By David Blockhus on 7.19.11 - Please leave a comment.
Most of today’s home buyers and sellers are apprehensive about our real estate market. Everyone is wondering where prices are going. Are they going to rise, drop, or remain flat? If they move up or down, how much will they adjust and when? Ideally, every buyer and seller wants to time the market.
I’d love to say I could predict where the Los Altos real estate market is heading over the next 90 days, 180 days, 1 year, or 3 years, but I can’t. There is one thing that buyers and sellers should strongly consider, the cost of money, otherwise known as mortgage rates. Here is an example why.
According to mlslistings.com (our local MLS provider) the median priced home in Los Altos for the month of June 2011 was $1,660,000. Assuming a 20% down payment and a current jumbo loan rate of 5%, today’s home buyer would pay approximately $7,100 per month for their loan. If rates were to increase by 1 point, the monthly payment (using 20% down) would increase to approximately $7,922. If rates dropped 1 point (not likely), the monthly payment would drop to approximately $6,320. How does home price fluctuations affect a buyer’s monthly mortgage payment?
Using a 5% jumbo loan rate and a 5% drop in the median home price ($1,577,000 purchase price, $1,261,600 loan), a home buyer’s loan payment would be approximately $6,745 per month. At 6%, the loan payment would be approximately $7,527 per month. Assuming that rates stayed the same as today, a buyer hoping for home prices to drop 5% would save $355 per month in mortgage payment, $16,600 in down payment and $83 in property taxes.
However, loan rates are at historical lows. It is probable that rates will increase. If home prices drop 5% and the jumbo loan rate increases 1 point (jumbo loan rates have hovered around 5.6% over the last three years and as recent as August 2008 were slightly over 7%), a buyer’s monthly payment would be approximately $7,527 or $426 more than buying a $1,660,000 home today at 5%. If rates jumped 2 points (not likely in the near future) the monthly loan payment would be $8,345 or $1,245 per month more.
Buyers and sellers should think about the costs of financing. There are many excellent websites with charts, graphs and analysis that help consumers understand the mortgage markets.
Will home prices adjust more than loan rates or will loan rates adjust more than home prices? My best guess is that any negative adjustments in home prices will be offset by higher financing costs. Should prices continue to rise (the median home price in Los Altos for the first half of 2011 is up 7% over that of 2010 and 10% over that of 2009), buyers will miss the boat. At least that’s what I see for the Los Altos real estate market.
Should you have any questions about the value of your home in today’s market or you wish to purchase a home, please call or text me at 650 465-0755.
By David Blockhus on 5.4.11 - Please leave a comment.
According to MLS Listings Inc. data there currently are 65 single family homes for sale in Los Altos Hills. There are 55 active listings and 10 properties that are under contract. Three of the active listings are priced above 10 million dollars. Note: one of the active listings is actually an exceptional lot with smaller home on the property. It really is being sold at lot value. There are also a few “off market” estates for sale that are not currently on the MLS, but are being discreetly marketed off-line (One at 28 million, one at just under 27 million, one at just under 8 million, etc).
We’re finally seeing more activity in the Los Altos Hills market. Prices are still trending downward, but sales volume is picking up.
April Sales Activity in Los Altos Hills
Eleven homes closed escrow in Los Altos Hills in April. This is twice the volume of homes that closed escrow in April in Los Altos Hills when compared with homes sold in April in each of the last three years (4/2008 – 6 homes COE, 4/2009 – 6 homes COE, 4/2010 – 6 homes COE). Four properties had multiple offers and sold at or above their asking price.
Click Los Altos Hills Real Estate Market Update – April 2011 for a detailed 24-month history of home sales activity in Los Altos Hills.
Are you curious to know what that Los Altos Hills Estate sold for?
Click on Los Altos Hills Residential Summary Report-April 2011 for details (address, sales price, size etc.) on the 11 properties that closed escrow in April in Los Altos Hills. Note: all data was taken from our local MLS and is deemed accurate but not guaranteed.
If you are looking for a quick and easy way to find your dream estate, click here?
Should you have any questions about the Los Altos Hills real estate market, please contact me directly at 650 917-4250 for a confidential conversation.
By David Blockhus on 5.3.11 - Please leave a comment.
According to MLS Listings Inc. data there currently are 92 single family homes for sale in Los Altos. Sixty-two homes are active listings and the remaining 30 homes are under contract. Six of the homes priced above 2 million are under contract.
April Home Sales Activity For Los Altos
18 single family homes closed escrow in Los Altos in the month of April. This is a substantial drop relative to the 12 year average of number of homes sold in April of 30.
Eight properties had multiple offers and sold at or above their asking price. Properties priced under 1.2 million and between 1.5 million and 1.65 million received the most buyer activity.
