Private Atherton Estate now on the market for $6.99 Million

A new luxury home has hit the market in Atherton on a private cul-de-sac street.  My new listing has 6 bedrooms, 5.5 baths and is approximately 7,000 square feet.  It sits on just over one acre and has beautiful landscaping as well as the perfect setup for the family that likes an outdoor lifestyle or entertaining.  There is a pool, hot tub, lots of patio decking for parties, putting green, sand volleyball court and huge grassy area for playing any kind of family games.

The interior of the home is very spacious and light filled.  The six bedrooms are all generous in size and there is also a large office/den as well as bonus room that can be used for a workout room or media room.  The family room is large and just off the kitchen, so it creates the perfect hanging out area, that also happens to lead to the pool and outdoor entertaining areas.  This luxury Atherton real estate listing can be seen by appointment only by calling Gary Kurtz of Alain Pinel Realtors. The asking price is $6.999 million.  The virtual tour will show you more pictures or you can go to my APR website for more information.

Atherton has seen a surge in purchases of luxury real estate recently and homes in the 5-20 million dollar range have been selling, despite the sluggish economy.  Atherton California is one of the most expensive areas in the country, having ranked #2 for highest average listing price.

Luxury Estate in Los Altos Hills Sells for $100 Million Dollars

Luxury Real estate sales in Atherton just took a back seat to the high dollar sale that happened in Los Altos Hills at 13310 La Paloma Rd. The estate went for a rumored $100 million dollars and is a 25,000 square foot mansion with everything imaginable included, and is almost a twin of the above pictured estate for sale in Southern California. The property sits on over ten acres and has lots of privacy, which is necessary for the Russian billionaire who bought it and is looking to make a big impact in the Silicon Valley digital/tech world.

Luxury real estate in Menlo Park, Atherton and Palo Alto will probably get a bump as more money will probably flow into the area from other Russian comrades who want to join in on the Silicon Valley real estate surge. 145 Josselyn Lane in Woodside recently sold for just over 15 million dollars and there have been several 10 million dollar sales in Atherton as well, so the luxury real estate market is definitely heating up and money is flowing into the local real estate scene.

I have off market listings in the 5-10 million dollar range and many sellers are calling me to sell their property off market to prevent the signs and publicity that goes with listing your home for sale. I specialize in this area and please don’t hesitate to contact me if you are looking to buy or sell a luxury property without all the for sale signs, looky loos or neighbors trampling thru your home. This applies to any priced home from 1 million up to 100 million as your privacy is your privacy.

Atherton Sales Prices Stay Strong Despite Drop In Sales Volume

Sales prices in Atherton of luxury real estate stayed strong in the 3rd quarter of 2010 compared to the 3rd quarter of 2009.  Despite the economy and general gloom and doom news, it was surprising to see the prices jump for the Atherton real estate market.  Prices increased while the number of sales took a big dive, dropping almost 40%.  Since the inventory levels also took a huge increase, this means that the inventory is there, but buyers are being very selective.

Realtors and home sellers are hoping for an end of the year surge in sales.  The best case scenario for a buyer is in place due to the high amount of inventory on hand.  Atherton real estate was just named by the Wall Street Journal as the second priciest area in the country, coming in only behind an area of New York.  So, in essence, real estate in Atherton is the most expensive on the west coast.

Atherton                            Q3 2009         Q3 2010               Change

# of Sales                                  26                        16                       -38%

Avg Price (000)                   $ 3,424              $ 3,972                  16%

Avg DOM                                  94                         64                      -32%

Months of Inv.                     3.2                         13.3                    316%

The Winner For Best Food At An Open House Goes To…

Yes, it’s a perk of the trade.  If you were to combine Top Chef with Million Dollar Listing, you would get the ritual that most real estate agents here on the Peninsula experience on a weekly basis.  Every week, agents put their new listings on “broker tour”, which is when they want every real estate agent to come by and see their new listing and quickly spread the word to their clients.  If you get a lot of agents showing up and your house is priced right, it spreads the word exponentially so it’s really like an open house for agents.

To help get agents (and the public) to show up, many agents add enticement, and nothing does it better than good old free food. Since the Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Television are this coming weekend, I thought it would be appropriate to give my own real estate meets Emmy style award to the hard working, meal providing real estate agents out there who make our grueling treck to multi million dollar homes much more enjoyable.

