Market Morsel: HMB Coastside Q3 Summaries
Here’s a look at 3rd Quarter sales figures in 3 key years.
2001: dot-com bust, 10 years ago;
2008: in the downturn but just before the financial crisis; and
2011: 3 years post financial crisis.
I also broke down 3 popular neighborhoods to show you some “micro” market variables. There are many more than 3 popular neighborhoods, I just picked 3!
Number of Sales: Sales are significantly lower than 10 years ago. From 93 sales in 2001 to 52 in 2011 supports some extensively reported trends – financing continues to be a challenge, some buyers & sellers are tentative about the market, and some sellers are unwilling or unable to sell while holding an underwater loan.
Median Sold Prices: About 23 percent higher in 2011 than in 2001. More higher-end homes are selling than 10, or even 2 years ago. In the 3rd Quarter, sales prices $1Million or more amounted to 7 in 2001, 9 in 2008, and 17 in 2011! The high-end ocean view, golf course view, and designer beach homes account for a small portion of all the available local homes. In my opinion, the high asset base we have in San Mateo County allows for some homeowners to hold on to their properties longer (meaning very limited distress sales in our market).
Average Sold Prices: Similar to the Median Prices, the average prices show the market activity described above in a more pronounced way, 43% increase. Of the 7 million-dollar homes in 2001 none sold for $2 Million or more. In 2008, two homes sold between $2-3 Million. In 2011, one sold in the $2-3 Million range and one sold in the $3-4 Million range (the highest sale in 2011 so far was a 20+ acre oceanfront property with multiple buildings in unincorporated Half Moon Bay.)
Both median and average sold prices in Half Moon Bay can fluctuate greatly due to the limited sales in our area. The numbers are meant to give you general ranges of market activity. You can see that Half Moon Bay and surrounding Coastside real estate is not not as expensive as mid-peninsula’s Palo Alto but more expensive than east-bay’s Fremont, as just two examples.
I also broke down Half Moon Bay and El Granada neighborhoods of Ocean Colony, Clipper Ridge, and Miramar.
Ocean Colony: The Spyglass development inaugural sales were between 2003-05. In 2008, Spyglass homeowners had there homes 3-4 years yet no sales had taken place in Q3-08. The recent Average Sales Prices are helped by 2 Spyglass home sales in Q3-11.
Clipper Ridge: Prices are now 11% lower than 10 years ago. However, the price per square foot price has increased 23% since 2001. Move-up buyers who have saved and maintained good credit are in a prime position to take advantage of local move-up opportunities from this great entry level neighborhood to something they’ve been waiting for.
Miramar: Similar to Ocean Colony, the sales price numbers have gone up, but this is only part of the story. Between 2001 and 2011, the average price per square foot has decreased, wreaking havoc with values in our neighborhoods. For Miramar, in 2001 alone, price per square foot values ranged from $345 to $580. In 2011, price per square foot was $275 to $332.
So when the larger, waterfront and/or ocean view homes sell these days, the seller may be getting what seems like a high price, but the buyers are getting more for their money than they did as far back as 10 years ago! The prices of some smaller homes are less now but you may be paying more per square foot.
If you want to read on, here is the Data:
Coastside Number of Sales in Q3:
- 2001 – 93
- 2008 – 40
- 2011 – 52
Median Sold Prices in Q3:
- 2001 – $538,000
- 2008 – $750,000
- 2011 – $906,163
Ocean Colony – Q3 Average Sold Prices:
- 2001 – $997,375
- 2008 – $1,192,500
- 2011 – $1,271,944
Clipper Ridge – Q3 Average Sold Prices:
- 2001 – $535,000
- 2008 – $645,222
- 2011 – $480,000
Miramar – Q3 Average Sold Prices:
- 2001 -$879,833
- 2008 -$909,675
- 2011 – $1,130,571