Should I Buy or Sell?
I read an excellent essay today on whether you should buy or sell. Here it is. Everything the author says is what I have said to many people in various blog articles and arguments.
Cheapest San Mateo Homes by Price per Square Foot 7/19/2008 Edition
This is is a continuation of the cheapest homes by price per square foot in each San Mateo city. Now it’s time for the June 2008 issue.
Atherton - The newest cheapest home in Atherton is at 1 Odell Place. At $632 per square foot, this house in Atherton is only $1.895 million. That is about 50% of the median price in Atherton.
Belmont - This townhouse is 2411 Carlmont Dr #107 is currently $322 per square foot after a $50000 pricecut. It is only slightly above its 2004 sale price of $625000 so perhaps it will become a home in trouble soon.
Brisbane - This condo in Brisbane went back on the market again. Supposedly it was sold on July 1st for 522k. Now it is going for $322 per square foot.
Burlingame - This condo at 1500 Sherman Ave #2B is currently the cheapest home at $423 per square foot. Like other San Mateo County condos, this condo has a fairly high HOA fee.
Colma - 431 D St in Colma is currently listed for $291 per square foot. However, it is 3587 square feet so the total price tag is still over a million. This home is open tomorrow from 2 to 4 pm.
Daly City - This Crown Colony condo is listed at $178,000 and that is almost $200k off its top sale price of $370k in 2004. It is $218 per square foot and it is the cheapest property in Daly City. Anyway, Crown Colony is not really the best condo complex. Just recently they tried to charge everyone a very expensive assessment fee.
East Palo Alto - This house at 2155 Dumbarton Ave still has an assessed value of over $600k, but it is listed for $279,900. This is about $168 per square foot.
Foster City - This condo at 924 BEACH PARK Blvd #15 is now listing for $360 per square foot. This is lower than the previous record.
Half Moon Bay - This listing at 1017 Dwight has gone through three more price cuts in July and is now listing for $223. This looks like a decent home.
Hillsborough - The same mansion at 10 Crystal Springs Terrace measuring over 6000 square feet gone through pricecuts of almost $1 million dollars. Now it’s $324 per square foot compared to $470 per square foot in the last report. Now it is officially a home in trouble.
Menlo Park - 1364 Windermere Ave is now listing for $309 per square foot. It has dropped from 755k to 495k.
Millbrae - This old rancher at 307 Roblar Ave is listed for $395 per square foot. Millbrae has been a hot area lately and homes have sold for over asking.
Pacifica - The new winner in Pacifica is at 614 Farallon Ave at only $282 per square foot. This troubled home is down almost $100k from its last sale price in March 2008.
Portola Valley - This is the same McMansion over 3000 square feet we saw last month. It has dropped over $25,000 and is now $557 per square foot, which is the best deal in Portola Valley.
Redwood City - This duplex at 771 Roosevelt is over 100 years old and has dropped its price nearly $200k. It is now $246 per square foot.
San Bruno - 564 1st Ave supposedly sold for $45,000 only a few months ago. Now it’s listed for approximately $325k or $263 per square foot.
San Carlos - This house supposedly is only $348 per square foot, but they included the square footage of the main house plus two bungalows on the property.
San Mateo - This large house at 136 N El Dorado is assessed at $1.25 million and listing for $999,999. This makes it $250 per square foot. Interesting enough it was bought at the last height housing bubble for for $272k and then sold for $56k a year later.
South San Francisco - Another Westborough condo made the list this time. It is 3550 Carter Dr #52 listed for $236 per square foot.
Woodside - This house on Huckleberry Trail is listing for $479 per square foot. It is described as “Dramatic, Light-Filled Country Contemporary”.
There you have it, some of the best “values” in San Mateo County. There are some new listings, and some oldies still on the market. I will do another update next month!
San Mateo Foreclosures Quadruple in One Year
According to this article in the Contra Costa times, foreclosure activity is slowing in the Bay Area. However, San Mateo seems to be the exception. Here are a few quotes from the article:
“Foreclosures decreased by 9 percent in the Bay Area, by 5 percent in California and 3 percent nationwide. In contrast, foreclosures in San Mateo County rose 19 percent during the month.“
“For example, Alameda County and the Bay Area reported twice as many foreclosures in June 2008 compared with June 2007. Contra Costa County had 50 percent more foreclosures on a year-to-year basis. The nationwide foreclosures were running 53 percent higher than the prior year. San Mateo County foreclosures totaled about 600 — nearly quadruple the levels of the year before and the biggest annual percent increase in foreclosures in the Bay Area.“
The number of foreclosures is inline with what I have seen. If you look at the summary of my June report you will see 701 troubled properties.
I think this shows that the last standing bastions in the housing bubble is starting to crumble. Perhaps one day San Mateo will be affordable again?
Upcoming Foreclosure Auctions by REDC in San Mateo
Real Estate Disposition Corporation (REDC for short) has two upcoming auctions in San Mateo. Northern San Mateo is scheduled on July 19th, and Southern San Mateo is scheduled on July 20th. You can search for the properties up for sale here.
I looked at the available stock and it seems that none of the properties up for auction are very desirable. There are actually less than 10 properties that are really in San Mateo County. None of them are in San Mateo, San Carlos, or Belmont. The rest are from Santa Clara and all these other counties. I heard that at these auctions people can get caught up and overbid. There can also be shill bidders whose jobs are to drive up the price. Also, you need a bundle of cash to cover at least 10% of the final price. Buyers also pay an auction premium. I have no experience in these auctions, but I know that it’s usually pretty tough to see any of these properties and you need to do a lot of research to make a profit. So tread carefully if you do decide to drop some dough!
Welcome to San Mateo Home Sellers in Trouble
Five months ago I started to keep track of the homes that were listing for below their last sale prices in San Mateo County over at my blog The Baglady. It seems that each month there are more listings and it is hard to keep track of all the homes that get relisted in my spreadsheets. So I have decided to keep track of everything in this new blog. I hope my fellow San Mateo residents find this useful!
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