!) the infamous donut holes…but agents didn’t drive to his Pescadero listing for more sweets today!

This special country property is about an hour south of San Francisco.  Or land your private plane at the HMB airport and drive 15 miles down Highway 1.  With pastoral views to die for, plenty of outbuildings, beautiful swimming pool, hot tub, entertaining nooks around the property, caretaker’s cottage, and direct access to riding/hiking trails, it is waiting for one lucky family to create memories.  Thanks, Bob, for bringing us this great property to offer our clients!

One of the view scenes.

A trailhead and one of the outbuildings.

Caretaker’s Cottage.

5785 Pescadero Creek Road, Pescadero, CA

A mid-day walk along one of the wide lower El Granada avenues.

I had to capture this lovely scene as I was recently driving around town on a recent Tuesday morning Broker Tour of new listings.  Glad I had my camera for this one.

It brought back memories of when I was the parent of a preschooler - a few moons ago…  My daughter attended Marty’s Alameda Station in El Granada and even now, as a college student, has continued friendships from the buddies she made while at Marty’s.

 More about El Granada neighborhoods HERE.

Another post about an El Granada neighborhood:

Quiet neighborhoods reaps the benefits of P.O.S.T.

Coastside Preschool Directory 2008, by Coastside Mother’s Club

As part of my journey into real estate investment education,  I decided to visit the San Mateo County Courthouse “steps” to watch a trustee sale a few weeks ago.  I have seen a private auction but never this final step in the foreclosure process before the property becomes bank-owned (REO) - the Trustee Sale.  This link shows where the Trustee’s Sale is in the foreclosure process.  More about the link below.

It was surprisingly low key when I got there on a recent early Spring day (sorry Michigan friends!).  Then a few more people showed up for a total of about 10 people.  Most of the people there were seasoned investors.  By seasoned I mean, they are there all the time with their dog-eared list in hand and have mega millions to work with.  I know this because one of the Foreclosure Agents shared some information with me about who buys, how they buy, where the foreclosure market is heading in San Mateo. 

That day 20 properties were up for auction; 5 were postponed and new dates given; and 15 went to the respective banks because nobody bid on them at the minimum auction price.  The sheets were getting updated right then and there.  Sadly, one homeowner was desperately trying to hold onto her home at this eleventh hour; as far as I could tell, her home was not sold to the bank while I was there.  It is my understanding that the lender with the primary lien establishes the minimum auction price.  (My CB training in this starts Monday.)  In other words, none of the investors and bidders there thought the properties were enough of a “deal” to bid at the minimum price.  This is one day’s activity and Trustee’s Sales happen throughout the week depending on the number of properties available.

This experience was totally worth the 90 minutes I decided to allow myself.   There is NOTHING like first-hand education, as reinforced by seasoned investor Jeff Brown, whose blog I follow at BawldGuyTalking.  I also took the time because I wanted to find out what’s really going on in San Mateo County.

Bottom line:  There are foreclosure properties out there, and probably more coming through the remainder of ‘08.  Buying such a property requires research, patience, ready cash…and a bit of a stomach!  Support of your team may be helpful to some and crucial for others (be it contractor, accountant, real estate professional, loan consultant, or parents).

If you’re interested in starting your own online research, I just got this tip from Kevin Boer about foreclosureradar.com.  I’ll be tracking it along with where I currently have an account, Realtytrac, to look for San Mateo County trends.  My Realtytrac research has shown their properties to be pretty out of date so I may try to find another one to use as a comparison to foreclosureradar.  If you know of another good one, make a comment to share with everyone.

Colleague Sam Benson in Contra Costa County updates us on foreclosure property activity there. 

Colleague Pam Buda in Sonoma County told me yesterday that there are over 200 short sale or foreclosure properties just in her office.  Did I hear that right?

5:30 p.m. - Elaine Carlson from the Palos Verdes Peninsula writes an open letter to buyers on this subject if you’re thinking of investing in her area of southern California.

Many Realtors, Mortgage professionals, Title and escrow representatives, and others in our industry know Carol.  I’m writing this post to give you a way to send your well wishes and keep up to date on her progress.  In case you don’t know Carol Icard, she is the Manager of the North American Title office in Half Moon Bay.  She brings years of knowledge and experience to her clients, offers classes on various topics to her colleagues – such as a class I attended last year that she prepared for us on short sales, and does this all with humor and grace. 

Carol needs us now as she fights for her life with a recent extremely serious diagnosis.  Her daughter Arwyn, who works at North American Title in San Mateo, also needs our support and encouragement.  A website has just been launched to provide updates and give us all a way to share encouragement, stories, well wishes, etc. to Carol and her family.  Here it is:  http://friendsofcarol.org/

There will soon be a major shift in local advertising dollars.  The huge spread that Coldwell Banker Northern California spends tons of $$$$$$ to advertise its listings each Sunday in the Peninsula Edition of the SF Chronicle will be no more as of this weekend, April 20, 2008.  This new development is another step up into the future that local (Peninsula) ”Real Estate Section” readers of the Chronicle will notice starting this week.

In the Peninsula Edition, the Half Moon Bay & Montara offices are limited to 10 spaces - 1 featured listing across the top of the page and 9 “liners” listed in columns by city.  That’s because we share the entire 2-page spread with the other Peninsula CB offices.  Our Peninsula Edition listings are not advertised in the San Francisco or other Bay Area editions.  Listings in South SF or Pacifica that may be best suited for a San Francisco buyer will not be seen in the SF Edition of CB’s big ad.  Of course, agents can pay to have their listings included in the Open Home Guide by County. 

More and more people are using the web to search for their dream home.  We’ve all been watching this shift occur for years now.  Any why not when you can see multiple pictures, maps, detailed descriptions, neighborhood video, property blogs, and more.  It is comforting to pick up a newspaper and peruse the real estate ads, but the number of people that pick up the phone from newspaper ads has got to be pretty small.  We, the agents, have to get our copy & photos to the advertising reps several days before it goes to print.  So some information can be out of date by the time the paper lands on your front step.

I suspect those company advertising dollars will be going toward new online pursuits.  CB has already spent millions developing its online presence in places such as CaliforniaMoves, Trulia, Google, and Yahoo Real Estate, but as we all know, real estate marketing, real estate technology, online advertising, and new media industries can be interwoven and are changing rapidly.  A great place to watch this unfold in on Transparent Real Estate.

At some point this had to happen, it was just a matter of when.  I’ll still be reading the Real Estate Section as long as the paper still has one.

The trends in listing price is broken down by quartile in the above graph to show market segment movement.  The second, third and fourth quartiles are trending similarly - slightly downward with leveling showing within the last month, and the first quartile trending slightly upward.

Pacifica’s inventory overall has come down a bit from the peak of the fourth quarter 2007 following the dramatic lending market meltdown; however inventory is still elevated over a year ago meaning sellers will have an easier time of it if they approach the market very competitively.  This is the overall tone.  Each neighborhood has its own unique plusses or minuses and you’ll want to take those into consideration with your Realtor.