Marian S Bennett

Montara

Search All Montara Homes for Sale on MLS

Where in the world is Montara?  This stunningly beautiful area is tucked away about ten miles north of Half Moon Bay, California, overlooking the spectacular Montara State Beach.  This location is also less than 20 miles to San Francisco and the San Mateo County peninsula.  One can see both the beach and the homes dotting the gentle hillside when driving south on Highway 1 after you’ve passed Devil’s Slide and are about to reach the coastside communities.  The communities include (if you are heading south) Montara, Moss Beach, El Granada and Half Moon Bay.  If you keep driving south another 15 miles or so past Half Moon Bay, you will see Pescadero.

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Located at the northern end of the coastside communities, Montara is an eclectic village with no more than 2,000 residents.  It sits at the base of Montara Mountain.  Montara Mountain is clearly the local “mountain” where many residents and visitors can hike, mountain bike, and trail ride throughout.  With homes mostly located on the east side of Highway 1, there is a sense of community here as residents and visitors walk and bike through the no-sidewalk, tree-lined streets.  There are a few oceanfront homes lining the Montara bluffs.  Montara is not a City in itself; it is unincorporated San Mateo County.  Farallone View Elementary School is located here, along with McNee Ranch, a small grocery store & gas station, Cafe Lucca, Borsini-Burr Gallery, Maren Salon, all anchored by the Montara Post Office at 7th & Main.  Toward the back of Montara are Portola Estates and Sunshine Valley; there’s even an Alpaca farm.  The mix of homes and parcel sizes are varied with the overall feel being rural but not isolated.

Montara started out as an artist village.  Perhaps the feeling of living among beautiful natural surroundings is inspiration.  Many homes have stunning views the ocean, Devil’s Slide, and/or Montara Mountain.  Towards the back of Montara, you will find some of the best weather on the coast (although still a coastal climate), highlighting the micro-climates one can find even in our small stretch of towns.

Search all Montara homes for sale right now on MLS.

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Montara Market Morsel

Montara average and median home prices have consistently trended up over the last ten years. That’s as far back as the MLS data will go. Annual sales volume has also gone up…that is, until 2008. Why?

In my opinion, the top reasons are: a market correction that was first noticed in weaker markets in Q4-2006, fewer qualified buyers due to tighter lending qualifications, credit markets unstability, and lack of understanding of available loan products. Add California’s economic woes creating jobs uncertainty and the homeowners who have Option ARMS with a reset date coming in 2009 to this. (Look for an upcoming post on why homeowners with these loans will affect you.)

Overall, Montara has not taken the hit of other San Mateo County and California areas because there have been qualified buyers out there who want to live here and pay to do so. Median sales prices have risen most years since 1998 and are now in the $830K range. Average sales prices have also risen most years since 1998. 2008 average sales price for Montara single family homes to date is $926,800.

However, the higher price points have already begun to adjust. For example, a 3rd Street home was listed for $1,299,000 and sold for $1,150,000 in Oct 08 (the last sale in Montara). A Cedar Street home started out at $1,200,000 in July 2007 and sold for $998,000 in July 2008. Looking at the expireds, cancels, and price reductions in the last two months confirms the trend is continuing. Montara’s 2008 entry level price points in the $600K-$800K range have sales prices more in line with the list price so far; we’ll see what happens. Q4 usually quiets down, but the higher inventory may be causing more sellers to rethink strategies.

2008 Median sold prices by Quarter:

* Q1 – $740,000
* Q2 – $830,000
* Q3 – $847,500

# of closed sales in 2008 – 15
($599K to 2.6Million Sold prices)
# of available homes – “Active” in MLS – currently – 20
($375K to 4.5Million)
# of available lots – 9 ($199K to $4.5Million)

Don’t let the average and median prices fool you…Montara is an eclectic community that offers a wide range of price points. One sale can alter the numbers significantly. Since newspapers report median and average numbers, that is why I will include those numbers in these neighborhood posts. Search Montara homes to see all the price ranges and home styles.

Clip, Twist, Arrange & Stick – Voila!

The calendar was blocked out one recent Saturday morning so that I could spend a wonderful morning with long time friends at The Clay House in Montara making succulent wreaths!  We made them now so that they will be a little more filled in by the Holidays.  One of the organizers used Martha’s instructions as a guide, then bought the supplies and a few plants and we all split the cost.  We were to all bring succulent cuttings from our gardens.  Doing it this way, it cost us $17 each to make a wreath.

On prior Martha Stewart projects I would sometimes attempt, I have found her instructions to be for the natural born crafter, of which I’m not.  So I was happy when we started by making one together to see what “worked” and what didn’t.  Then we each began on our own wreaths. 

We cut the 24 inch wide wire roll into 8 inch lengths, filling it with moistened sphagnum moss and soil, then closing the wire together, bending it into the wreath shape and securing the ends.  I know it sounds easy, and it is.  The hardest part – basically requiring a little patience and manual dexterity, oh, and close-up vision – was securing the wire together.  A small pair of pliers does the job.  We used chopsticks to poke holes in the wreath, but as the instructions say, you could use a pencil or screwdriver.

It took about 2 hours to make our wreaths, including laughter, sharing stories, helping each other, and admiring along the way.

This is what I made.  If I can do it, anyone can!

Thank you to Clay House team!

 

You can always call Nancy at The Clay House for class & event information – 650-728-CLAY.

Picturesque Montara

I was heading home tonight after previewing properties in Daly City for my client around 6 p.m.  I’d been noticing the blast of pink wildflowers on the Montara bluffs for a few weeks and decided to finally take a picture. 

This is southside of Devil’s Slide (Highway 1) view of Montara. 

 I turned around to take this picture – the road and view I had just passed:

If I’m traveling north for any reason, I’ll travel via Devil’s Slide and enjoy the scenic views…along with the tunnel construction for the time being…  I’ll take this route to get to Pacifica, San Bruno, the airport (SFO), South SF, Daly City, San Francisco, and Marin.

Yes, we’re spoiled!