Same coat, but with a few new buttons…

Click Away

One of the really cool things about blog analysis software is that it gives the author a good idea where people are clicking on the blog, which essentially tells the writer what the readers are finding most interesting and relevant. (Important note: I can’t tell who is clicking, just where…so your privacy is totally safe.) I spent some time this weekend analyzing how people use this site, and what they tend to read the most. The answer was very clear:

Home Sales Data

The most clicked links on this site (by far) have to do with home sales data. There’s a shocker – it is a real estate blog, after all. Whether it’s homes for sale in San Carlos, pending sales, or homes that have already sold, readers want real data on what’s happening in the San Carlos real estate market, and this information is usually not that easy to find. Until now…

New Buttons

While I haven’t changed the background (a.k.a. theme) of this blog in the past 2 years, I have changed the structure quite a bit. It’s akin to putting new buttons on an old coat — I simply haven’t found a better “coat” for this site, so I’ll continue to change the buttons to make it better.  And here are three new ones that you should know about: (go ahead and click one of them)

How to use ‘em…

You’ll find these three buttons conveniently located at the top of the site, right in the middle.   The subject content is pretty self-explanatory, but there’s a lot more information here than meets the eye.  Let’s look at an example:

If you simply click on the “Homes Sold” button at the top, it will show you ALL of the homes that have sold in San Carlos over the past 6 months — in a single click.  Once you’re in there, you can sort by price or by square footage.  Pretty cool, eh?

But let’s say you’re interested in homes that sold only in White Oaks, or just homes that sold for less than $1M?    Got you covered.   If you move your cursor over the “Homes Sold” button at the top of the blog (not the one in this example,) you’ll see a whole array of options magically appear below the button…including “Homes Sold in White Oaks” and “Homes Sold in San Carlos: <$1M” just to name a few.   Simply move your cursor down, and it’s there — all in a single click.

The same principle works with the “Homes for Sale in San Carlos” and “Pending Sales” buttons.   And the data is pulled from a live feed, so it’s always current.   So go ahead and try them out, and let me know what you think.  If there’s a different way that you want the data sliced up, just let me know.

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The San Carlos Real Estate Week In Review: 5/30/09.

San Carlos Inventory Analysis

It was another busy week in San Carlos, but it’s the kind of activity that doesn’t necessarily show up on the scoreboard right away:  Pending Sales.   From the table below, you can see a big surge in the number of homes pending sale below $1,000,000.   Contrast that with the lethargic performance of the high-end market over $1,500,000 which hasn’t changed much in months.   Here’s a snapshot of the San Carlos market, as of 5/30. The previous week’s stats are in parentheses:

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San Carlos Home Sales

Below are homes that sold this past week in San Carlos. Click on the respective addresses to get all the details.

108 Wildwood Avenue, San Carlos

108 Wildwood Avenue

• Pictured Above — Sale Price: $1,350,000.  Original List Price: $1,450,000.  Difference: $100,000 (6.9%) below original list. DOM: 15 Days under current MLS # 80919249.  First listed in Feb ‘09 at $1,595,000 (-15.4%) Listed by Erika Demma of Coldwell Banker.

23 Vine Street

• Sale Price: $728,000.  Original List Price: $799,000.  Difference: $71,000 (8.9%) below original list. DOM: 51 Days under MLS # 80908512.  Listed by Lou Carlos of Cashin Company.

<== Click this button to see all of the homes that have sold in San Carlos in the past 3 months.

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Homes Pending Sale in San Carlos

Here are some noteworthy pending sales from this week.

• 36 Vista del Grande went pending after only 7 days on the market.
• 1925 Greenwood Avenue is in contract after only 14 days on the market.

<== Click this button to see all the homes that are Pending Sale in San Carlos.

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New Listings in San Carlos

Below are the new listings that hit the market this past week in San Carlos. Click on the respective addresses to get all the details.  (Note:  If  a generic map comes up instead of a property profile, it likely means that particular home  is already Pending Sale.  Click the link in the “Homes Pending Sale” section to check.)

233 Clifton Avenue

• $1,430,000– 2BR/2 BA, 1,930 sq ft on a 15,660 square foot lot.    MLS# 80925801, listed by George Drysdale of  Drysdale Real Estate Investments.