The nominations are:

Sherry Bucolo of Alain Pinel in Palo Alto for her listing (also in Palo Alto) where she served very tasty chicken strips, fresh fruit, finger sandwiches and lemonade…all at one time.  It’s polite to grab a couple of items after viewing the  house…but I think I grabbed a small plateful between each floor – and there were three levels!  The chicken fingers were better than a restaurant and there was even ranch dressing for dipping. Oh yeah, the house was nice too and sold within a week.

Paul Engel of Coldwell Banker in Palo Alto who provided a “potential for a meal”.  I say potential because he provided a lottery ticket to every agent who showed up.  I haven’t checked my numbers yet, but if I win $5, then it’s McDonalds meal and no award.  If I win $100, then a Sundance Steak and a victory.  If I hit it big, I’ll buy Paul’s listing.

Steve Papapietro and Ahmad Ghavi of Bank of America.  These are lenders that provide broker tour food for various agents to help spark their lending business.  Their main item – meatballs to die for!  I don’t know where they get them, but they could make a tear down in East Palo Alto suddenly look like an Atherton mansion after eating the meatballs and washing them down with the iced tea they also serve. Nothing is quite the same after eating them.

Ken DeLeon of Keller Williams in Palo Alto.  Ken’s broker tours and open houses are infamous for his lunch setup which includes delightful double deviled eggs as well as the coffee cart that accompanies each new listing.  The deviled eggs are huge and sinfully delicious while the mocha’s, lattes and hot chocolates are made with personality and Star Bucks like taste.  I know agents who schedule their broker tour around Ken’s listings as you must show up around lunch to make the most out of this full free meal.

Before I announce this someday important honor, keep in mind that potential buyers can also come to these sometimes tasty broker tour hotspots.  All you have to do is call your agent and ask to join them on tour.  Broker Tour is every day of the week in a different city, for example Menlo Park and Atherton are on Tuesdays, Palo Alto and Los Altos on Fridays etc.  And if your looking to buy a home and don’t have an agent, call me and I’ll gladly serve as your Maitre d’.

Ok, the music is playing and I’m running over my allotted word count.  The Winner for best food at a broker tour/open house is………Steve Papapietro and Ahmad  Gavi of Bank of America.  Not only is their food great, but they are always at their open houses and add the element of nice conversation to the mix.  A recipe for success.

Real Estate Statistics for Peninsula Looking Up!

The new second quarter statistics are in and looking pretty good.  Below are some numbers for some communities in San Mateo County. I’ll continue to make other posts for other cities in San Mateo County as well as Santa Clara County over the coming days.

Atherton real estate showed a number of sales increase by 25%, while prices on these primarily luxury homes were down only 3%. The average days on market took a big dip (which is good for sellers) as it was down 44%, which means that buyers were out in force and looking to purchase a home instead of sitting on the fence.

Menlo Park real estate also showed some gains as sales were up and prices were up.  The gains were small, but it shows that Menlo Park luxury real estate is still a viable option for buyers.  I say luxury real estate as prices are over a million dollars, even though they are quite significantly lower than the luxury homes of Atherton, which average out at almost $3.7 million dollars per home.

More statistics to come, but here is a start

Community                           Q2 2009           Q2 2010           % Change

San Mateo County
# of Sales                                 1,017                    1,178                   16%
Average Price ($000)              $897                     $964                      7%
Avg Days on Market                69                           55                  -20%
Months of Inventory                    3.1                          3.6                    16%

Atherton
# of Sales                                     16                            20                    25%
Average Price ($000)         $3,788                $3,672                     -3%
Average DOM                           116                         65                    -44%
Months of Inventory                    8.0                       5.6                     -30%

Menlo Park
# of Sales                                     95                        101                        6%
Average Price ($000)         $1,324                 $1,343                        1%
Average DOM                            55                          44                    -20%
Months of Inventory                   2.2                         2.3                        5%

Redwood City
# of Sales                                     109                        151                      39%
Average Price ($000)             $744                    $804                        8%
Average DOM                               52                         49                       -6%
Months of Inventory                   3.4                         3.0                     -12%

1st Quarter Sales Figures In: Looking Good!

