Coastal Real Estate and Lifestyles

These two neighborhoods are in the south-east portion of Pacifica.  Some of the streets in these neighborhoods offer beautiful views, either ocean, canyon, or bridge (the new one at the Devil’s Slide Tunnel).  Park Pacifica neighborhood, also known as “the back of the valley” is one of the warmer areas of Pacifica and the San Mateo County coast.

This shows MLS (San Mateo County) statistics for the months from February 2008 to February 2009, inventory at that time, closed sales during that month, average continuous days on market, and the average sale price, or the sale price of the property if there was only one closing.

Sun Valley/Linda Mar/Pacifica CA market activity:  Except for 2 sales in February, there have been no closed sales since September 2008.  Average sale price in February 2009 was $580,000 with 4 months of inventory.

Park Pacifica/Linda Mar/Pacifica, CA market activity:  The last closed sale was in December 2008.  There is no “average” since there has only been one or no sales per month since July 2008.  Eleven months of inventory.

As of this writing there are 3 “pending show”, and 2 “pending” in these neighborhoods according to the MLS under areas #652 for Sun Valley and #653 for Park Pacifica.  One of the “pending” properties is a short sale that as of a couple days ago was not yet approved by the bank as a short sale but is expected to be approved within a few days.  This shows that the market is moving again.

 In the area you will find:

 Sanchez Adobe Park - on the National Register of Historic Sites

 Frontierland Park - a great place for a family or playgroup outing.

 Sanchez Art Center - a non-profit organization devoted to creating community through art.

 San Pedro Valley Park - terrific hiking and walking trails.

 More about PACIFICA here.

You are invited to meet some interesting, fun, and knowledgeable local experts this weekend.  While you’re at it, you may end up saving some time and money as a result of stopping by.  Look for this ad in the Half Moon Bay Review Wed. 3/18 (tomorrow).

Coastside-Living Green Fair downloadable flyer for printing.

Please call your Coldwell Banker Realtor or our Half Moon Bay office at 650-726-1100.  Thanks to colleague, Kathy Rain, for coordinating this timely and fun local event, including the above flyer.  Thanks also to the local businesses who are presenters for donating their time and energy for our community.  Here’s links to the presenters:

Solar Universe Network

Harrell Remodeling

Solabrite

The Sustainable Center of SSF

Emerson Environmental

The Goddess of Garbage

CAL Pacific Hydronics

Green Intention Design

Sunrise Painting

Caccia Plumbing - Tankless Hotwater heaters

Half Moon Bay’s 94019 zip code has a greater inventory of homes on the market than a year ago.

The chart below shows Half Moon Bay’s zip code 94019 historical listing data for inventory trends.  This Altos Research chart shows inventory of single family homes and condos from 2005 to now.

This chart shows that we’re in our spring inventory dip - even though inventory is at an all time high.

In the last two weeks, the Half Moon Bay coastside has seen 17 new listings.  Of that 17, 1 is now in pending, and 1 has already had a price reduction.  The pending sale was a re-list that was first listed in October 2008 for $620K; this most recent “new” listing of the same property is now an REO (bank owned) property listed for $400K and sold in 2 days.

In the last two weeks, Pacifica has also seen 17 new listings.  Of that 17, 1 is now in pending.  This pending is also a re-list.  It was listed for $620K in June 2008 and has steadily come down in price with the last list price when it went into contract at $389K.

We won’t know either of the sale prices until after the close of escrow.

You know the Coastside is in a flux market when Realtors’ opinions about a potential sale price are all over the board.

This from a fellow agent who hosted a new listing for Tuesday’s Broker Tour this week:  “. . . of the agents who wrote values on the back of their cards we had a difference of $120,000 from lowest to highest with two values coming in as a tie for number of votes that were 50K apart.”

What does this mean?  This means that values are difficult to determine when there may not be a valid comp for 3, 4, 6 months or more.  You can still look at them and calculate what the value may be - by taking into account the decline that the current market is presenting, along with the other factors affecting that particular property in comparison to others that have sold in the last couple of months.  Appraisers and lenders are in the same boat.

If you put yourself in the mind of the buyer, who wants to know he/she’s getting a good great deal, that’s a hard one when we don’t really know what the market is going to look like in 2 months, let alone 6 months.

The point is, if Realtors are thinking this - we’re seeing what is perceived as value every day with every offer we write, every property we preview, every conversation we have with a lender, appraiser, potential buyer, potential seller, the neighbor, everyone - no wonder our buyers are uncertain!

Serious buyers and sellers need to be having continuous and candid discussions about their goals, feelings, and concerns with their Realtor.  Only with this type of trust and communication can good business practices and solid outcomes occur.

Another tax credit for California.  This one applies to purchases between MARCH 1, 2009 - FEBRUARY 28, 2010 - for homes that HAVE NEVER BEEN OCCUPIED - only $100,000 allocated - first come, first served.  The Coastside doesn’t have large home developments, but we do have spec homes that are built by individual local builders.  Pacifica has a new home development (some lots with ocean views) that I’ve previewed called Connemara.

The State of California Franchise Tax Board’s website outlines details.

Here’s new construction listings on the Half Moon Bay Coastside that may qualify:

Thanks to colleagues Arn Cenedella, just “over the hill from us” on the San Francisco Peninsula and Kappy Mann of Truckee and Lake Tahoe’s north and west shores, for also sharing information about this and bringing this to my attention.

Contra Costa Times article.