908 Leslie Court

• $1,379,900– 4BR/2.5 BA, 2,747 sq ft on a 8,000 square foot lot.    MLS# 80926167, listed by Valerie Dakin of Alain Pinel Realtors.

140 Devonshire Boulevard

• $943,000– 3BR/2.5 BA, 1,560 sq ft on a 7,950 square foot lot.    MLS# 80925256, listed by David Macdonald of David J. Macdonald Real Estate.

2025 Greenwood Avenue

• $839,000– 3BR/2 BA, 1,420 sq ft on a 6,006 square foot lot.    MLS# 80926253, listed by Len Moore of Vilmont Investment Properties.

1047 McCue Avenue

• $619,000– 2BR/1 BA, 920 sq ft on a 5,550 square foot lot.    MLS# 80926255, listed by Peter Vece of Dumas and Company.

<== Click this button to see ALL of the homes currently for sale in San Carlos.

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(The “San Carlos Week in Review” series is a summary of new listings and home sales in San Carlos for the prior week, and an occasional podcast mixed in to keep things lively. Between the two, you should get a great idea of what happened last week in San Carlos real estate.)

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The Biggest, Smallest, Highest, and Lowest of 2008 in San Carlos…

In a previous post, we took a look at how many homes sold, what they sold for, and how long it took to sell them in San Carlos in 2008. Now, we’ll take a fun look at WHAT sold in San Carlos this past year. More specifically, we look at the homes at were at the extreme ends of price, size and days on market. I posted the mid-year awards back in June of  2008, and I just posted similar data for the Emerald Hills Area…so without further delay, here are the winners of 2008.  Be sure to click on the addresses for more details and photos.

(Quick disclaimer:  This information is provided for your entertainment only, and is pulled directly from the MLS — so it’s only as good or accurate as how it is represented there.  Any mistakes, inaccuracies, etc.. are strictly unintentional and the author assumes no responsibility for this data…

Most Expensive Home Sold in San Carlos in 2008:

There are two winners in this category:  One is for highest sales price, and the other is for the highest price/square foot.

3 Lewis Ranch Rd:  (Above) Sold for $2,675,000.

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298 Loma Road,  Sold at $988/square foot.

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Least Expensive Home Sold in San Carlos in 2008:

The same parameters apply to this category as well, so there are two winners….

1028 Northwood Dr Sold for $530,000.

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227 Windsor Dr.   Sold for $327/square foot.

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Greatest Amount Above Original List Price:

1744 Arroyo Ave wins on both accounts, selling for $1,251,000 which is $212,000 or 20% over the original list price.

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Greatest Amount Below Original List Price:

742 Crestivew Dr sold for $2,450,000 which was $750,000 below the original list price of $3,200,000.

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1027 Springfield St sold for $565,000 which was 28% below the original list price of $780,000.

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Largest Home Sold in San Carlos in 2008:

3 Lewis Ranch Rd:    at 4,400 square feet.

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Smallest Home Sold in San Carlos in 2008:

108 Brook St at 770 square feet.

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Shortest Time on the Market:

254 Alberta Ave,  2245 Eaton Ave,  162 Rockridge Rd,  1501 San Carlos Ave,  125 Belvedere Ave,   152 Sunnydale Ave, and 928 Walnut St….

All tied at zero (0) days on the market!

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Longest Time on the Market:

35 Winding Way, and 385 Devonshire Blvd both tied at 324 continuous days on the market (CDOM.)

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Finally, The Complete List of Homes Sold in 2008:

If you aren’t bored to tears by now, here’s the complete list of homes that sold in San Carlos in 2008:

San Carlos 2008 Home Sales

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Thanks

I hope you enjoyed the 2008 Awards!   It will be very interesting to see what this list will look like in 2009.  And on  that note, I’d like to wish you a safe, happy, and healthy New Year!!!

Recap: San Carlos Home Sales — October ‘08

The San Carlos market continues to slug it out as we enter the fall/winter season.  As I mentioned in previous posts, the downward pull from the economy has finally caught up with the San Carlos real estate market, and we really started to feel the effects in the late summer months of this year.   September was a disaster as you’ll see from the numbers below, even though October is supposed to be the “scary” month.    Here’s a quick summary of the home sales figures for October 2008 — if you’d like to drill down to specific neighborhoods within San Carlos, click San Carlos Sales Trends and then choose from the “Neighborhood” pull-down menu.

