Health & Fitness
Did the Bottom Fall Out of the Market Again, Yet?
Where is the San Mateo housing market now, and where are we headed?
What About Me?
Inquiring San Mateo home owners want to know. Some of my answer is opinion, some fact. My opinion is based on what I'm seeing every day so it's not exactly baseless.
The quick answer is it depends. It depends on the neighborhood, the type of property - whether it's a condo, town house or detached house. It also depends on the price range.
Where's the Bottom?
Overall, prices of condos have been hit hard. If you own one, you know. Buyers are weighing the option of buying a nice condo or a house that needs repairs. Some complexes are suffering because of the number of short sales.
Find out what's happening in San Mateowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Short sales and foreclosures have a negative impact on any neighborhood or complex. They drag the prices of other properties down with them. Unfortunately, 2011 is being called the year of the short sale.
Mid-Range is Hot
This will make people outside of the Bay Area choke, but the median for the first quarter was $705,000. The market under 700 - closer to 500 - has continued to be busy. The reason is that there are more buyers that can afford that price range; in addition, there are investors out there buying property with all cash - crazy as that sounds.
Find out what's happening in San Mateowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Million Dollar Club
Forty-seven homes over a $1 million have sold this year. Of those 47, 16 sold for at or above their asking price.
Up Up and Away
Our market is unlike any other. We're unique for a million reasons, and because of those reasons our market bounces back faster than any other in the nation. Our downturn could be changing direction - and soon - because of one of those unique factors: IPOs and the influx of money that's about to be burning a hole in their pockets.
Absorption Rate
San Mateo has seen a steady absorption rate all year of one month's inventory. In other words, if no more properties came on the market it would take one month to sell everything currently for sale. It doesn't get much better than that. So there may be some blips here and there, but we need to count ourselves lucky we don't live in Chicago, where they can't give away the houses.
