The Biggest and Best of 2021.

January 5, 2022

biggest-win

The Story Behind the Numbers

On Monday I posted the final 2021 financial stats for the San Carlos residential residential real estate market, and it was a record-setting year on all counts as it probably was for numerous other communities on the Peninsula. Not only did more homes sell than ever before, but they sold at prices that are higher than any other time on record. Below, I'll dig into some of those particular properties and other interesting facts in more detail. (note: The data below is pulled from the Multiple Listing Service and will not account for any private sales that were not reported to the MLS).

Most And Least Expensive Homes Sold.

The most expensive home sold in San Carlos in 2021 was the 4BR/3.5BA home at 18 Estrada Place that fetched $5,500,000. While you might think this is the highest San Carlos home sale on record, it's not. The Black Mountain property on Alameda sold for $9,800,000 back in 2016, but that was also nearly 6 acres. In a close second place, the estate at 168 Queens Court also cleared the $5M mark at $5,380,000.

18 Estrada Place

The least expensive home that sold in San Carlos last year was at 946 Montgomery Street at $1,300,000. Quick quiz for you: What year do you think it was when the last single-family home in San Carlos sold for less than $1,000,000? The answer is at the bottom of the post.

Largest and Smallest Homes.

The Hyde Park subdivision in San Carlos usually gets lots of mentions in these types of comparisons because historically they've been the biggest and most expensive homes built in San Carlos. But that will change over time when some of these breathtaking remodel projects eventually go on the market. But for now, Hyde Park remains the King (or Queen, depending on which street you live on up there.)

The largest house to sell in 2021 was at 259 Kings Court, which weighed in a respectable 5,450 square feet and sits on over half an acre with amazing bay and canyon views.

259 Kings Court

The smallest home to sell in San Carlos last year was actually a tie between 335 Fairfield Drive and 1024 Inverness Drive, both in the Greater East Side of San Carlos and both coming in at svelte 820 square feet. Doing quick Realtor math, that means you could fit nearly 7 of one of these homes into 259 Kings Court. And thus highlights the charming disparity in homes sizes that we have in San Carlos.

But don't take this as a slight to the GESC neighborhood (also known as Clearfield Park in Realtor lingo). The average sales price of a home in the east side of San Carlos rocketed to record $1,776,816 in 2021, or a healthy 12.7% increase in just one year, making it one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in San Carlos.

Finding the Sweet Spot.

For a number of years, the “sweet spot” in pricing for a home in San Carlos was between $1M and $2M — in other words, this is the price range where the most number of homes sold in a given year. The table below has some interesting tidbits of data, the most obvious of which is that in 2021 the sweet spot changed to the $2M-$3M price range for the first time in history. Yes, more homes sold between $2M-$3M than in the $1M-$2M range. So much for San Carlos being a sleepy bedroom community!

Home Sale Price202120202019
$5M+200
$4M-$5M913
$3M-$4M723029
$2M-$3M20113294
$1M-$2M82142159

Another interesting trend is the huge growth of home sales in the $3M-$4M range. In 2021, more homes closed in that price range than the last 3 years combined. All of this data should point to the obvious conclusion that prospective home buyers know all too well — it's getting MUCH more expensive to buy a home in San Carlos, and there's no sign that this trend is going to change any time soon.

The quiz answer? The last time a home in San Carlos sold for under $1,000,000 was in the summer of 2017.

Posted in:

Leave a Comment