• 2023 Market Report
  • San Carlos Neighborhoods
    • Alder Manor
    • Beverly Terrace
    • Clearfield Park
    • Cordes
    • Howard Park
    • White Oaks
  • About
    • About
    • Testimonials
    • Bob’s Production
  • Contact
  • Commitment to Mental Health Awareness
  • San Carlos Blog

  • 2023 Market Report
  • San Carlos Neighborhoods
    • Alder Manor
    • Beverly Terrace
    • Clearfield Park
    • Cordes
    • Howard Park
    • White Oaks
  • About
    • About
    • Testimonials
    • Bob’s Production
  • Contact
  • Commitment to Mental Health Awareness

San Carlos Single Family Residences Surge As Condos Search for Stability

March 21, 2011

condos-vs-houses
A Tale of Two Different Markets
It’s a frustrating time for many condominium and town home owners in San Carlos.  Many single family residences (SFRs) are flying off the market as fast as they come on, while many condos and town homes sit.  There is a clear dichotomy between the two markets.  To understand why this is happening, let’s first look at how we got here:
[table “10” not found /]

The most interesting statistic above is the following:  From their high in 2007, to their current average sales price today, condos have lost a net 18.9% off their average sales price.  During that same time period SFRs have only lost 7.6% off their high in 2007, thanks in part to a surging 2011 market. Expect the 7.6% figure to drop even further when many of our pending properties over the last 30 days, close escrow.
There are a variety of reasons for the SFR market pulling significantly ahead of the condo market:
1. Short Sales/Foreclosures. While the condo market may be stabilizing, it is being held down by an inordinate supply of short sales and foreclosures.  Currently, 25% of the active condo market is either a short sale or foreclosure.  Compare that to short sales and foreclosures making up only 10% of the active single family residence market.
2. Sub-Prime Lending. For the most part, San Carlos did stay away from much of the sub prime lending that happened 2003-2007. However, the one part of the market that did see some sub-prime lending was the condo market.  With massive adjustments in payments, many were forced into a short sale, foreclosure, or needing to off-load the property at a significant loss. All of these contributed to lower valuations.
3.  Target Buyer Is More Definitive. The target buyer for San Carlos is now clearly focused on SFRs.  I don’t know that I would say that San Carlos has attracted a different type of buyer, but the overwhelming demand is coming from twenty and thirty year olds who are just starting a family. The preference for this group is a SFR, for all of the obvious reasons.
4. Preference for SFR. If affordable, the preference will almost always be for a SFR.  Judging by what I have seen lately, affordability is not an issue.  For example, when I took offers on my Rosewood listing last week we had nine offers.  All nine prospective buyers were very well financed.  Down payments ranged from 20% on the low end, to double that, and more.
5. The Palo Alto & Menlo Park Effect. As mentioned in last week’s post, there is a reason for the sudden influx of Palo Alto and Menlo Park agents into our market…..it’s because their buyers have started to look at San Carlos as a less expensive alternative to Menlo Park and Palo Alto.  They are not coming up here for condos, it’s the SFRs that are in demand for their clients.
 

Share

2011 San Carlos Real Estate  / Featured  / San Carlos Real Estate

Bob Bredel

Leave A Reply


Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • 2008-2023 SCEF Diamond Sponsor

    San Carlos Education Foundation

    Since 2008 I am proud to have donated auction items and cash totaling $300,000 to the San Carlos Education Foundation.
    Learn More
  • Subscribe

    Get it straight from the top! Bob Bredel is the #1 Realtor for total San Carlos sales volume 2008-2022. Never miss out on San Carlos news by getting our blog in your inbox. As an added bonus, receive quarterly real estate market reports.

    • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

  • Ask Bob Bredel

    Bob Bredel

    Got a question about San Carlos or the real estate market? Bob can help.
    Contact Bob


  • Christie's International Real Estate Sereno

  • Contact

    Bob Bredel
    650-520-9343
    bob@bredelhomes.com

             

  • Address

    Christie’s International Real Estate Sereno
    662 Laurel Street, Suite A
    San Carlos, California 94070

  • Subscribe

    Subscribe to receive notifications when new posts are added to the San Carlos Blog.

    • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.


  • © 2023 San Carlos Blog
  • Privacy Policy
  • CalDRE: 01493564
Website by Style Agent

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}