Low Inventory Has San Carlos Home Buyers Feeling the Squeeze.

August 30, 2011

tight-money

Where Are The Homes?

It's not that unusual in a “normal” year for the pace of the real estate market in San Carlos to slow down a bit in the latter months of the summer.  People are on vacation and then they're getting the kids ready to go back to school.  But this year, things are anything but normal in the San Carlos real estate market.  As has been discussed numerous times on this site,  San Carlos is enjoying the strongest real estate market since before the credit crash of 2008.   Money is incredibly cheap, and probably as easy to procure as it has been since the sub-prime mess.

Because of these conditions,  buyers in San Carlos have stayed on the hunt throughout the summer.  But as is evidenced by the recent multiple offers on homes such as this one on Howard Avenue, and this on Cordilleras, there simply isn't enough inventory to go around — and buyers are feeling the squeeze.

The Flats Are Still Hot.

The inventory of homes for sale is uncharacteristically low in San Carlos right now.  Normally, you'd have about 20 more homes to choose from than what's currently available.   That pinch in the inventory is acutely impacting the flatland area of San Carlos, which is absolute red hot right now.  Consider the following:

  • At the time of this post, there are only 43 homes for sale in the entire city.  That's only 2 more than the 41 homes that are pending sale right now.  For most of last week, there were actually more homes pending sale than for sale in San Carlos!
  • Even Belmont has more homes for sale, at 46.
  • Of the 43 homes for sale in San Carlos, only 10 of them (or less than 25%) are located in the flatland areas of White Oaks and Howard Park.  Only one is in Howard Park!

The sub-$1M segment seems particularly competitive right now, with some of the same buyers being involved in numerous multiple bids as they desperately try to establish roots in the city.

Labor Day = Fall Market.

If there's any shred of hope for these buyers, it's that Labor Day weekend is almost upon us — and that weekend normally marks the commencement of the fall real estate market.  Home owners who need to sell before the Thanksgiving holiday know that they need to get their home on the market as soon after Labor Day as possible.   If this trend holds true, buyers may get some inventory relief.  But as I said before, this year has been anything but normal.

Along those lines, stay tuned to the site tomorrow when I will preview a very nice home in the flats that I'll have coming on the market this weekend…

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