Note that compared to October of 2007, virtually all of the relevant price metrics are down by double-digit percentages.  Ouch.   The average DOM jumped to 42 days, but I have a hunch there are a couple of stragglers that are driving that number way up.   Here’s a month-by-month graphical representation that shows the general trend over this past year:

What does all of this mean?   With prices dropping for three consecutive months, and the days on market (DOM) average rising to 42 days, we’re entering a great window of opportunity to purchase real estate here in San Carlos, and on the Peninsula.  Homes are at some of their best values in many years, and it’s difficult to tell how much prices will continue to drop (if they do at all.)

Finally, here’s a graph of the home sales to date for 2008.  The sales volume has nearly rebounded to the 2007 levels, but we still need a strong Nov/Dec to keep on par.

August 2008 Home Sales Figures for San Carlos…

Well, the month of August 2008 is finally in the books, vacations are mostly over, and the kids are back in school.   Time to get back to the ole’ regimented schedule.  When you consider that August is customarily one of the slower months in real estate,  it turned out to be a pretty decent month for real estate transactions in San Carlos.   Here’s a quick summary of what happened:

The relatively high number of closed sales was a result of that surge of new listings that we experienced back in the June time-frame.  If you remember, at we had around 70 active listings for a brief time during that period.   Many of  them went into contract and closed during the month of August.

If you take a look at the 3-month rolling average, we seem to be on a trend upward….

Like I discussed last month when we reviewed the numbers for July 2008, this graph is missing one key element that is a key indicator of future growth:  Listings.    While we had 29 closed sales in August, we only had 22 new listings….this is not the formula for growth!  The good news, though, is that September is shaping up to be a fairly active month.  There are a handful of new listings slated to hit the market in both White Oaks and Howard Park in the next couple of weeks.

Our final look at August is from the highest level.  In a nutshell, while some other regions are seeing a drop of 25% or more in the number of homes sold this year, San Carlos is only about 10% behind last year’s pace.  This is yet another indicator of the strength of the San Carlos real estate market.

NEW FEATURE! The San Carlos Week in Review.

Leave it to me to keep changing things on this site.  Never sit still….

The weekly “series-formerly-known-as-What-Sold-and-What’s New” is being enhanced and renamed “The San Carlos Week in Review.”  (I know, I know… that name is boring, too.  So send me your suggestions for a good name!)  

What’s the difference, you ask?   I wanted to broaden the scope of the weekly update and add more value to the weekly home sales and new listings, so I decided to add an informal audio chat on what happened during the week in San Carlos real estate, and what it means to you..and anything else that I forgot to write about…Click below for this week’s version.

[audio:The New White Oaks Blog.mp3]

I hope you like the changes — shoot me an email or comment at the bottom and let me know what you think!

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Click on the address for more details and additional photos.

Home Sales

• 517 Pearl Ave:     (Pictured Above)   Sale Price: $1,740,000. Original List Price: $1,739,000. Difference:  $1,000 above original list.   I’m not even sure this home made it to the first open house.   A remodeled home on a 7,100 square foot lot right in the heart of White Oaks was too good to pass up .  I’ve always said that Pearl is one of my favorite streets in White Oaks (I have many!) and this is on one of the best parts of Pearl.   DOM: 4 Days. MLS# 80815499, listed by Mark Scafine of SC Properties.
• 35 Winding Way:    Sale Price: $1,630,000. Original List Price: $1,698,000. Difference: $68,000 below original list.   DOM: 0 Days (under the current listing.  This one has been for sale for the better part of a year.   MLS# 80823421, listed by Cherie Cerna of Coldwell Banker.
• 248 Club Dr:     Sale Price: $1,450,000. Original List Price: $1,649,461. Difference: $199,461 below original list.   DOM: 95 Days.  MLS# 80779864, listed by Donna Marie Baldwin of Coldwell Banker.
• 1030 Elm St:     Sale Price: $1,300,000. Original List Price: $1,299,000. Difference:  $1,000 above original list.    DOM: 47 Days. MLS# 80813718, listed by Alex Lehr.
• 956 Sunset Dr:    Sale Price: $1,060,000. Original List Price: $1,075,000. Difference: $15,000 below original list.   I really liked this home — I got to see it several times with clients, and it grew on me.  Great bay views from the family room, nice kitchen, and big bedrooms.  The price looks pretty good, too.   DOM: 18 Days.  MLS# 80812471, listed by David Parks of Gateway Properties.
• 65 Chestnut St:     Sale Price: $910,000. Original List Price: $929,000. Difference: $19,000 below original list.   DOM: 48 Days.  MLS# 80805686, listed by Alex Lehr of Lehr Real Estate.
• 910 Sunset Dr:     Sale Price: $820,000. Original List Price: $859,000. Difference: $39,000 below original list.   DOM: 48 Days.  MLS# 80808627, listed by Raquel Williams of Blue Point World.
• 1029 Cherry St:    Sale Price: $715,000. Original List Price: $799,000. Difference: $84,000 below original list.   DOM: 74 Days.  MLS# 80802949, listed by Don Chareonchitswad of RE/MAX Dolphin.

