Real Estate Market Trends Focus on Local Neighborhoods and Price Segments
Monterey’s real estate market, like many areas across the United States, is starting to experience some positive changes according to local real estate agents
From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where some neighborhoods are up substantially this year (Alan J. Heavens, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/10/2008) to hard hit areas of Northern California in Sacramento, Sutter and Yuba which broke out of an entrenched sales slump, posting more home purchases in than in April 2007. (Jim Wasserman, Sacramento Bee, 5/20/2008), it becomes apparent that more than ever the old real estate adage, "location, location, location" holds quite a bit of truth.
Across the US, some areas are experiencing changes on an even smaller scale with some neighrborhoods having actually experienced a rise in sales prices while other local area of the same geographical market have softened or remained unchanged.
According to a recent article in the Carmel Pine Cone (Kelly Nix, Carmel Pine Cone, 5/16/2008) real estate agents on the Monterey Peninsula have seen a "significant upturn" over the past few month, that continues to support this trend — that all real estate really is local.
The following are excerpted from that article, which can be read in its entirety online at www.carmelpinecone.com.
Different Marketing, Different Trends
Although sales are picking up, there are segments of the market that are still cool. While multimillion-dollar homes and those at the low end are selling well, sales of midpriced homes are still soft. “You have the [lower-priced home] market that is active and the high-end market that is active,” Kim DiBenedetto (Alain Pinel Realtors) said. “It’s the stuff in between that is stuck.”
Mike Canning (Sotheby’s International Realty), who specializes in the sales of high-end properties in Carmel and Pebble Beach, said this year’s first quarter marked the best year he’s had since 1999 and 2000. Included in his sales was the Butterfly House in Carmel, which closed escrow April 22 for $9.3 million. But even in a high-end market such as Pebble Beach, there are multiple submarkets. For instance, oceanfront homes are selling extremely well, while the more average homes in that area are not. “It’s dangerous to generalize, because the Monterey Peninsula is not one market,” Canning said.
Like Canning, John Saar (John Saar Properties) said he’s having little problem selling unique, properties listed at $5 million or more. “I see the high end being the most durable part of the market,” Saar said. “If you have the right property, then you are in the game.”
At the other end of the spectrum, Realtor Michael Kirch, who specializes in selling foreclosures in the Seaside area, said he has 10 houses in escrow, a healthy number. While he’s seen an upswing in the sale of homes in the $200,000 to $400,000 range, homes in the $500,000 to $700,000 range are not selling as quickly. While many experts agree the market is improving, some believe it will be a while before sales take off.
Canning said he sees little change happening for the remainder of 2008. “I think the bottom of each of the markets will suffer all the way into late 09,” he said. “I also think the top of the markets will continue to enjoy demand.
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