Click Los Altos real estate market update for April 2011 for a detailed 24-month history of home sales activity in Los Altos.
Are you curious to know what that Los Altos home sold for?
Click on Residential Summary Report for details (address, sales price, size etc.) on the 18 properties that closed escrow in April in Los Altos. Note: all data was taken from our local MLS and is deemed accurate but not guaranteed.
If you are looking for a quick and easy way to find your dream home, click here?
Should you have any questions about the value of you home in today’s market, please contact me directly at 650 917-4250 for a confidential conversation.
By David Blockhus on 2.13.11 - Please leave a comment.
The real estate broker tour (broker open house) plays an important part in the promotion and marketing of real estate listings. For homes for sale in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto and Mountain View, the broker tour occurs on Fridays from 9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. For homes for sale in Sunnyvale and Cupertino, the Broker tour is on Thursdays.
The broker tour is designed for the broker community to preview all the new listings that come to market in any given week. The broker tour is supposed to be exclusively for agents, but occasionally one will get buyers or neighbors who come by.
During the actual broker open house, the listing agent should be promoting the property to other agents or at bare minimum be present to answer questions about the property. Note, many agents don’t hold their own listings open during the broker tour. Instead some use an assistant or hire someone to sit at the broker open house. If it is important to you, make sure the one you hired to sell you home, holds the home open during the broker tour.
Food tends to be a staple on the broker tour. It can attract agents to the house and they may stay longer in the property. I’m not sure I can write that an agent with a full belly is more likely to bring in a better offer, but a little food on tour is nice.
The following are what I think were the top homes from Friday’s broker tour. Note: I wouldn’t be surprised if each of these homes sold with multiple offers.
2/18/2011 – UPDATE: All four homes went sale pending within one week, 2 of them are scheduled for a 2 week close.
1086 Solana Drive, Mountain View – $1,098,000. Listed by Pat McNulty of Coldwell Banker – Los Altos. It is one of the nicest expanded/remodeled Blackfield homes that I have seen in awhile.
1682 Montalto Drive, Mountain View – $985,000. Listed by Matt Griffis of Homestead Development and RE. Another nice remodel with good yard. Might be a little too close to Cuesta Drive, but still a nice house.
1347 Garthwick Drive, Los Altos – $1,375,000. Listed by Shelly Potvin and Teri Woolworth of Coldwell Banker – Los Altos. Good house on good street in south Los Altos. Close to Oak Elementary and Mountain View high.
1978 Colleen Drive, Los Altos – $1,195,000. Listed by Brendan Leary of Coldwell Banker – Palo Alto. Another good house on good street. However, within the Cupertino school district.
FYI – Friday’s broker tour had 18 single family homes for sale (west of El Camino Real ), 12 were new listings and 6 re-listed properties.
Should you have any questions about any of the properties mentioned in this post or would like to discuss your real estate needs, please contact me directly at 650 917-4250.
Below are all the active homes for sale in Los Altos
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By David Blockhus on 1.18.11 - Please leave a comment.
Mountain View currently has 27 single family homes for sale, one of these is a short sale. There are 16 properties that are sale pending with five being a short sales or bank owned properties. Twenty-seven Mountain View single family homes closed escrow in December.
Click on Mountain View Real Estate Market Update – December 2010 for a two year history 0f market activity in Mountain View. Click on Mountain View Real Estate Summary for details (address, sales price, size etc.) on the 27 properties that closed escrow in October in Mountain View. Note: all data was taken from our local MLS and is deemed accurate but not guaranteed.
Should you have any questions about any of these properties or about the value of you home in today’s market, please contact me directly at 650 917-4250 for a confidential conversation.
Below are all the current single family homes for sale in Mountain View.
By David Blockhus on 10.7.10 - Please leave a comment.
According to MLS Listings Inc. data there currently are 51 single family homes for sale in South Los Altos. 31 homes are active listings, the remaining 20 homes are under contract. Six homes priced above 2 million are under contract, with the most expensive property under contract having a list price of 3.2 million. My best guess is that this home will close just under the 3 million price point.
Lastly, at least 3 properties had multiple offers and sold at or above their asking price. Properties priced between 1.3 million and 1.6 million received the most buyer activity.
Click on South Los Altos Real Estate Market Update – September 2010 for September market activity in South Los Altos. Click on South Los Altos Real Estate Summary for a details of the properties that closed escrow in September in South Los Altos. Note: all data was taken from our local MLS and is deemed accurate but not guaranteed.
Should you have any questions about any of these properties or about the value of you home in today’s market, please contact me directly at 650 917-4250 for a confidential conversation.
Below are all the active south Los Altos single family homes for sale.
By David Blockhus on 8.24.10 - Please leave a comment.
