Mount San Carlos?

January 23, 2008

A volcano is probably the best analogy that I can think of that describes the real estate market in San Carlos right now. Picture Mount St. Helens the week before it erupted: quiet and peaceful on the outside, but an insane amount of pressure building beneath the surface. The huge disparity between the number of buyers and and the available listings in San Carlos right now is creating a similar effect.

How else can you explain how a home that backs up to a middle school and faces a busy park sells in less than a week, with multiple (I've heard as high as eight) offers? Or, how a the most expensive home on Birch disappeared faster than it takes to get a table at Town on a Friday night??? 🙂

Simple. It's the economics of supply and demand. And right now the demand below the surface of “Mount San Carlos” is far greater than the supply of listings, and it's creating a lot of angst with potential buyers. Need more proof? On this week's broker's tour, there were three first-time homes on tour in all of San Carlos. Three! And not one of them was in White Oaks.

Recession in San Carlos? Please. More like impending eruption. Kudos to the sellers on Birch, Arroyo, Ruby, and Saint Francis for deciding to sell in January. Their foresight appears to have paid off handsomely.

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2 Comments

  1. san carlos observer on January 24, 2008 at 1:50 am

    Any thoughts on why the house on Arroyo would attract multiple offers but the one on Hull languish for over half a year? They are both on rather busy locations. It must be the kitchen…



  2. chuck on January 24, 2008 at 3:36 am

    Very good question. It’s a combination of reasons. The biggest is location — both are on busy streets as you correctly stated, but Arroyo is the more desirable busy street. It’s closer to the downtown San Carlos and the popular north section of Laurel Street, and it’s within walking distance to both Brittan Acres Elementary and Central Middle School. Simply put, it’s more in the “center” of San Carlos. Hull doesn’t have the same attributes, and is located more on the periphery.

    The second is that (in my opinion) Arroyo is just a little bit nicer overall. Great kitchen, good layout, and a flat back yard. It’s got just a little bit better curb appeal.

    Don’t get me wrong — Hull is a great house, and it will definitely sell. Part of the reason it languished was that it was on the market at the tail end of 2007 — stats show that Q4 was the slowest quarter in decades.

    Thanks for your post!



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