New Listings

• 790 Knoll Dr:     (Pictured Above)  $1,200,000 — 4BR/3BA, 1,420 sq ft on a 7,912 square foot lot.  MLS# 80823347, listed by Christian Battaglia, Broker.
• 10 Alderlee Way:    $2,495,000 — 5BR/4+BA, 3,810 sq ft on a 14,400 square foot lot.  Had there been pictures available, I’m sure this would have been our featured listing this week.  MLS# 80824063, listed by David Young of Coldwell Banker.
• 2009 Brittan Ave:    $825,000 — 3BR/2BA, no square footage reported, 6,450 square foot lot.  Sorry, no square footage and no listing photos — you’ll need to show up at this one if you want to see it.  MLS# 80823532, listed by  Kathleen Hughes of RE/MAX Gold.

What Sold, and What’s New in San Carlos — Week of 7/13/08

After a couple of slow weeks, there was a nice jump overall in new listings, especially in the $1.5M and above range.  There are some pretty nice homes in this range to chose from now, so happy house hunting this weekend.   Even with all of these new listings, the current inventory is only at 56.   That means homes are still selling at a quick pace.

Click on the addresses for more details and photos…

Home Sales

• 2936 Eaton Ave:     (Pictured Above)   Sale Price: $1,102,000. Original List Price: $998,000. Difference:  $104,000 above original list.   This home didn’t get the photo feature spot on the blog this week because it was the highest priced home to sell.  This was easily the best bargain in recent history in San Carlos.  Surrounded by other multi-million dollar homes at the top of Eaton and sporting an 8,900 square foot lot, this home has TONS of potential for a nice upgrade.  I’m not at all surprised that it went so high over asking.   DOM: 10 Days. MLS# 80815530, listed by Debbie Wilhelm of Coldwell Banker.
• 1091 Hewitt Dr:     Sale Price: $1,092,000. Original List Price: $1,089,000. Difference: $3,000 above original list.   DOM: 7 Days.   MLS# 80813607, listed by Lizette D’Almeida of Intero Real Estate Services.
• 35 Buckland Ct:     Sale Price: $1,020,000. Original List Price: $1,049,950. Difference: $29,950 below original list.   DOM: 15 Days.  MLS# 80812241, listed by Karen Smith of Intero Real Estate Services.
• 401 Old County Rd:    Sale Price: $545,000. Original List Price: $559,000. Difference: $14,000 below original list.   DOM: 7 Days.  MLS# 80816679, listed by Bob Bredel of RE/MAX Today.
• 1449 Chestnut St:    Sale Price: $1,320,000. Original List Price: $1,299,950. Difference: $20,050 above original list.   DOM: 11 Days.   MLS# 80813605, listed by Maxine Dumas of Dumas & Company.

