Three San Mateo County cities amongst Bay Area’s most discounted
Redfin just posted a good data crunching post here about the Bay Area cities with the most discounts. Guess which ones are in the top ten? Burlingame, Redwood City, and Foster City all made the list. This is not surprising because these areas are very overpriced for what they are, and the people that live in these cities tend to think their homes are worth a lot.
Interestingly enough, East Palo Alto and Daly City actually made the list for least discounted. That is probably because most of the listings in these cities are bank owned and so the starting price tend to be very low. The report mentioned that East Palo Alto actually had homes sell for above asking, and I’m not really surprised because there are decent single family ranchers selling for under $200,000 now in East Palo Alto. I’ve been to that city many many times, and some areas are not that scary looking.
So the lesson to sellers here is that they should not overprice their homes. If they don’t hold on to unrealistic expectations of what their home is worth then they might sell their homes quicker.
1081 BEACH PARK Blvd #205 Foster City, CA 94404 $499!
This is probably a pricing mistake, but here is a screenshot of the listing page:
Too bad you can’t take advantage of pricing mistakes on houses online. I would totally buy it for $499. Lets see how long it takes for the real estate agent to fix this.
1023 HELM Ln Foster City, CA 94404
1023 HELM Ln Foster City, CA 94404
Price: $715,000
| Beds: | 2 |
| Baths: | 2 |
| Sq. Ft.: | 1,240 |
| $/Sq. Ft.: | $577 |
| Lot Size: | 884 Sq. Ft. |
| Property Type: | Townhouse |
| Style: | Cape Cod |
| Year Built: | 1996 |
| Stories: | 1-3 (Low Rise) |
| View: | Lake |
| Neighborhood: | Harbor Side |
| County: | San Mateo |
Last sale:
| Jul 22, 2005 | Sold | $749,000 |
Loss if sold for asking: $34,000
This one’s financing history is pretty interesting. It was purchased in 2005 with a $509k ARM from Wells Fargo and a $60k fixed loan from Genentech. I had no idea that Genentech gave out home loans. It may be an employee benefit or something? Anyway, this couple is probably just being realistic about the sale price because they first listed this more than 7 months ago. This is a water front home, but the water in question is a man made lake kind of thing. Anyway, there are showings for this home on 2/1 from 1pm to 4pm.
300 Bodega St. – Cheapest house in Foster City?
300 BODEGA St Foster City, CA 94404
Price: $860,000
| Beds: | 3 |
| Baths: | 2 |
| Sq. Ft.: | 1,280 |
| $/Sq. Ft.: | $672 |
| Lot Size: | 6,080 Sq. Ft. |
| Property Type: | Detached Single Family |
| Style: | Ranch |
| Year Built: | 1971 |
| Stories: | 1 |
| View: | Neighborhood |
| Neighborhood: | Dolphin Bay |
Last sale:
| Sep 08, 2006 | Sold | $871,000 |
Loss if sold for asking: $11,000 or 1.3%
This is straight from the listing: “* * * PRICE ROLL BACK TO PRE-2006 DAYS * * * LOWEST PRICED HOME IN FOSTER CITY * * * AMAZING VALUE FOR THE MONEY!!! HUGE CORNER LOT!”
I like how the realtor used the term “roll back”, but I’m not quite sure if this is actually the lowest priced home in Foster City since it’s selling for $672 per square foot while the median single family home is selling for $483 per square foot in Foster City. It is the lowest priced single family home considering the price of $860k, but that’s only because other homes are twice the size of this little rancher, so I’m not quite sure if it’s an “AMAZING VALUE”. Anyway, I guess it does have a decent sized lot, but it’s not exactly spectacular. I suspect this one will actually sell within 6 months since a lot of buyers do not care about the price per square foot and just want to get into Foster City.
116 CITYHOMES Ln Foster City, CA 94404
116 CITYHOMES Ln Foster City, CA 94404
Price: $739,800
| Beds: | 2 |
| Baths: | 2.5 |
| Sq. Ft.: | 1,410 |
| $/Sq. Ft.: | $525 |
| Lot Size: | 960 Sq. Ft. |
| Age (Years): | 21 |
| Year Built: | 1987 |
| Type: | Townhouse |
| Style: | Contemporary |
| Stories: | Low Rise (1-3 Stories) |
Last sale: Jun 21, 2005 $755,000
Loss if sold for asking: $15200 or 2%
This is one of the few Foster City homes listing for under its last sale price. It is currently priced about 5% above the median price per square foot. Since most properties in Foster City are townhomes and condos, it is easier to use price per square foot as a measurement of the properties’ prices. This home is open this and next Sunday.
August 2008 Troubled Sellers Update Part 2 – Foster City to Pacifica
City of Foster City
Once again, all eight of Foster City’s troubled properties are townhouses and condominiums. The new addition in August is 924 Beach Park Blvd #14. It is listing for about $52k below its last sale price. Also, congratulations to the dude that sent me some hate mail. His home sold at the end of July.
Raw data available: fostercity831.csv
Coastside Properties – Half Moon Bay, Moss Beach, Montara, and El Granada
The amount of coastside properties increased a bit since last month. As of 8/31, there are 19 troubled properties in Half Moon Bay, 3 in Moss Beach, and 2 in El Granada. Of note is 2340 Burning Tree Rd in Half Moon Bay. This Ocean Colony mansion on a golf course reduced its price by $300k in August, and is now listing for $234k below its last sale price.
Raw data available: coastside831.csv
City of Hillsborough
The mansion at 180 Robin Rd is still for sale for 950k under its 2001 price. Additionally, the listing at 15 Crystal TE Spgs dropped its price by around $300k in August so it is now $301k below its last sale price in 2004. 2795 Summit Dr is still about $100k under its 2006 price and finally 10 Crystal Springs Ter is still $600k below its last sale price in 2006. Additionally, 1115 Bromfield Rd seems to be a bank owned property since it last sold for $1531201 in May 2008.
City of Menlo Park
Menlo Park added a couple more troubled properties in August and the total number of troubled properties is now 16. One of them is a relisting of 1055 Berkeley Ave. This property first showed up at least 4 months ago. The biggest loser is 1120 Madera Ave. It is listing for $261k below its last sale price.
Raw data available: menlo831.csv
City of Millbrae
Of the six properties in Millbrae, the biggest loser is definitely 1160 Glenwood Dr. Frankly I cannot believe that someone paid $1068888 in 2005 for this 1240 square foot mid century house. I mean, it doesn’t seem like the toilets are made out of gold. It is now listing for $749000, which is only $24000 above its 2002 sale price.
Raw data available: millbrae831.csv
City of Pacifica
Pacifica currently has 35 properties in trouble after a dozen or so went off the market. One property of note is 397 Lynbrook. It went off the market last month after not selling for $509k, but now it is back for $549k. I guess freshening up a stale fish is a common strategy. The latest sales data shows that 13 Moon Gate Ct sold for $428k on 8/4/2008, and that’s a huge discount from its asking price of $645k. Is this a foreclosure sale?
Raw data available: pacifica831.csv
More to come!
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