As expected,  sales figures for San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties for the first quarter of 2010 compared to the first quarter of 2009 were up in all major areas.  This is a good start to showing that the deadly silence of real estate activity in 2009 is behind us and people are optimistic about buying and selling homes again.  It doesn’t mean that the entire country is real estate happy again, it just means that our neck of the woods is taking positive steps in the right direction.  Here are the numbers.

Santa Clara County

# of Sales*                                 1,965          2,177           11%

Average Price ($000)*             $575           $711           24%

Avg Days on Market (DOM)**   104                   63          -39%

Months of Inventory**                 5.7              2.6           -54%

San Mateo County
# of Sales*                                   624                 769            23%

Average Price ($000)*             $745              $913            23%

Avg Days on Market (DOM)**      84                   54           -36%

Months of Inventory**                 6.1                  3.8           -38%

Market Focus: South Palo Alto

December and January were very slow – for two months the Palo Alto housing market was in a dormant state. Only six homes have changed hands since the beginning of the year in South Palo Alto. A year ago at this time, many homes were languishing on the market as buyers stayed on the sidelines, worrying about their jobs, the sharp decline in their 401k accounts, and whether housing prices would ever rise again.

While no one claims the housing market is out of the woods yet, an unusual dynamic is occurring in many communities around the Bay Area and in our own backyard. Buyers and sellers have realized that neither of them will benefit from rising interest rates, and now we have a market with rising inventory and many active, well-qualified buyers looking for houses. Open houses are very busy. Most of this year’s sales happened within the last two weeks. Today when we write this article, there are 19 pending sales in South Palo Alto and 21 active listings. Well-maintained, reasonably priced homes in the median price point or lower, sell with multiple offers. One recent sale generated 13.

South Palo Alto is on the lower range of the overall Palo Alto housing market, and today it gets a disproportionate level of activity comparing with the rest of the city. In the entire city of Palo Alto there are 36 “pending sales” and more than half of them (19 as mentioned above) are in South Palo Alto.

There are a lot of areas in all price ranges here in the SF Bay Area and that’s what makes this such an interesting real estate market.

Menlo Park Home Prices Spike in February

It looks like sales are starting to jump in Menlo Park.  In what is typically a slow start to the new year, the average price for a home sold in Menlo Park in January 2010 averaged only $630,000, but jumped to an average sale price of $1,438,000 in February. This much anticipated jump in average price is a good sign that people are still looking for and buying real estate in the SF Peninsula. Menlo Park real estate is getting ready for a busy spring season.

Menlo Park Inventories Down, Sales Up

Prices Are Down, But More Are Selling
Statistics for the month of December show that Menlo Park residents aren’t putting as many homes on the market, but the overall volume of sales and pending sales is up.   With a 25% increase in number of homes sold and a whopping 300% increase of pending sales, more people are definitely getting their homes sold according to Dataquick.

The average sales price for a home in Menlo Park in December was $1,020,00 (down 4.1% compared to last December).  I believe this low average sales price and higher volume has a lot to do with the first time home buyer tax credit that was being pushed so heavily towards the end of the year (which has been extended to April 30, 2010 for first time and now includes move up home buyers).  The average listing price in Menlo Park for December was just over $1.7 million dollars, but it’s the homes closer to the million dollar mark that have been selling.

	1 month			1 year			15 months
	Nov 09	Dec 09	% Change	Dec 08	Dec 09	% Change	Oct 08	Dec 09	% Change
Avg. Active Price	1775	1745	-1.7%	1464	1745	19.2%	1702	1745	2.5%
Avg. Sold Price	1325	1020	-23%	1064	1020	-4.1%	1308	1020	-22%

Broker Previews

Every Tuesday and Friday are broker previews in our area.  I’ll give daily accounts in information on some of the luxury real estate that I go thru on these previews.  Some previews serve food to entice the brokers to come by and check out their homes, maybe I’ll even start a food rating for some of the agents as well.  I’ll throw in some pictures too and video will start to work its way in as we start up the insider show.

Luxury real estate is always fun to look at, so I understand everybody doesn’t come to an open house to buy.  But please check out the open houses in our area and come by to say hello.  Click here for our luxury real estate open house lookup.