According to MLS Listings Inc. data there currently are 95 single family homes for sale in Los Altos. 55 homes are active listings, the remaining 37 homes are under contract. Only 8 homes priced above 2 million are under contract. The most expensive property under contract has a list price of just slightly above four million, but it has been sale pending for over 4 months. In my experience, the longer the escrow the higher the probability that the deal will blow up.
40 single family homes closed escrow in Los Altos in the month of July. Note: According to our MLS, 36 homes sold is the 13 year average of single family homes sold in Los Altos in the month of July.
Lastly, at least 15 properties had multiple offers and sold at or above their asking price. Properties priced around 1.3 million and between 1.6 million and 1.8 million received the most buyer activity.
Click Los Altos Real Estate Market Update – July 2010 for a detailed 24-month history of home sales activity in Los Altos. Click on Los Altos Real Estate Summary for details (address, sales price, size etc.) on the 19 properties that closed escrow in September in Los Altos. Note: all data was taken from our local MLS and is deemed accurate but not guaranteed.
Should you have any questions about the value of you home in today’s market, please contact me directly at 650 917-4250 for a confidential conversation.
By David Blockhus on 6.23.10 - Please leave a comment.
According to MLS Listings Inc. data there currently are 94 single family homes for sale in Mountain View. 52 homes are active listings, the remaining 42 homes are under contract. 5 homes priced above 1.5 million received an offer and are under contract. The highest property under contract had a list price of just slightly above 2.0 million.
33 single family homes closed escrow in Mountain View in the month of May. Note: On average, we see 40 homes close escrow in the month of May. 5 homes closed escrow above 1.5 million, with the highest selling at 2,475,000 million. Interesting fact about this property; a developer originally bought the property and partially built out four homes before having financial problems. These homes sat partially constructed and exposed to the elements for a significant time. The new buyer will no doubt finish the construction and sell the homes.
33 single family homes closed escrow in Mountain View in the month of May. Note: 33 homes sold is the 12 year average of single family homes sold in Mountain View in the month of May.
Lastly, at least 12 properties had multiple offers and sold at or above their asking price. The highest over bid came in at 9.2% above the asking price.
Click Mountain View Real Estate Market Update – May 2010 for a detailed 24-month history of single family home sales activity in Mountain View. Note: all data was taken from our local MLS and is deemed accurate but not guaranteed.
For a more detailed look at the Miramonte or Grant neighborhoods of Mountain View, click on the below links:
Real Estate Market Update for the Miramonte Neighborhoods of Mountain View - May 2010
Real Estate Market Update for the Waverly Park Area of Mountain View - May 2010
Should you have any questions about your home and/or it’s value relative to our current market, please contact me directly at 650 917-4250.
By David Blockhus on 6.22.10 - Please leave a comment.
According to MLS Listings Inc. data there currently are 137 single family homes for sale in Los Altos. 84 homes are active and available to purchase. The remaining 53 homes are under contract.
The higher end of the market is still tough. Five homes priced above 2.5 million are under contract with the highest coming in at almost 4.2 million. Only four homes closed escrow above 2 million in May, with the highest selling at 2.75 million.
Thirty single family homes closed escrow in the month of May. Note: On average, we see 40 homes close escrow in the month of May.
Lastly, twelve properties had multiple offers and sold above their asking price.
Click Los Altos Real Estate Market Update – May 2010 for a detailed 24-month history of home sales activity in Los Altos. Note: all data was taken from our local MLS and is deemed accurate but not guaranteed. For a more detailed look at your neighborhood, click on the below links:
Real Estate Market Update for South Los Altos - May 2010
Real Estate Market Update for the Highlands Neighborhoods of Los Altos – May 2010
Real Estate Market Update for the Country Club Neighborhoods of Los Altos – May 2010
Real Estate Market Update for North Los Altos – May 2010
Should you have any questions about your home and/or it’s value relative to our current market, please contact me directly at 650 917-4250.
By David Blockhus on 5.25.10 - Please leave a comment.
According to MLS Listings Inc. data, there currently are 10 listings for sale in the Mountain View MLS area #208. This MLS area includes the popular Waverly Park neighborhood of Mountain View.
View map of MLS Area 208, Waverly Park Mountain View CA
There are six active listings and four listings that are under contract. One of those that recently went under contract is rumored to have had 8 offers and sold substantially above the asking price. It was the best house on last Friday’s Broker’s tour.
3429 Ridgemont Drive is located in a tiny pocket of homes in Mountain View that are within the Oak Elementary School boundaries of the Los Altos School District. Very few homes in this area come up for sale and when they do, they tend to move quickly. I think it should sell this week.
Lastly, one of the properties (2714 Doverton Square) is a short sale.
Three properties closed escrow in April 2010 at an average of 95.1% of their original list price. The average days on the market for these homes was 36 days.
See below for a detailed real estate report for Waverly Park and it’s surrounding neighborhoods:
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