New Listings

• 747 Knoll Dr:      (Pictured Above)  $2,128,000 — 5BR/3BA, 3,250 sq ft on an 12,920 square foot lot.    This gives Knoll Drive the undisputed title as most expensive street currently for sale in San Carlos, with 3 active listings over $2M!!!!   You go, Knoll.  MLS# 80821304, listed by Shirley Kraus of Intero Real Estate Services.
• 2230 Carmelita Dr:    $1,779,000 — 4BR/3BA,  2,335 sq ft on an 8,250 square foot lot.    MLS# 80822488, listed by Adam Hicks of Gateway Properties.
• 1339 Pebble Dr:    $1,698,000 — 5BR/2.5BA, 3,060 sq ft on an 7,620 square foot lot.    MLS# 80822317, listed by George Chopoff of RE/MAX Star Properties.
• 149 Madera Ave:        $1,695,000 — 4BR/3.5BA, 3,380 sq ft on an 12,000 square foot lot.    MLS# 80821335, listed by Chuck McCay of Realty World.
• 118 Crestview Ct:    $1,650,000 — 5BR/3BA, 2,960 sq ft on an 17,160 square foot lot.    MLS# 80822379, listed by Glenn Sennett of Coldwell Banker.
• 3153 La Mesa Dr:    $1,295,000 — 4BR/2BA, 1,900 sq ft on an 7,800 square foot lot.    MLS# 80822381, listed by Cynthia Smith of Alain Pinel Realtors.
• 316 Chesham Ave:     $899,950 — 4BR/2.5BA, 1,700 sq ft on an 9,148 square foot lot.    MLS# 80822690, listed by Maxine Dumas of Dumas & Company.
• 1018 Cedar St:    $879,000 — 2BR/2BA, 1,200 sq ft on an 5,500 square foot lot.    MLS# 80822153, listed by Michael Henderson of Cashin Company.
• 1983 Belle Ave:    $859,000 — 2BR/1BA, 1,070 sq ft on an 5,000 square foot lot.    MLS# 80822205, listed by George Chopoff of RE/MAX Star Properties.
• 1537 Howard Ave:    $829,000 — 3BR/2BA, 1,310 sq ft on an 3,720 square foot lot.    MLS# 80822186, listed by John Shroyer of RE/MAX Today.
• 1024 Northwood Dr:        $599,000 — 2BR/1BA, 820 sq ft on an 4,675 square foot lot.    MLS# 80821340, listed by Claudette Wood of Alain Pinel Realtors.

What Sold, and What’s New in San Carlos — Week of 7/6/08

As you might expect, the week following the 4th of July holiday is often a slow one, and this week was no different.   But where we lacked in quantity of sales, we made up for in quality.  Some very recognizable homes closed escrow this past week — 1309 Elm, 920 Heather, and especially 1009 Woodland Avenue.

The number of active listings has once again dropped, and it’s now sitting at 52.  As always, click on the addresses for more photos and details.

Home Sales

•  1009 Woodland Ave:    (Pictured Above)   Sale Price: $1,575,000. Original List Price: $1,479,000. Difference:  $96,000 above original list.   This home drew lots of attention, and rightfully so.  It’s located right across from the “quite side” of Burton Park on a scenic part of Woodland Ave.  It also has a big lot, which is a huge plus.    DOM: 11 Days. MLS# 80815291, listed by Arlene Sullivan of Coldwell Banker.
• 920 Heather Dr:    Sale Price: $1,700,000. Original List Price: $1,650,000. Difference: $50,000 above original list.   DOM: 3 Days.   MLS# 80817130, listed by David Young of Coldwell Banker.
• 1309 Elm St:        Sale Price: $1,175,000. Original List Price: $1,249,000. Difference: $74,000 below original list.   DOM: 62 Days.  (139 Days total.)  MLS# 80806237, listed by Greg Celotti of Alain Pinel Realtors.
• 45 Maple Way:        Sale Price: $869,000. Original List Price: $929,000. Difference: $60,000 below original list.   DOM: 62 Days.  (99 Days total.)  MLS# 80800630, listed by Justine Ford of RE/MAX Today.

New Listings:

• 768 Chestnut St:     (Pictured Above)  $1,850,000 — 5BR/3.5BA, 5,320 sq ft on an 16,030 square foot lot.    MLS# 80819712, listed by Trish Ward of Intero Real Estate Services.
• 1356 Rosewood Ave:     $899,000 — 3BR/2BA, 1,863 sq ft on an 4,920 square foot lot.    MLS# 80819710, listed by Justine Ford of RE/MAX Today.
• 264 Fir St:    $874,000 — 3BR/2BA, 1,460 sq ft on an 5,280 square foot lot.    MLS# 80820938, listed by Jane Fletcher of RE/MAX Today.